“Are you an objective journalist, or do you report with a point of view?”
This is a question I find myself posing a lot lately to supposedly objective TV and print reporters on their public social media feeds. There, these journalists behave more like left-wing activists than they do professional journalists (as if they don’t behave the same way at work, given the questions they ask and the slanted stories they produce).
They editorialize left-wing talking points. They lecture the conservatives not to watch FOX News. And in the comments section they almost always get defensive and offer pat answers to every single conservative who questions their personal objectivity.
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But when I pose the question that I posed up top, they overlook or ignore me. And that tells me the question intimidates them and/or they’re too frightened to question their own journalism ethics.
If they work for a newspaper or a TV station that has a point of view and they publicly admit to a bias, then that’s terrific. At least conservatives know who or what they are dealing with.
But if these reporters portray themselves as objective pursuers of the truth who — accurately — tell all sides of a story but behave otherwise then people on the right must avoid them. Too many people on the right have assumed these reporters had journalistic integrity but ended up getting ambushed. These journalists will work overtime to discredit conservatives. They will not work overtime to discredit the left.
News coverage of the recent mass shooting at the Covenant Christian School in Nashville speaks volumes. Reporters use the tragedy to push their usual left-of-center gun control narratives and try to tarnish the reputation of any conservative politician or conservative lobbyist who won’t give in. These outlets portray gun control activists in a sympathetic light. They ignore the mass shooter’s mental illness. These outlets ignore the fact that the shooter deliberately chose a school with minimal security. They don’t push to see the transgendered shooter’s political manifesto because it might contradict their preferred political narrative.
But when it comes to gun control have these same reporters ever once interviewed a Covenant parent for his or her perspective? Surely, their opinions matter more than those of anyone else. Or does the media dodge them because they are likely conservative Christian and would likely not politick against the Second Amendment?
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During the debate on Obamacare nearly 15 years ago, how many times did the media seek out conservative think tanks who analyzed the pernicious effects of more government regulation on the healthcare market? How many times did the media present as a reasonable point of view that government monopolies and regulations restrict competition and increase costs?
I saw no media do any such thing. And now we’re all paying higher costs for health insurance because the media was working against us.
These reporters can holler about how they’re on your side or how only they can defend democracy and are above scrutiny. In truth, they’re working against your best interests, not for them.
The conservatives who are alert and understand the media’s agenda should ask one question to every reporter who wants to interview them:
“Are you an objective storyteller? Or do you report with a point of view?”