Dammit, it's the media again
"Study: 7 of 10 Journalists Surveyed Accused of Bias in Past Year." That's the headline from a story fellow Herald reporter Steve Lee found in Publisher & Editor magazine.
Besides the factoid in that headline, which should have said "7 of 10 newspaper journalists," here's a few more:
*"At least 70% of those polled more often pointed to 'factors beyond their control' as the cause of such poor ethical perceptions, rather than their own newspapers' actions."
*"More than 30% of respondents, meanwhile, noted problems with sources -- anonymous or not -- providing misleading or inaccurate information, with the same percentage seeking legal advice on such stories."
*Here's the kicker: "More than half of the surveyed journalists reported working with 'a peer involved in fabrication, plagiarism or other deliberate misconduct,' the survey stated. It added that 20% believed such wrong behavior should be punished more rigorously [emphasis mine]." Well, duh!
Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University released the study.
Mary Ellen Shearer, one of the co-authors, said: "Many journalists believe that the recent sins of other newspapers and media taint their own newspapers and contribute to the public's diminished confidence in newspapers generally."
"Newspaper journalists say problems in television news [Take that WDAZ! Just kidding. I love you guys.], on Web sites and blogs [Blasted blogs!], and even in tabloids and shopper publications all have a deleterious effect on the credibility of newspaper journalists," the report also said. "In addition, almost one in five say that criticism of media by politicians erodes readers' trust."
I agree with only half of this. Yeah, I blame dirty, lying reporters like the New York Times' Jayson Blair; dirty, lying 24-hour news networks like Fox; and dirty, lying politicians who blame the media to deflect criticism from themselves.
On the other hand, the politicians here have always been gentle in their criticisms. I enjoy ABC News, especially when Elizabeth Vargas anchors. And, who doesn't love the "Home Team" at WDAZ, especially that foxy, redhead on the 6 o'clock.
Besides the factoid in that headline, which should have said "7 of 10 newspaper journalists," here's a few more:
*"At least 70% of those polled more often pointed to 'factors beyond their control' as the cause of such poor ethical perceptions, rather than their own newspapers' actions."
*"More than 30% of respondents, meanwhile, noted problems with sources -- anonymous or not -- providing misleading or inaccurate information, with the same percentage seeking legal advice on such stories."
*Here's the kicker: "More than half of the surveyed journalists reported working with 'a peer involved in fabrication, plagiarism or other deliberate misconduct,' the survey stated. It added that 20% believed such wrong behavior should be punished more rigorously [emphasis mine]." Well, duh!
Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University released the study.
Mary Ellen Shearer, one of the co-authors, said: "Many journalists believe that the recent sins of other newspapers and media taint their own newspapers and contribute to the public's diminished confidence in newspapers generally."
"Newspaper journalists say problems in television news [Take that WDAZ! Just kidding. I love you guys.], on Web sites and blogs [Blasted blogs!], and even in tabloids and shopper publications all have a deleterious effect on the credibility of newspaper journalists," the report also said. "In addition, almost one in five say that criticism of media by politicians erodes readers' trust."
I agree with only half of this. Yeah, I blame dirty, lying reporters like the New York Times' Jayson Blair; dirty, lying 24-hour news networks like Fox; and dirty, lying politicians who blame the media to deflect criticism from themselves.
On the other hand, the politicians here have always been gentle in their criticisms. I enjoy ABC News, especially when Elizabeth Vargas anchors. And, who doesn't love the "Home Team" at WDAZ, especially that foxy, redhead on the 6 o'clock.
posted by Tu-Uyen at 1:40 PM
7 Comments:
Whoa whoa whoa- back up here a minute. I'm not a big TV watcher, but why single out Fox? You can't find any bias in CNN and the Big Three? What was it Dan Rather got in trouble for? Oh yeah, taking a fabricated story about GWB from some partisan hack and running with it in an election year? Who got dressed down on live TV about media bias by a member of our Armed Forces in Iraq? Oh yeah, Matt Lauer. Got time? We can go on here. I get tired of O'Reilly's populism and even though I agree with Sean Hannity on most things, he can get boring and repetitious, too. But I daresay you'll find more bias, lying, and outright anti-Americanism on the other channels.
No matter where one gets their news these days, it seems you have to cover a lot of different sources to get any kind of picture of what is really going on in the world. And right now, blogs seem to be one of the better bets.
If you fancy yourself to be a reporter, you should stick to facts, or else label this as a blog dedicated to YOUR opinions, so we can know the difference and make judgements about whether or not its worth reading.
Scot, I stick to facts when it comes to stories I cover. It's perfectly alright for me to have an opinion on TV networks, fer crying out loud. I'm never going to write about them.
Anyway, I don't like Fox because they insult my intelligence more than CNN and the others.
"The City Beat is reporter Tu-Uyen Tran. He covers City Hall politics in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks, taxes, regional economic development and whatever else catches his fancy."
Your disingenuousness didn't address my point. Are you going to be offering opinion here or reporting facts? You are perfectly free to do either, maybe a mix of both, but I think for the sake of intellectual honesty, you should make clear which it's going to be. Dakota Huseby states so up front on her blog, and her writing style supports that honesty.
And as far as who may insult your intelligence more or less, that's not much of an endorsement for any of them, is it? CNN included.
Scot, I thought I was pretty clear. I don't offer opinions on city issues because I write about them. I'm free to have opinions on any other issue, including national politics.
As for Dakota, I have no idea what you're talking about. She just says at the top that she's a mom and likes being on radio. I tell readers I'm a reporter and I write about City Hall.
Get a grip Scot. This is a blog, not a newspaper. It's more of a diary than a formal publication so there's room for some opinions, so long as it doesn't affect my coverage. If you actually do see how this blog affects my stories, do let me know. Otherwise, let it go.
Oh yeah, I can't watch CNN for very long either.
Okey Dokey. consider it let go.
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