July 31, 2012

Fair and unbalanced

When did the overriding concern of journalist become balance? When I studied journalism in school, our ONLY concern was FACTS. If the facts of a story played out that one side was good and the other was bad, we were not forced to somehow concoct information or twist a narrative that "balanced" the story. We reported the story based on the facts. Especially in politics.
Now all the political stories aren't even news because they are artificially balanced.
Here's one on the two campaigns saying that their candidate's words are being twisted. The press reported on Romney's speech in Israel possibly misinterpreting his specific meaning. The GOP, on the other hand, has built an entire campaign around the willful misrepresentation of the president's remarks at one campaign event. These two are not equal, yet the story leads you to believe they are.
We've become so concerned with balance these days, we're losing sight of the facts. Just ask any of the viewers over at Fox.

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