The profession of journalism
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The profession of journalism has been buffeted in recent months by high-level acts of passing off fiction as journalism and plagiarism - including that of Jason Blair at The New York Times. But while falsifying stories is certainly a serious issue for the profession (and no doubt one that will be around as long as the profession exists), it is not the most serious problem that faces the profession today. Stories devoid of the facts, or stories cribbed from other sources after all, have a way of being described. It may take some period of time for these discoveries to be made, but they do tend to surface. However, a more widespread problem usually does not surface because it is woven into the fabric of journalism culture: The tendency of the media to be more gentle on conservative politicians and conservative topics than is warranted by the facts of the case because journalists are attempting to compensate for what is perceived as a leftist bias in the press. This paper addresses this issue.The question of fairness, or objectivity, is central to the practice of journalism in the United States today. Journalists (and this is especially true within the print media) are excepted to present both sides (at least) of every story as fairly as possible, not allowing their own opinions or preferences to result in a more positive article for one side or the other. And yet - in part because like all other human reporters are fallible and in part because of structural conditions within
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is in fact so far from the stated ideal of disinterested and unbiased coverage of the news that it has received a certain amount of scrutiny from within the mainstream media - although most of the criticism of Fox's biased news coverage has emanated from outside of the mainstream press - perhaps because an examination of Fox's policies might require many news organizations to examine their own failings.
This assessment of the bias inherent in Fox News coverage is also not among the most extreme, although it touches on many of the points made by leftist critics in books and in other venues such as blogs. The following assessment is from the group FAIR - Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, a relatively mainstream group. The fact that Fox is being excoriated on its website suggests that the station has crossed a line within the profession that is unacceptable.
When it comes to Fox News Channel, conservatives don't feel the need to "work the ref." The ref is already on their side. Since its 1996 launch, Fox has become a central hub of the conservative movement's well-oiled media machine. Together with the GOP organization and its satellite think tanks and advocacy groups, this network of fiercely partisan outlets--such as the Washi
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Rush Limbaugh's--forms, Jayson Blair, York Times, Jason Blair, United Journalists, Fox TV, Rolling Stone, Fox Channel, Conservatives Republicans, Accuracy Reporting, jason blair, reporters editors, coverage biased, journalism united,
Approximate Word count = 1274
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)
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