How do we discuss bias?
Grant Cottage holds major fundraiser in Saratoga Springs
By Ken Tingley
It has been almost a month since I did an interview for a local radio station about my new book.
A couple questions caught me off guard and I’m not sure I answered them very well. It bothers me because in hindsight they may have been the most important questions of the interview. They were a reminder that many still see bias in their local newspapers and the media in general.
The interviewer’s question started with what he believed were known facts.
That many journalists come into the business with a very specific view of the world and refused to acknowledge the conservative viewpoints of their readers.
He wanted to know why so many reporters at the newspaper take that “left-hand turn.”
He wanted to know how many conservatives were in our newsroom and on our editorial board.
They were all questions I had heard before when I was editor of The Post-Star in Glens Falls.
I told him I didn’t necessarily agree with that assumption, that I believed professional reporters and editors tried to be fair, truthful and always get the facts right. That was what they were trained to do and what was most important to them.
But I wish I had gone further. I wish I had explained that reporters and editors do not sit around the newsroom and talk about their political beliefs, which candidates they like or do not like and where they stand on the issues of the day. That type of talks is actually frowned upon in newsrooms because we are supposed to be fair and impartial.
The conversations are often more heated over grammar and syntext.
I wish I told the interviewer the vast majority of journalism has nothing to do with politics, politicians or the big issues of the day. That was what my book was about. It recounts the differences we made in our community by bringing attention to the problems we were facing with underage drinking, suicide, domestic violence, heroin addiction and the coming crisis of elderly care.
The book shows the dedication reporters and editors have to get the story right and make a difference.
I should have told the interviewer there were both conservative and liberal reporters and editors in the newsroom and if they were doing their job right, no one would know where they stood on the political spectrum and as editor I didn’t know nor care what their beliefs were as long as it didn’t impact their job.
The interviewer also asked me why most journalism programs are not “right-down-the-center” when it comes to politics. He seemed to imply colleges were teaching students to be liberal in their viewpoints.
I joked that I had not been in a journalism program in 40 years so I was not the best person to ask. That was a bad answer. My son minored in journalism in college a few years ago and was editor of his school newspaper so I saw the work his newspaper and staff did. They took their responsibility to be fair and impartial seriously. Neither their advisor nor any of their teachers were making decisions about story placement or content. More often than not they were at odds with the administration. Their goal was to turn out strong news stories that covered their college. I don’t believe any journalism school preaches a political ideology. Journalism is the religion. Truth is the currency. That is what our religion was in the newsroom.
My newspaper had an ethics policy that we took it very seriously. So do most newspapers. Anyone slanting a news article toward a specific viewpoint would be disciplined, possibly fired. In my 21 years as editor, we never found a reporter who did that.
What is most troubling is that I know the interviewer sees the bias and he knows other people who see it as well.
From time to time when I was editor, readers told me the same thing, so I asked for specific examples in our newspaper. They usually could not remember anything specific. Sometimes they pointed to a bad headline or a paragraph that did not include all the facts. That happens. What the reader must ask is whether this was done deliberately by the reporter or editor to support their own viewpoints.
Putting out a newspaper is a difficult business with tight deadlines and long hours and it is getting more and more difficult as resources evaporate. Few stories are perfect, so if you are looking for bias, you can probably find it.
Often out of frustration I would tell readers, “Listen, I don’t have time for all these conspiracies. I’m just trying to get home in time for dinner.”
There is some truth to that.
I know we all have built-in biases from our life experiences, but one of the things drilled into journalists is to be guarded about your personal viewpoints creeping into your copy. That is never acceptable.
Even now, I’m trying to figure out where the root of these beliefs rests.
Is it the constant drumbeat from prime time cable shows pushing the “fake news” mantra?
Is it the more recent development where newspapers have had to more aggressively fact-check politicians who lie? Does that make it appear reporters and newspapers are taking sides?
Community newspapers generally do better than other media outlets when people are asked who they trust, but even those numbers should be much better.
After the interview we talked some more about the subject and my interviewer told me he just wanted newspapers to play it straight. I told him I believed they were playing it straight, but I don’t think he believed me.
Like so many of the divides in our country, I don’t know how to bridge that gap. And that worries me more than anything.
Newspapers past, present
If you want to hear more on the subject of newspapers, I hope you can make it to Saratoga Springs on Saturday morning for a panel discussion about the past, present and future of newspapers at the Saratoga Book Festival.
Mark Mahoney, Pulitzer Prize winner and editorial page editor of The Gazette in Schenectady, will join former Post-Star Projects Editor Will Doolittle and myself for a conversation about newspapers and my new book.
Hoping we can get some Post-Star alums to fill the seats and reminisce about some of the great journalism that was done.
Eric Hoppel, former news director at Channel 13 in Albany, will moderate the discussion at the Saratoga Arts - Dee Sarno Theater at 320 Broadway in Saratoga Springs from 9:30 -10:30 a.m.
Happy 200th
Grant Cottage, one of the best little historic sites in New York, recently took a big step forward with a major fundraising event at the Gideon Putnam in Saratoga Springs to celebrate Ulysses S. Grant’s 200th birthday.
I served on the board of the Friends of Grant Cottage a few years back and this was the type of fundraiser I always envisioned for the site. It was a packed house with politicians like Rep. Paul Tonko, Assemblyman Sen. Jim Tedisco and Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner all in attendance.
The cottage is looking to expand its footprint into the grounds of the old prison for more parking and an education/event pavilion. They are off on the right foot.
Another booster shot
This was my fourth booster shot and combined it with my flu shot the same day.
We’ve seen an uptick in Covid cases locally and deaths are making the headlines again locally. With my four booster shots, I feel like I’m pretty protected, but if you don’t get the booster shot, you will be at risk again.
None of us need that.
The public has been taught that they shouldn't believe their own eyes, ears or experiences. Instead they should believe what they are told by their favorite TV station with an opinion. If what they see and hear doesn't match, somehow that has been manipulated by the news organization to fit their own agenda, not in reporting the truth. Certainly the expectation is that a journalist will get as much information as possible from all sides involved and present it ALL for others to make their own judgements. That takes a lot of work. I'm not sure if others are finding the same but it also takes courage and open mindedness to reflect on ALL of the information which many are not willing to do. I have parents that will read nothing but the New York Post and watch Fox 24/7. They would never consider listening to the Jan. 6th hearings because it is all made up or manipulated. They believe that the only people that are telling the truth are the Rush L., Hannity and Carlsons of the world. Everyone else is not only bias but liars if their narrative doesn't fit. I'm not sure how we ever get back to a world before "opinion" TV and newspapers. A place where information isn't left out or only one side is presented as convenient. Can we? The problem isn't the newspapers being biased. It is the refusal of so many to even read and consider the facts if they don't fit with what Carlson or Ingraham tell them they should believe.
In all the years that I have been reading the Post Star, I don't ever remember thinking that the paper was biased. I have lived in Virginia, Alabama, and Texas and read their papers also. I have found that I am reading an account of what has happened, not an opinionated story about a particular event. This BS about papers being biased is the ignorant rantings of a man-baby! All of this BS really took flight because of an over inflated ego, and so many were eager to hop on that misinformed train with him. When you ask these idiots what exactly is biased, you will never get an answer, because they REALLY don't know, they are just blindly repeating what they hear, and are simply not intelligent enough to actually figure it out for themselves. Are mistakes made? Of course, but I have always seen how quickly the Post Star has made the corrections, and publicly acknowledged it. I have supported the Post Star in the past and will continue to do so until they prove me wrong. Sorry this is so long. 😊