Mostly Harmless

Neutrality and bias: how to tell the difference

Mostly Harmless
Jeanette Browning Faubion

It’s time for a little journalism 101, with an emphasis in discernment. Sound thrilling? You’d be surprised how many assumptions people make about what is and isn’t news, so why not play along to see what you might be missing. Though I’ve heard through the grapevine I look young in my column photo — thank you for that, by the way! — I’ve worked in the newspaper industry for more than 15 years. I may not know everything, but I didn’t just fall off the newsboy’s bike either. Over the years, one of the things that has surprised me is the general public’s lack of understanding in the difference between straight news reporting and opinion and how to tell the two apart.

When I was in elementary school, I remember the teacher handing out copies of the Kansas City Star and Times — newspapers bigger than I was at the time. The lesson for the day was to learn the basic parts of the newspaper and the differences between them — news, entertainment, opinion/editorial, sports. That story about the mom and pop cafe in Gladstone is a human interest feature, the story about the state budget cuts is hard news, the editorial cartoons weren’t funny in a way we understood but Peanuts sure were. With those giant pages draped over our desks, we learned there was a place for everything, everything had its place and don’t cross the streams.

It really should be that simple. Yet it isn’t. Let me explain.

Yellow journalism and bias are hardly new concepts and most journalism programs try to stamp these practices out of their graduates. Yet accusations of bias are everywhere, especially in political coverage on television news. The rise of the cable news star anchor seems particularly troublesome. You have star anchors on the right and on the left, and both sides use their status as platforms to spin opinion and news together. Personal and network agendas insinuate themselves into everything reported by these outlets, yet each purport to be fair and balanced — and far more fair and balanced than the competition, of course.

It’s annoying, it’s dangerous and it’s trickling down into all journalism, not just big-market politics. This just makes the jobs of small-market reporters more difficult. The key tenants taught in most journalism programs are objectivity and neutrality. The journalist is the fly on the wall, symbolically removed from the situation. It’s why most reporters don’t clap during recognitions. Neutrality in reporting is something that seems to be going more and more by the wayside. When CNN, MSNBC and Fox News drag in mammoth ratings for what amounts to pundit shouting matches — the intellectual equivalent of Jerry Springer guests with advanced degrees — of course other news outlets will perk up and look for a piece of that lucrative action.

News reporting is supposed to be “just the facts, ma’am” — We all know that cliché, but it is the truth. News is the who, what, where, when, why and how of any given event. News can be big or small — a charity supper on the bulletin board or charges filed in a murder case. Most often, it’s something routine. It’s who voted against the golf cart legalization in Parkville or that folks are irritated by KCP&L’s transmission line plan.

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Neutrality and bias: how to tell the difference

Mostly HarmlessJeanette Browning Faubion

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Mostly Harmless
Jeanette Browning Faubion