Published: September 07, 2009 09:59 pm      

CURRAN: Media objectivity is a myth

The coverage of last week’s town hall meeting with Rep. Baron Hill held at Indiana University Southeast reminded me why I never pursued a job as a reporter. Key in that decision were two things I’d observed when I’d attended events and then viewed the news coverage of them: the coverage almost never matched up with what actually happened and media objectivity is a myth. I didn’t want to set myself up to fail by trying to meet these incredibly elusive or impossible standards.

The coverage presented in The Evening News was a pretty accurate representation of what occurred at last Monday’s event, which was billed as an opportunity for Hill’s constituents to ask questions and communicate their views to him on the topic of health care reform. However, if you looked at The Evening News story and compared it to what was reported by the Courier-Journal and Fox41 News, you might end up scratching your head and wondering if all these stories were about the same event.

According to the Courier-Journal, the event was civil and approximately 600 people attended. The sample of comments and questions in their article gives the impression the crowd was fairly divided on the issue. That would be a false impression as there was clearly a much, much greater number of opponents of the current Democratic health care reform proposals than supporters.

Hill’s lack of support among the crowd was evident even before he began speaking. A roar of laughter and jeering arose from the crowd as Hill was introduced and described as a “Blue Dog Democrat,“ which supposedly means a fiscally conservative Democrat. My impression was that the conservatives present thought the idea of him as fiscally conservative was a real hoot and the liberals were fiercely opposed to fiscal conservatism. Everyone seemed to frown upon the Blue Dog label. I’m not sure that atmosphere was “civil.”

Fox41 News, the local kin of the cable network Fox News which has hyped these town halls and seemingly encouraged boisterous attendance, pegged the crowd at 800 and highlighted Hill’s comment about preferring a trip to the dentist rather than his experience at the town hall facing his constituents. Maybe some reporters got bad driving directions. One ended up at a civil discussion, which Hill came out smelling pretty rosy, the other attended a rowdy meeting with 33 percent — a full one-third — more people that gave him a really hard time.

If news consumers looked to diverse information sources and took these news reports with a grain of salt, or the press was upfront about the limitations of reporting and the risk of slanted coverage, these differences in perspective would be harmless. Instead, the false standard that these stories represent objective truth contributes to the condition in which hundreds of people could scoff at Hill’s statement that our economy was in pretty bad shape when Barack Obama took office as president in January. Even with his experience in politics, it was evident Hill was surprised so many people were in denial about a simple fact. He commented amid the roaring, “boos” that he didn’t think that was in dispute. In some people’s minds, it somehow was.

It also enables a lack of understanding by a congressman, and those with views similar to his, about people’s opposition to socialism and how strong that opposition is. The facts they’re listening to say everyone agrees health care needs to be reformed, and we pretty much accept the method they’re proposing.

Liberal news sources suggest that if we protest, it’s only because we don’t fully understand and it’s really only a vocal minority that object anyway. Yet, when those who claim opposition to the nanny state make public displays of their own willful ignorance of any facts that don’t make their party look so good, they’re giving the other side ammunition.

A liberal’s head will not explode if they watch some Bill O’Reilly without mocking him or see what the Cato Institute has to say on an issue. One might even learn something of value from Sarah Palin. Really. It’s even alright for a liberal to admit Michael Moore is a problematic symbol for socialized health care. You know you thought it.

A Republican can admit their last president was a bit of a dud without it undermining their opposition to a new social program, and the honesty and ability to laugh at their team just might gain them some respect. We all can and should look to various sources of information and make up our own minds, taking thoughtful positions that align with our own interests and values.

It seems a waste of time, if nothing else, to consume information that only reinforces what you already believed to be true. You’re not even getting your money’s worth out of the cable bill like that.

Refusing to think for ourselves is incredibly dangerous. There are those happy to take over that task, too.



Jeffersonville resident Kelley Curran thinks media coverage is slanted, so to even it out, she gets horizontal on the couch. Well, that and she’s just lazy. Write her at kelinawriterhat@aol.com