JUST ANOTHER CASE OF MEDIA BIAS
we decide, we report.
One of my favorite little lectures-within-a-lecture
is a bit I do with my undergrads about spin, about the subtle subjectivity of
alleged objectivity, about how a writer or a speaker or a journalist or a
politician or -- let's face it -- just about anyone can write or speak or report
absolute truth and still invest it with a slant, a point of view, a whole darned
ideology.
One of my favorite examples comes from competing headlines on the morning of May 29th, 1996, the day after James and Susan McDougal were convicted for their Whitewater crimes. Pittsburgh’s two major newspapers, the left-leaning Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the right-stooping Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, both ran the story as the lead headline. The PG’s read: TWO CONVICTED IN WHITEWATER TRIAL. The Trib’s read: CLINTON FRIENDS CONVICTED IN WHITEWATER SCANDAL.
Both headlines were correct, accurate, factual. Both told it like it was. And both made sure we saw and read and felt it exactly the way their editors wanted.
Tonight, surfing the front pages of the major news sites, I found another wonderful example. It seems that the medical examiner charged with performing the autopsy on Terri Schiavo announced his preliminary findings today. The four major news sites, as of 9:53pm, were all reporting the story. But not all coverage was equal.
On CNN.com, the story gets second billing on the "More News" list of headlines. The link reads: Autopsy: No Sign Schiavo Was Abused.
On MSNBC.com, the story gets top billing in the right column, with a headline (‘Irreversible’ brain loss), a photo of Terri Schiavo, and a subhead: Autopsy backs husband’s belief that Terri Schiavo was in vegetative state.
On ABCNews.com, the story gets top billing, a photo, a photo-video link in the multimedia column on the right, and an abstract excerpt beneath the headline, which read: Schiavo Autopsy Shows Massive Brain Damage.
On FoxNews.com, the story gets sixth billing in the far right “Latest Headlines” columns. The link reads: Schiavo Autopsy Released.
All four sites were correct, accurate, factual. All four told it like it was. And all four made sure we saw and read and felt (and found) it exactly the way (and where) their editors wanted. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course. Just as there was nothing wrong with it nine years ago.
Unless, perhaps, your site and your network purport to be fair and balanced and free from bias, even as you know, absolutely know, not only that it is not, but also that, by the sheer weights of human nature and rhetorical reality, it could never be.
I have no problem with media bias. It exists. It's inevitable. I deal with it.
It's media sanctimony I can't stand.
One of my favorite examples comes from competing headlines on the morning of May 29th, 1996, the day after James and Susan McDougal were convicted for their Whitewater crimes. Pittsburgh’s two major newspapers, the left-leaning Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the right-stooping Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, both ran the story as the lead headline. The PG’s read: TWO CONVICTED IN WHITEWATER TRIAL. The Trib’s read: CLINTON FRIENDS CONVICTED IN WHITEWATER SCANDAL.
Both headlines were correct, accurate, factual. Both told it like it was. And both made sure we saw and read and felt it exactly the way their editors wanted.
Tonight, surfing the front pages of the major news sites, I found another wonderful example. It seems that the medical examiner charged with performing the autopsy on Terri Schiavo announced his preliminary findings today. The four major news sites, as of 9:53pm, were all reporting the story. But not all coverage was equal.
On CNN.com, the story gets second billing on the "More News" list of headlines. The link reads: Autopsy: No Sign Schiavo Was Abused.
On MSNBC.com, the story gets top billing in the right column, with a headline (‘Irreversible’ brain loss), a photo of Terri Schiavo, and a subhead: Autopsy backs husband’s belief that Terri Schiavo was in vegetative state.
On ABCNews.com, the story gets top billing, a photo, a photo-video link in the multimedia column on the right, and an abstract excerpt beneath the headline, which read: Schiavo Autopsy Shows Massive Brain Damage.
On FoxNews.com, the story gets sixth billing in the far right “Latest Headlines” columns. The link reads: Schiavo Autopsy Released.
All four sites were correct, accurate, factual. All four told it like it was. And all four made sure we saw and read and felt (and found) it exactly the way (and where) their editors wanted. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course. Just as there was nothing wrong with it nine years ago.
Unless, perhaps, your site and your network purport to be fair and balanced and free from bias, even as you know, absolutely know, not only that it is not, but also that, by the sheer weights of human nature and rhetorical reality, it could never be.
I have no problem with media bias. It exists. It's inevitable. I deal with it.
It's media sanctimony I can't stand.
Posted: Wed - June 15, 2005 at 10:50 PM
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Published On: Jan 16, 2009 04:50 PM
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Published On: Jan 16, 2009 04:50 PM