NPR: People Say Media Are Sloppy, Biased ... But Doing OK

People Say Media Are Sloppy, Biased ... But Doing OK

To paraphrase Sally Fields, you sort of don't like us, you really, really sort of don't like us. The news media, that is. OK, maybe that's going too far. You still like us, but you're feeling more than a bit iffy. And you're really grumbling if you read or listen to us online.

According to the latest Pew Research Center survey, "Views of Press Values and Performance: 1985-2007," a majority of you think that we're biased and inaccurate, and more than a few of you see us as uncaring about the people we cover and too critical of America. I won't go into all the percentages -- you can read them on the report summary.

But you still think we're very professional and doing a good job keeping politicians in line. Go figure.

The real news to me is the growing divide between Democrats and Republicans about the media. Conservatives have long considered the traditional media too liberal, but the gap is growing. No doubt reporting on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan is influencing this divide. (For instance, more than twice as many Republicans as Democrats say news organizations are too critical of America -- 63 percent vs. 23 percent.)

Jay Rosen over at PressThink tries to shed some light on the debate and concludes that what really undermines the news media's better instincts is not being liberal or conservative but being addicted to "savviness."

Deep down, that's what reporters want to believe in and actually do believe in -- their own savviness and the savviness of certain others (including operators like Karl Rove.) In politics, they believe, it's better to be savvy than it is to be honest or correct on the facts. It's better to be savvy than it is to be just, good, fair, decent, strictly lawful, civilized, sincere or humane.

The idea that many important journalists have replaced tough reporting with an adoration of "savviness" is a very interesting one. Your thoughts?

5:07 PM ET | 08-14-2007 | permalink

Comments

Generally I don't find the media to be too biased one way or another, and it's not so much that the news is "sloppy" or inaccurate.

I don't think journalists try hard enough to evaluate the facts. They are always expressing someone else's opinion, regardless of if that opinion is grounded in fact, or indeed even in reality. As a result, the news is reduced to white noise, impenetrable to most honest thinking individuals.

I think you might be able to recapture our attention if you resurrected the honest debate. Let intelligent articulate individuals express themselves freely, and then evaluate their statements, call them on their inaccuracies, and try to establish where the real conflict lies, and how we can overcome it.

I think the media has been helping us divide ourselves, when in reality, liberalism and conservatism are fantasy.

Sent by Jody Sol | 5:23 PM ET | 08-14-2007

I'm not so concerned with bias in the media. That's something that can't be avoided. But for God's sake, how someone feels isn't news, Spears and Lohan and the other "socialites" aren't news, and sensationalizing headlines with emotional hooks trivializes the news. (I don't see these as problems for NPR.) I don't know if this is a problem with the news or the public that seems to demand it. Please . . . all I want is a return to unemotional, factual news reporting.

Sent by Steve McAllister | 10:02 AM ET | 08-15-2007

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