Comments on: Media Bias http://mekosh.org/2008/10/26/media-bias The Online Home of Stephen Mekosh Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:54:49 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Stephen http://mekosh.org/2008/10/26/media-bias#comment-3720 Stephen Tue, 04 Nov 2008 05:33:14 +0000 http://mekosh.org/?p=213#comment-3720 Dan, I think you're right in that it's impossible to be impartial on sensitive topics. Unfortunately, I neglected to mention that in my post. What bothers me the most is not the subtle bias that makes it onto the air or to print, but the blatant bias that should be obvious to any editor that now seems to appear everywhere. Seeing political endorsements as disclosures is an interesting take; I never really saw it that way before. Joe, I don't think many people vote based on MSM endorsements, but who knows? Generally by the time the big endorsements happen, I've made up my mind already. Thankfully, we all seem to be in agreement that media organizations should at least strive for neutrality in their normal reporting. Dan, I think you’re right in that it’s impossible to be impartial on sensitive topics. Unfortunately, I neglected to mention that in my post. What bothers me the most is not the subtle bias that makes it onto the air or to print, but the blatant bias that should be obvious to any editor that now seems to appear everywhere.

Seeing political endorsements as disclosures is an interesting take; I never really saw it that way before. Joe, I don’t think many people vote based on MSM endorsements, but who knows? Generally by the time the big endorsements happen, I’ve made up my mind already.

Thankfully, we all seem to be in agreement that media organizations should at least strive for neutrality in their normal reporting.

]]> By: Joe Casabona http://mekosh.org/2008/10/26/media-bias#comment-3719 Joe Casabona Tue, 28 Oct 2008 01:22:23 +0000 http://mekosh.org/?p=213#comment-3719 Glad to see we agree on <em>something</em>. Dan- while you make a good argument, I'd say that it's the NYTimes and Other news organizations' job to be unobjective. If they want to have an opinions section (and all news sources do), present people on both sides of an issue- that way they are letting the people decided and not deciding for them. Glad to see we agree on something. Dan- while you make a good argument, I’d say that it’s the NYTimes and Other news organizations’ job to be unobjective. If they want to have an opinions section (and all news sources do), present people on both sides of an issue- that way they are letting the people decided and not deciding for them.

]]> By: Dan http://mekosh.org/2008/10/26/media-bias#comment-3718 Dan Mon, 27 Oct 2008 00:43:01 +0000 http://mekosh.org/?p=213#comment-3718 Steve, Although I definitely agree that in an ideal world news sources should be completely objective, I believe this may be impossible. Therefore, I look at newspapers and news source's endorsement of candidates as a form of disclosure. How much better is it for a newspaper come out and say we endorse this candidate rather than continually pretending to be non-biased but really endorsing a candidate. At least the NYTimes admitted that they can not possibly be unobjective with such controversial topics and lifted the veil. At least you know what you are going to get when you read their material the same way I know when I read your blog how you stand on an issue. Every writer and organization is going to have an opinion and when you write your consciousness or subconsciousness is going to come through in your reporting unless you are simply writing bullet lists of points. My criticism is actually of all the other organizations that clearly take a biased approach to reporting the news and have not admitted where they stand on a issue. In the world of the internet, transparency is king and disclosure is necessary. Steve,

Although I definitely agree that in an ideal world news sources should be completely objective, I believe this may be impossible. Therefore, I look at newspapers and news source’s endorsement of candidates as a form of disclosure. How much better is it for a newspaper come out and say we endorse this candidate rather than continually pretending to be non-biased but really endorsing a candidate. At least the NYTimes admitted that they can not possibly be unobjective with such controversial topics and lifted the veil. At least you know what you are going to get when you read their material the same way I know when I read your blog how you stand on an issue.

Every writer and organization is going to have an opinion and when you write your consciousness or subconsciousness is going to come through in your reporting unless you are simply writing bullet lists of points.

My criticism is actually of all the other organizations that clearly take a biased approach to reporting the news and have not admitted where they stand on a issue.

In the world of the internet, transparency is king and disclosure is necessary.

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