I would not like to be the editor of this newspaper: I wouldn’t like to be the editor of any newspaper. Now, if you happen to be a card carrying member of any conspiracy theorist club, you will already have conjured the above sentence to mean, ‘yer man is after his boss’s job.’ That’s how these people think; they look for the opposite meaning in everything. Let me say it once again, the greatest casualty of the past decade is the truth.
It is becoming ever more difficult for a newspaper to have facts and truth accepted and to be objective when in competition with the dynamics of Twitter and Facebook. One ‘alternative fact’ is posted somewhere for every good news report in your mainstream paper. Journalists spend a lot of time fact-checking before an important news story is published, but the opposite is the case on social media. Readers also have to be able to differentiate between a columnist, who offers an opinion, and a journalist who hunts down a news story. This is why good newspaper reporters are known as ‘newshounds.’
‘There are two sides to the story’, said a woman who recently rebuked me. The fact that by any stretch of imagination I was 95 per cent in the right, didn’t prevent there being ‘another side to it.’ So today’s ceist is, does the proportion of what is right and who is wrong make any difference to the balance of the argument? Or are there just ‘two sides to it’ and each one with an equal right no matter how lopsided?
Maintaining objectivity and balance must surely be an editor’s greatest headache; and this begs my question as to whether are not the nut-cases, conspiracy theorists, the far right, racists, and those who are against everything, are entitled to the same airtime as truthful facts? These misfits probably only make up the same 5 per cent as did the woman’s argument.
Newspaper editors and responsible journalists do take that said same responsibility very seriously. Serving the public interest is the key measure of good journalism and by and large, Irish newspaper, both national and provincial, have done the job well. But the big danger now is in deciding where to draw the line in how much coverage to give the way-out right wing propaganda … the 5 percent side.
Can you believe that anti-immigration protest groups are now starting to picket the offices of Irish media organisation over what they claim is bias and lack of balance in reporting the refugee situation? God Almighty … do they never look at TV images of what is happening to innocent human beings in Ukraine? But there again, you still have holocaust deniers claiming that the German extermination camps never happened. The point again is; should these bayers of bile get equal press?
In America now, less and less of the population want to read or hear unbiased news. They confine their listening to where their opinions and prejudices are confirmed. Fox News carries the message of the Republican Party – and despite its proven false reporting, it isn’t far enough to the right for some Trump supporters. CNN, whilst unapologetically taking the Democrat line, does manage to sail closer to truthful news.
Meanwhile, back to our own little cabbage patch. It is absolutely vital that local newspapers thrive and prosper. American politician, Bernie Saunders, has written about the ‘news deserts’ in the US. Mr Saunders goes to great lengths to show that where local newspapers disappear, the void is being filled with disinformation. Could it happen here? It will be a bad day if it does and so it is up to all of us to ensure it doesn’t. And while we are on the subject, the reporting of court proceedings is a key feature in democracy and this coverage should be included in your newspaper. There is a public-interest obligation involved.
We stated at the outset that there is meant to be a big difference between an opinion column and good journalism; but many good Irish journalists do have that gift of being able to slot in their slant while also doing very professional reporting. This leads to a more engaging read. Of course an awful lot depends on the individual take put on the story. Statistics is the father of many different stories – and I am reminded again of the man who said; ‘statistics are like a bikini … they reveal what is suggestive – and conceal what is vital!’
Giving out about your ‘local rag’ is allowed. ‘Nothing different this week only the date’, and so on. But as Bernie Saunders says, our community will be much the worse for losing our own newspapers with its dedicated and fair reporting.
Don’t Forget
Truth does not need a defender – only an investigator.
