4 ms·

The opinion pages are not objective. The news should be objective. If they aren’t objective then they should be clear about this otherwise people believe it as

The opinion pages are not objective. The news should be objective. If they aren’t objective then they should be clear about this otherwise people believe it as objective. That’s the whole point of news.

scott_s 6y ago
It is not possible for the news to be objective. Even the decision of what is news is a subjective process. If the news appears objective, that only means you share the perspective of the people reporting on and editing it.
- hedora 6y ago
  That is a lazy argument. It’s possible for the news to strive to be objective. Back when we had competition between independent news organizations in the US, the news was closer to being objective. Publications that frequently retracted major stories, or ran articles with flawed logic and sloppy conclusions lost market share. These days, there’s basically no competition, and the major news outlets just spew transparent propaganda.
- giardini 6y ago
  I understand your point: any writer has a point of view and it may ooze out in his choice of words. But a reporter should resist the desire to editorialize and instead emphasize the 5W's: who, what, where, when, why (and how): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Ws https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Ws If reporters did so, much contention would disssipate and we'd get more information (news) and less opinion - IMO a good thing.
  - watwut 6y ago
    We would still get bias. Pretending it does not exist is worst then actually visibly admitting it. In particular, who, what, why is extremely sensitive to unadopted bias.
    - giardini 6y ago
      Don't put words in my mouth: I'm not pretending bias doesn't exist. And WTF is "unadopted bias"? Searches with Bing and DuckDuckGo come up absolutely empty and an analysis of the language is befuddling. Did you just make it up, b/c literally nobody and nothing on the Innertubes speaks of "unadopted bias" except you? From that I presume you not a native English speaker and I've possibly been trolled by a bot or an "idibot". That's a word I made up: it's a portmanteau of "idiot" and "robot" and means a robot with a low IQ. Two can play this game. [+10 for use of term "portmanteau"]
      - dang 6y ago
        This comment breaks the site guidelines egregiously. Please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and stick to the rules. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
    - giardini 6y ago
      Please do not put words in my mouth: I'm not pretending that bias doesn't exist. What is "unadopted bias"? Searches with Bing and DuckDuckGo come up absolutely empty and I find the usage befuddling. I can find literally nobody and nothing on the Internet who/which speaks of "unadopted bias"? [Is that better, Ycombinator mods?]
- tsegratis 6y ago
  I suppose the cause is society and news believing their opinion is truth. Rather than there being a truth worth seeking If only subjectivity is true, society must fragment. Everyone forms a different view -- unity is lost

scott_s 6y ago

It is not possible for the news to be objective. Even the decision of what is news is a subjective process. If the news appears objective, that only means you share the perspective of the people reporting on and editing it.

hedora 6y ago
That is a lazy argument. It’s possible for the news to strive to be objective. Back when we had competition between independent news organizations in the US, the news was closer to being objective. Publications that frequently retracted major stories, or ran articles with flawed logic and sloppy conclusions lost market share. These days, there’s basically no competition, and the major news outlets just spew transparent propaganda.
giardini 6y ago
I understand your point: any writer has a point of view and it may ooze out in his choice of words. But a reporter should resist the desire to editorialize and instead emphasize the 5W's: who, what, where, when, why (and how): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Ws https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Ws If reporters did so, much contention would disssipate and we'd get more information (news) and less opinion - IMO a good thing.
- watwut 6y ago
  We would still get bias. Pretending it does not exist is worst then actually visibly admitting it. In particular, who, what, why is extremely sensitive to unadopted bias.
  - giardini 6y ago
    Don't put words in my mouth: I'm not pretending bias doesn't exist. And WTF is "unadopted bias"? Searches with Bing and DuckDuckGo come up absolutely empty and an analysis of the language is befuddling. Did you just make it up, b/c literally nobody and nothing on the Innertubes speaks of "unadopted bias" except you? From that I presume you not a native English speaker and I've possibly been trolled by a bot or an "idibot". That's a word I made up: it's a portmanteau of "idiot" and "robot" and means a robot with a low IQ. Two can play this game. [+10 for use of term "portmanteau"]
    - dang 6y ago
      This comment breaks the site guidelines egregiously. Please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and stick to the rules. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - giardini 6y ago
    Please do not put words in my mouth: I'm not pretending that bias doesn't exist. What is "unadopted bias"? Searches with Bing and DuckDuckGo come up absolutely empty and I find the usage befuddling. I can find literally nobody and nothing on the Internet who/which speaks of "unadopted bias"? [Is that better, Ycombinator mods?]
tsegratis 6y ago
I suppose the cause is society and news believing their opinion is truth. Rather than there being a truth worth seeking If only subjectivity is true, society must fragment. Everyone forms a different view -- unity is lost