For the past 13 years, I have published this disclaimer on top of my editorials: “ACHTUNG: This is not a ‘fair and balanced’ article. It is an editorial by the editor.”
There are times I wonder why I bother.
Too many people fail to understand the crucial difference between an article and an editorial or a column. The difference parallels that of fact and opinion.
Sometimes a reader will tell me they didn’t like that biased article I wrote, but fail to understand it was a biased piece indeed, and deliberately so.
I suspect that the discrepancy has been made worse over the past couple of decades by the phenomenon of Fox News. Fox, ever since it began a little more than 25 years ago, has crowed about being “fair and balanced.” And “we report, you decide.” And Bill O’Reilly was famous for providing viewers with a “No spin zone.”
Yet when Fox was taken to court last year, it insisted that it was not a news service, but instead an entertainment venue. The tactic failed, as Fox was ordered to pay a hefty fine for falsely reporting that voting machines deliberately malfunctioned during the presidential election of 2020.
And when O’Reilly touted his “No Spin Zone,” he proceeded to spin heavily on behalf of right-wing politicians and causes.
The process is breathtaking. It was an entertainment venue that would declare what it was about to do, only to do just a the opposite.
There have been many other practices the network has pulled off that are striking in that they demonstrate a total lack of fairness. It is fair to say Fox is the entertainment arm of the Republican Party, particularly Donald Trump.
One of the most popular “news anchors,” Tucker Carlson, one night criticized First Lady Jill Biden for placing the “Doctor” designation in front of her name. He asked viewers if they would want her to come to their aid if they suffered a heart attack or needed surgery.
Now you know as well as I do, with apologies to George Wallace, that there are many “doctors” among us who do not own medical degrees. They own PhDs. I sincerely believe Carlson knew it as well, but didn’t care. It was careless disregard of the truth.
In my 52 years in community journalism, I have too often stumbled on to readers and constituents claiming as fact in their arguments something that very clearly are opinion.
Then there are those who claim to be objective. Horse hockey!
It is my firm belief that virtually everybody is biased. And I submit that it’s OK. We are human beings, and there’s nothing wrong to be affected in some way by what see and hear. The sin is to falsely claim objectivity.
My mission as a community journalist is to report on developments as they appear as fairly and honestly as possible, with the understanding that I have an opinion. Then it’s my job afterward to submit my opinion and clearly label it as such.
By the way, this was not a “fair and balanced” story, it was a column. There is a difference. And I will own up to it.
Thank you for reminding readers OPINION not FACT! I have enjoyed your editorials immensely! High school debate teacher, Fred Comer, often reminded those in his class: “Readers Digest & the editorial page in a news paper do not constitute viable facts for a debate. Those are condensed versions of others writings and opinions from a personal view points. Not facts!” That advice has served me well. Case in point, at a school board meeting, a citizen presented numerous editorial pieces , stating them to be facts, expressing his dislike of an impending board decision. As a board member, I thanked him for his presentation, but added, the editorials are only opinions. The board was interested in facts regarding the issue. He did not seem to know the difference.
Please continue with your writing. Always good food for thought!