Monday, October 05, 2009

The "Historic Health Care Debate"

No Mayo writes:
I no longer know what saddens me more, the state of American politics or the state of American journalism. Perhaps the problem is that they have become one and the same and are sharing the ride into the sewer.
I am not sure either.

Here's the thing, I know that editors have to make decisions about what goes into the paper and what doesn't. I know that journalists make decisions about what to put in their stories and what not to put in their stories. All of that is fine with me--to a point. I also know that they have a First Amendment Right to print what they want--they can even print lies. (Lies tend to invite lawsuits which is why most papers don't print lies).

But why call yourself a journalist or a newspaper or a news source if you are going to even attempt to present multiple sides of an issue. That is what I think No Mayo is talking about--not that newspapers are so slanted, but that they pretend to hold themselves out as objective.

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