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Most news channels are tipped to the conservative cause. |
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Learning to evaluate the credibility of sources of information, and getting into the habit of
checking claims against other sources of information, is something we should all do. Once you factor
in the imputed bias, any claims made will be discounted appropriately. I suppose it's a legitimate
question whether most people will do this, however. Most people will just lap up what's put in front
of them. Even then, deciding which newspaper you want to buy, is surely a conscious act which must
involve some element of political choice.
You have to ask what the alternatives are. I started a debate recently about whether objectivity was
something news organisations ought to aspire to. I think television news should be required to
adhere to some semblance of impartiality but I'm not convinced that it's a good idea in print
journalism. American newspapers aspire to objectivity, yet, surveying recent history, it's clear
that they have monumentally failed to grapple with the important issues of the day. Part of that
failure stems from the fear of being seen to step too far outside the bounds of "objectivity". It
also creates a tendency to balance every subject even when balance isn't really appropriate because
the two points of view just don't have equal weight.
All things considered, I think a healthy aggressively competitive, and openly biased, newspaper
menagerie is preferable to one which aspires to cold-blooded objectivity. But some problems arise
from this. What if one business organisation achieves dominance in the marketplace so that it
acquires a massive influence over popular opinion? This is clearly a problem. I would argue that we
see this right now in Britain where News Corporation controls something between 30-40% of the
newspaper market. This situation should never be allowed to exist. It is the government's
responsibility to break up market dominance when it approaches those levels. Successive British
governments have failed to do this, making a deal with the devil, allowing Murdoch to achieve and
maintain market dominance in return for his support. When a single organisation exercises the kind
of overwhelming influence which News Corporation does in Britain, it becomes a threat to democracy
itself and should be eradicated.
The other problem with biased newspapers is that they could print blatant lies. I think the libel
laws provide an adequate defence against this, although perhaps they could be reformed to make them
less initially expensive, and thus more accessible to ordinary people. |
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It's supposed to be biased the news people are showing their opinions on certain issues. |
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Quick solution....don't turn on the TV. Can't blame something you have control over not viewing or
listening to. Nobody is holding you down, and forcing the information onto you. |
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14 Jun 2008 12:15
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