Posted on 10/20/2004 6:28:43 AM PDT by MindBender26
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- ABC news anchor Peter Jennings said he's getting an earful on media coverage.
Jennings is on a swing through battleground states, including Iowa and Missouri, where polls show the race could go either to President George W. Bush or Sen. John Kerry.
Jennings gets questions about a CBS report on Bush's National Guard service, for which CBS news anchor Dan Rather later apologized and said the story was a mistake. He's also asked about Sinclair Broadcasting's decision to air a controversial documentary on Sen. John Kerry's Vietnam war record. Another big question regards an ABC internal memo from the political director suggesting that reporters need not "reflexively" hold both sides of the presidential election "equally" accountable.
Jennings said the media is now under the hot lights.
"I'm a little concerned about this notion everybody wants us to be objective," Jennings said.
Jennings said that everyone -- even journalists -- have points of view through which they filter their perception of the news. It could be race, sex or income. But, he said, reporters are ideally trained to be as objective as possible.
"And when we don't think we can be fully objective, to be fair," the anchorman said.
Does the public think network news is fair? There are a number of opinion polls that show news consumers feel that the media does have a slant.
Jennings maintains those polls may be driven by groups with an agenda.
"There's a whole industry of conservatives saying, 'Ah, it's those damn liberals,' and a whole group of liberals saying, 'It's all those damn conservatives,'" Jennings said.
The problematic response, Jennings said, is the way people tailor the way they consume news.
"If you tailor your news viewing, as some people are now doing, so that you only get one point of view, well of course you're going to think somebody else has got a different point of view, and it may be wrong," Jennings said
DUH?!
Exactly. A reporter who shows his bias or otherwise is not objective is not a reporter; he's a commentator, and should describe himself as such. I'm a reporter, and I would dare anyone who doesn't know me to correctly describe my political views by reading my news stories. Jennings, et al., couldn't say the same.
Heheh, I love the passage:
"The problematic response, Jennings said, is the way people tailor the way they consume news.
"If you tailor your news viewing, as some people are now doing, so that you only get one point of view, well of course you're going to think somebody else has got a different point of view, and it may be wrong," Jennings said."
Gee. I always felt better informed and more grounded in my beliefs when I got all my accurate news from ABC News.
BWHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAA! Can you believe Jennings? The man believes he is a middle of the road moderate!
I'm stuned!
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