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Knowing who pays the bills
Is there really such a thing as unbiased reporting? This has been on my mind for a while but recently hit a new high after a recent article in a major metro newspaper about one of our programs. The article was clearly looking to take shots at Donald Trump, the real estate training eduction industry, and people looking to invest in the current foreclosure market. The writer took a biased point of view against the benefits of our program. What I found interesting was that he recognized that we basically pay his salary by advertising in their publication. Now, I know there has to be a separation between editorial and advertising, but why point out we advertised in the paper? Full disclosure? Doesn't make sense to me. He could have written the article without mentioning our ad and it would not have changed his point of view on the subject mater. Mentioning the ad could have only served to allow the reporter to flex his editorial muscles. TU advertises but that is not going to affect my opinion...
I find this situation interesting. Editorial writers taking shots at the very people who pay their salaries. Don't get me wrong --I am not asking for positive reviews or editorials to be written if they are not warranted, but why bite the hand that feeds you?
What happened to the good old days of the five 'W's of reporting and sticking to the facts?
Josef Katz
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3 Comments
I think it's important to disclose any financial relationship like that of an advertiser to a publisher. Full disclosure up front helps prevent accusations of prejudicial treatment.
I do agree that in this case, it could seem like the reporter is using that disclosure to make him seem even more "unbiased and open minded," which is a bit transparent and silly given his clear bias.
As the marketing director at an ad agency, I often marvel at how far supposedly independent editorial staffs are willing to go to support their advertisers.
News is a business, but many businesses also have ethical mandates that should outweigh pure profit. In my opinion, the sorry state of the medical and journalistic communities suffer from too little hand biting, not too much.
I agree news is a business. I am also sure there are many editors who bend to advertising pressure to give advertisers positive news. Taking a bias and not collecting all the facts, discussing only one side of a story is distorting the news for one’s own personal agenda. People buy papers to get the facts to stories not to read one person’s perspective on what they think the story should be (they can use a blogs for that purpose…). If an editor is already going to give a one-sided account to a story why do a negative piece on an advertiser? I would have no problem with a negative story about an advertiser if it was truly factual and represents both sides equally. My question still stands what happened to unbiased reporting?
Helen Thomas, the famous white house correspondent, recently wrote a book called "Watchdogs of Democracy?" that laments the demise of responsible, ethical hard-hitting journalism. Admittedly within the context of political news, she delivers a scathing, "from the trenches" indictment of the current state of journalism. I think it applies here as well.
That said, if you want unbiased reporting, the best choice out there might just be bloggers (not all of them, of course). Here's a link to a great article on searchenginewatch.com that talks about blogs as the new trade press, and points out how they are carrying the lion's share of the reporting these days.
http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=3627926