(First Published March 17, 2021)
By Paul Anger, 2nd Vice Chair, JPDEC
Not long ago, a letter-writer to the Advocate/Times-Picayune complained about how American news networks, wire services, newspapers and digital news organizations have abandoned objectivity.
As someone who spent almost five decades in the media, I nodded. “So true,” I sighed. Whether it’s Fox on one side or CNN on the other, so many simply amplify the politics of the right or left.
Then the letter-writer lost me. He said he had once taught journalism and that news reports were supposed to present both sides of an issue equally and let the reader decide what to make of it.
No. That’s not how good journalism works. Basic truths revealed in a thoroughly reported story matter more than equal weight to opposing sides. Equal weight can obscure the truth.
This letter-writer was steamed that a story on the 2020 election aftermath briefly dismissed fraud charges as “baseless” without getting comments from both sides. Except that there was no confirmed evidence of fraud, anywhere. Allegations were investigated and dismissed by federal and state election officials, the Department of Justice, the FBI, the office of Office of Homeland Security. More than 60 court challenges alleging fraud had been thrown out. One judge said, “Allegations are not evidence.”
Credible media let the facts determine what goes into a story, not robotic regurgitation of point-counterpoint, as in:
“He beats his dog,” she said. “No, I don’t,” he responded.
That’s equal weight. But the story isn’t ready to post or publish or get air time without first-hand knowledge or evidence. If only the dog could be interviewed. Might not be a story there at all.
It’s the media’s responsibility to dig deep and organize a story to emphasize the truth of any issue – which can lead to more truth being revealed, like peeling back an onion, one story at a time.
If you’ve followed the Advocate’s reporting on how LSU handled charges of sexual abuse and harassment while Les Miles coached football and F. King Alexander served as university president, you know that all parties have had a chance to tell their sides. But the deeply reported stories have exposed what’s undeniable – LSU covered up wrong-doing.
So don’t blame the media for telling truth to power -- which Donald Trump found unbearable -- or explaining the unsettling news about LSU or calling election fraud baseless, even if you don’t want to believe it.
Although many media outlets – especially cable networks -- report or comment with the political leanings of their followers top of mind, they shouldn’t be lumped together with a pox-on-all. Most do search for the truth.
But a few networks eagerly broadcast demonstrable lies or spread baseless conspiracy theories or just plain make up stuff. Among their loyal viewers -- Trump, Hawley, Johnson, Cruz, Jordan, Greene, and the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol.
( Note: Paul Anger spent 48 years in various media positions in both sports and news, retiring in 2015 as top newsroom editor and publisher of the Detroit Free Press and Freep.com. )