As a journalism student I have to stand up for the profession. It isn’t the profession that is bad, it is many of the people who do it.
Reporting the news is something that is important. The problem is it is very hard to keep bias out of any contentious issue.
Journalism isn’t bad, giving the news your own personal spin is. Well, that and the AP Style guide which is very liberally biased. Even the most conservative writer has to come off somewhat liberal if they follow that.
They’ve already got to you. They’ve got you believing that there is such a thing as unbiased reporting.
There isn’t. I don’t trust any journalist that claims to be unbiased. It’s a lie, and that lie destroys their credibility. I would rather that the reporter be up front and honest with their point of view so I know the filter through which to read the story. Then I can seek out reports from other points of view, and between them I’ll have a much more accurate picture of the real story.
Bias is not merely on how to report, but perhaps more importanly there is bias in ~what~ to report. For every newsworthy thing that gets reported, there are probably dozens of things that go unreported. Picking the most “valuable” is inescapably the product of the values and biases of the reporters and editors.
The profession of journalism could benifit greatly from a careful de-construction and analysis of the reporting on the war in Iraq. From the beginning, the poison was planted.
IMHO Woodward and Berstein badly damaged the practice of journalism. Now everybody wants to be them, and every story is watergate including the ones that aren’t and nobody seems to know the difference.
It's a very important profession which the left (communists) realized long ago. If more of those in the media practiced journalism we'd be much better off as a nation.
Most of the big names in media don't practice journalism but propaganda.
So, God bless you and your career choice.
Yes it is. Thanks for wading into the fray!