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We should most certainly expect a newspaper to deliver well-researched, unbiased reporting. When a newspaper is shown to have cheated or made a mistake, we shou

by gcv 17y ago

We should most certainly expect a newspaper to deliver well-researched, unbiased reporting. When a newspaper is shown to have cheated or made a mistake, we should stop reading it or receive a full explanation and apology. The Times is reasonably good about this; as good or better than any other news source. This does not mean that readers should turn off their brains. Every reader should approach everything with an open, yet critical mind. Trust, think, and verify if it's important enough. Pogue, however, is a reviewer and a columnist, not someone who reports news. He is part of the whole editorial-"news analysis"-"this is what I think"-"reviews" staff of the newspaper. It's all biased by definition.

Tichy 17y ago
"We should most certainly expect a newspaper to deliver well-researched, unbiased reporting." It's not that I wouldn't like to see this, but it seems very unlikely to me that it exists.
- gcv 17y ago
  Most papers bend over backwards to avoid bias in pure news coverage. The resulting he-said she-said style of reporting is rather comical, and sometimes gives credence to complete nonsense. "A house in the XYZ section of Some Town burned down at 11 o'clock last night. Firemen investigated the smoldering ruins and found the remains of an antique gas boiler. Fire Department records show that the boiler has not been inspected since 1923, and a spokesman believes that the boiler exploded. However, Miss Crazy Lady, a homeless person found napping several blocks away, claimed that the alleged explosion is a fabrication. She told this reporter that she clearly saw with her own eyes a demon ascending from the ground and setting the house on fire. 'It was Asmodeus himself,' she said. 'Or maybe Beelzebub.'"
dagw 17y ago
We should most certainly expect a newspaper to deliver well-researched, unbiased reporting. Unbiased to me seems both unreasonable and unnecessary. Most newspapers have some sort of political or philosophical leaning, and I'm quite with that. Nobody is ever truly unbiased and trying to force them to write in such a way will generally produce dull article. What we should expect though is that all biases be clearly declared up front and that the distinction between "this is what has happened" and "this is what I think about it" is always made clear.

by gcv 17y ago

Tichy 17y ago

"We should most certainly expect a newspaper to deliver well-researched, unbiased reporting." It's not that I wouldn't like to see this, but it seems very unlikely to me that it exists.

gcv 17y ago
Most papers bend over backwards to avoid bias in pure news coverage. The resulting he-said she-said style of reporting is rather comical, and sometimes gives credence to complete nonsense. "A house in the XYZ section of Some Town burned down at 11 o'clock last night. Firemen investigated the smoldering ruins and found the remains of an antique gas boiler. Fire Department records show that the boiler has not been inspected since 1923, and a spokesman believes that the boiler exploded. However, Miss Crazy Lady, a homeless person found napping several blocks away, claimed that the alleged explosion is a fabrication. She told this reporter that she clearly saw with her own eyes a demon ascending from the ground and setting the house on fire. 'It was Asmodeus himself,' she said. 'Or maybe Beelzebub.'"

dagw 17y ago

We should most certainly expect a newspaper to deliver well-researched, unbiased reporting. Unbiased to me seems both unreasonable and unnecessary. Most newspapers have some sort of political or philosophical leaning, and I'm quite with that. Nobody is ever truly unbiased and trying to force them to write in such a way will generally produce dull article. What we should expect though is that all biases be clearly declared up front and that the distinction between "this is what has happened" and "this is what I think about it" is always made clear.