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TwitThisAbout a week ago in Alexandria, Virginia, a group of women entrepreneurs, community leaders, and mothers met on a cold Thursday nighpost-watershed presidential election—for some wine and conversation. Led by a veteran journalist, the night's discussion topic: Media bias. Thinking it would be helpful to hear some feedback on my profession from thoughtful people who are actually consuming it, I went to listen. The group leader started the conversation with a zinger: "Is the media biased?" and was met with a vocal "Yes" nearly in unison.
But it quickly became clear that the group wasn't talking about The Washington Post, The New York Times, or the nightly network newscasts. They were talking about the blogosphere, political websites, talk radio, and the "screamer" interview shows on cable news and grouping them with journalists. I wondered, "Do these highly educated, smart gals really not know the difference?" Two seconds later, I thought, "Well, why would they?" Life is busy. Media is consumed in doses, fits and starts. What one reads in the morning paper, hears on NPR while carpooling or reads on a chat site all blurs together. We're human; the most outrageous stuff can stick in the craw like a bad 80s tune, the origin quickly forgotten.
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The distinction is important. Journalists who work for newspapers and many news magazines strive for balance, objective reporting. Their stories are edited by those with the same goals and published by those who let their newsrooms operate independently of their commercial interests. Is it a perfect system? No. Are mistakes made? Of course. But there is still a healthy community of reporters and editors who, minus an agenda, work hard to bring news to light. I know this.
On the other hand, ever since the Internet began to gain steady steam in the early 90s, the distinction between journalism and the websites, cable television shows and talk radio that embrace transparent points of view is getting pretty fuzzy. With so many choices available, like-minded listeners drift toward shows and publications that are most in line with their own world view. Fans of right-leaning Bill O'Reilly or Rush Limbaugh and left-tilting Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews watch because, more often than not, they want to listen to someone who justifies what they already believe...and justifies it loudly.
To make matters more confusing, journalists are also blogging for their company's websites. Their words, while offering an insight you won't read in a straight story, isn't necessarily edited. This is both good and bad; you get to read the point of view of a professional who spends his/her days trying to understand the news. On the other hand, the blogs aren't always fact-checked the same way a piece of journalism would be. But because of their professionalism and background, I believe, for the most part blogs by journalists can offer insight you just can't get anywhere else. (By the way, reader, if you read a quote in Shared Space, I have run it by the quotee. In some cases, I run the whole essay by someone who can point out my mistakes. I do this because I believe that's the way it should be done).
There's a place for all forms of opinion and journalism in this first-amendment protected democracy. No matter how much Ann Coulter, or Daily Kos, or even Stephen Colbert gets under your skin, these voices are contributing to a dialogue that is now so enormous it's difficult to comprehend, much less moderate. But the thirst I sensed on that chilly Thursday night wasn't to have a famous face reinforce a deeply held opinion, it was for stories about the world, nation, and community—told straight.
This news costs money. It's expensive to maintain bureaus in Baghdad, Beijing, London or any U.S. city. It's expensive to keep a newsroom running and pay smart people to beat the streets asking the right questions. So if you're looking for a balanced report of the news of the day, buy a newspaper. Go out and get some ink on your hands.
(Helpful hint: You might also want to visit www.factcheck.org, a site that monitors major public officials and helps keep them honest!)
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