Karin Dryhurst

Revisionist Reporting

There has been much debate among bloggers and MSM types about the lack of "unbiased" reporting on the Internet. Will the web polarize news consumers into Huffington Post and Pajamas Media readers? Why is the Washington Post hiring so many leftie bloggers? Should reporting now focus on explanation and analysis a la The Economist?

What strikes me as strange about this discussion is the assumption that beat reporters at the dailies have ever been unbiased. Take this sentence about an upcoming proposition in San Francisco that would help struggling renters:

Proposition F, the "Renters Financial Hardship Applications" measure, is the latest attempt by San Francisco's politically influential tenant advocates to chip away at property rights in a city were renters outnumber property owners by about 2-1.

Somebody's been reading too much Ayn Rand. This is why it is dangerous to label mainstream reporters as unbiased. Clearly the above sentence reflects a certain view of the responsibility of government to protect certain rights over others. And when readers assume they are getting the straight news, they can begin to see such characterizations as truth rather than as perspective. And another person signs up for the Tea Parties.

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Posted at 12:30 PM, Jun 01, 2010 in Media
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