The Economist has an excellent analysis on a new trend in news sources. It suggests that partisanship is becoming more and more common–indeed, it has been very common in Europe for some time, but is now entering many different media sources worldwide. Some sources try to ignore it or rise above it (e.g. CNN)–but seem to be doing so at their peril. The other way is to acknowledge it, be open and transparent about a media’s leanings, and still (to whatever degree is possible) uphold some basic standards and link to sources. In other words, it’s okay to be a left-leaning liberal or a right-leaning conservative as long as one openly acknowledges this, tries to be truthful in what one says, and links to the original sources so that a reader can follow a story as deep as he or she wishes.
Personally, for research purposes, I have long tried to follow a large number of sources–some leaning left and others leaning right–so that I get a bigger picture of what’s going on. Following only one source is a well known meme–”The echo chamber”–and is the equivalent of sticking one’s head in the sand. It is far too easy to be surprised by an event when you are only following sources who say precisely what you already think about what is happening, or is likely to happen.
{ 0 comments… add one now }