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AP NEWS ALERT: We Just Got Interesting
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If you've ever spoken to a journalist, you know how true that is. Maybe, in conversation, the reporter reveals more information, or more background that comes from spending years on the same beat.
Or maybe he gives you his perspective -- and not an ill-researched, slanted opinion like the ones you find in super-partisan literature, or in the comments section at the bottom of blog posts like this. A reporter who spends a half-dozen months covering a presidential candidate sometimes knows more about that person than the candidate himself.
At the very least, reporters know much, much more than what they write in their stories, simply because a news hole is finite but knowledge is not.
One man who understands that principle is Ron Fournier, the newWashington
That's a joke that wouldn't have flown at the bureau until Ron took over in May. Since then he has essentially asked his reporters to be more human. It's the reason I called him by his first name at the beginning of this paragraph, and the reason I used the word "I" three times in this sentence.
Yeah, the AP is going to be around forever. It will always be the first to the news, and it will always be the most accurate and fair news service. To suggest it is biased because its reporters have suddenly been told to use the right sides of their brains is to reveal limited knowledge of what bias is.
Bias suggests intent. The intent of an AP reporter is not the same as the intent of the propaganda distributors for the campaigns of Democrat Barack Obama, Republican John McCain or still-deciding Mitt Romney.
What my colleague probably meant, in accusing the AP of a flaming bias, is that the most reliable institution of information in the world is suddenly becoming more conversational, and more appealing to readers at a time when most Americans would rather watch Miss USA 2008 fall down than pick up a newspaper.
There is nothing wrong with veteran political reporter Beth Fouhy leading her story with, "I miss Hillary." You know why? Because she does. And if she didn't write that, she wouldn't be telling you the whole truth.
If you've ever spoken to a journalist, you know how true that is. Maybe, in conversation, the reporter reveals more information, or more background that comes from spending years on the same beat.
Or maybe he gives you his perspective -- and not an ill-researched, slanted opinion like the ones you find in super-partisan literature, or in the comments section at the bottom of blog posts like this. A reporter who spends a half-dozen months covering a presidential candidate sometimes knows more about that person than the candidate himself.
At the very least, reporters know much, much more than what they write in their stories, simply because a news hole is finite but knowledge is not.
One man who understands that principle is Ron Fournier, the new
That's a joke that wouldn't have flown at the bureau until Ron took over in May. Since then he has essentially asked his reporters to be more human. It's the reason I called him by his first name at the beginning of this paragraph, and the reason I used the word "I" three times in this sentence.
Yeah, the AP is going to be around forever. It will always be the first to the news, and it will always be the most accurate and fair news service. To suggest it is biased because its reporters have suddenly been told to use the right sides of their brains is to reveal limited knowledge of what bias is.
Bias suggests intent. The intent of an AP reporter is not the same as the intent of the propaganda distributors for the campaigns of Democrat Barack Obama, Republican John McCain or still-deciding Mitt Romney.
What my colleague probably meant, in accusing the AP of a flaming bias, is that the most reliable institution of information in the world is suddenly becoming more conversational, and more appealing to readers at a time when most Americans would rather watch Miss USA 2008 fall down than pick up a newspaper.
There is nothing wrong with veteran political reporter Beth Fouhy leading her story with, "I miss Hillary." You know why? Because she does. And if she didn't write that, she wouldn't be telling you the whole truth.
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Ouch
8:25PM 8:25PM Jul 21st 2008
Matt Negrin, you are full of crap. How can a reporter be fair or accurate when he puts his opinions or views into the work? That completely goes against the nature of honest, true journalism. What a load of BS.
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Char-lay
8:26PM 8:26PM Jul 21st 2008
I completely disagree with the above post. Not only does first-person journalism make stories more interesting; it adds an extra dimension that goes beyond just straight reporting of the facts. A journalist’s opinion in a story still invites the readers to form their own opinions, whether it’s the same opinion or something completely different.
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Ouch
8:27PM 8:27PM Jul 21st 2008
You read the news to find out what happens, not to find out what a particular person thinks about it. The news should be factual so the readers can form their own opinions. Otherwise the story is nothing but that: a story. NOT news. Matt Negrin, you don’t know what you’re talllking about.
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Char-lay
8:28PM 8:28PM Jul 21st 2008
But beyond all this, with first person a story can take on new dimensions in description.
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Char-lay
8:29PM 8:29PM Jul 21st 2008
Eff you. You know it’s true. And if you don't, I'll bite you.
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Ouch
8:33PM 8:33PM Jul 21st 2008
Now that’s a load of horse shit.
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Ouch
8:34PM 8:34PM Jul 21st 2008
Ouuuuuuch. Ouch, Char-lay. That really hurt.
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Hunter Thompson
10:37PM 10:37PM Jul 21st 2008
Shut up you fucking swine, or I'll sick the fucking leeches on you! These AP reporters must think they're doing some real gonzo journalism. Bullshit! I'm a fucking doctor of journalism, man! I know these things! Anyone seen the ether?
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Keith Schath
1:28PM 1:28PM Jul 22nd 2008
This article doesn't address the more pertinent political bias that keeps news from being fairly and honestly reported.
If an issue such as "drilling for more oil" isn't presented in as complete a list of pertinent facts surrounding the realities of if it will or won't actually make a difference the public is not being well informed. It isn't tree hugging liberals looking at other alternatives anymore, it's those looking at how much money the government invests in oil, where supply and demand will be if we back the oil, and where it will be if we put the government backing into reducing the need for oil.
Aggressively backed alternatives can reduce the demand for oil multiples over the outcome of continuing to put huge funding into the oil industry.
Every person who backs the drill for more oil line should be willing to look at well presented cost and timeline information that correlates reduced need for oil and be willing to change their mind according to new information in. Right now there are too many willing to make a decision and stick to it way beyond where it is no longer valid.
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