J.T.B. wrote:
CorporalCaptain wrote:
I'd like to see concrete evidence of bias in the form of specific examples, if someone's going to be throwing around the charge. Not a vague appeal to the fact that ya know the staff leans a certain way.
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Yeah, me too. It's just like NPR. Last year there was a gotcha video of an NPR exec expressing his personal left-of-center opinions, and a big cry went up on the right: "See, NPR has a liberal bias!" But nobody could point to examples of biased reportage. NPR's "On the Media" show did a story with self-identified conservative listeners who reported what they perceived as bias. And it basically came down to "Well, I can't put my finger on it, but I know it when I hear it." Transcript here: http://www.onthemedia.org/2011/mar/2...le/transcript/ |
This transcript is invaluable. I can actually see the points made by the conservative listeners. It should be required reading for every journalism student.
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So if it's all subjective -- as in the NYT public editor piece, where he had to use weasel words like "seems to" -- then how could that perception problem be remedied? Have a quota system where prospective reporters have to provide proof of political views? I don't see how something like that would work. It seems to me the most practical course is for readers who perceive a particular slant to either take that into account and adjust for it, or find another news source.
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No quotas.