A Mixed Media Report Card
We asked for it. We got it. In the past couple of issues, I invited your thoughts on matters of fairness and objectivity in the media—and how you thought U.S. News was doing on those fronts. So far I've gotten about a thousand E-mails, letters, and online comments, with more coming in.
The good news is that many of you appreciated how we work to provide fair-minded reporting and analysis. A lot of you said you've dropped other publications because you no longer trust them. The criticisms of us were civil and constructive. But I sure got an earful. As one reader wrote after a kind intro: "That was the sugar, now for the medicine." Or a little more pointedly: "I would suggest that when you get home you shorten your 'happy hour' and stop smoking what you are smoking."
True or false. What you want is more accountability. Check the conflicting claims of battling politicians. One reader wondered plaintively why we can't do "the simple job of keeping them honest in their political ads." Get to the truth (harder than it might appear at first, but point taken). Some debates are still stuck in a rut. On our coverage of George Bush, most letters diverged between those who supported the war in Iraq and those who didn't. My assertion that the surge strategy had proved a courageous and successful decision was met with tart rebukes, including the gentleman who said it was like praising Mrs. O'Leary's cow for peeing on the Chicago fire.
And there's some nitpicking. Several of you counted the photos of Barack Obama and John McCain in a given issue. A Q&A page with Obama's foreign-policy adviser brought howls of bias, doubtless from folks unaware that we had just run a two-page interview with McCain himself (uh-oh, two pages?). Sometimes you just have to trust that we're trying to make it balance out in the end.
What's clear is that the role of the media is much on the minds of voters in this hypercharged season. Our ability to sort out the myths from the realities may be the difference between maintaining our place in the information food chain and being swallowed up by talk radio, the Internet, and, ouch, the Colbert Report. I hope we can keep the dialogue going. We're running your responses in the magazine and posting them online at our letters section. So please write, E-mail—or go right to my column online and post your comments. The best thing about online is that you can publish your thoughts in real time and argue with each other—thus getting me out of the middle and back to happy hour. -Brian Kelly
Tags: U.S. News & World Report | journalism | media
Tools: 
Share
|
| Comments (15) | Print
Reader Comments
mixed media report card
The Media is just like any other product or service provider. It is subject to competition and as such, has to design new ways of selling its product and attracting sponsors/advertisers. Just factual and complete reporting events do not do it anymore. There has to be some pizzazz, some eye and mind catching gimmicks to sell papers or news programs. Jus5t recently in the Washington Post there was an article regarding most news media organizations are leaving Iraq. Why? Not enough violence or coalition forces being killed or wounded? No news in nation building and the initial workings of a democratic process? Sensationalism and gimmicks is the news media today. I do not believe most of what I read in newspapers. They have become so biased to a party or position that most news articles are slanted. Only Congress is lower in my estimate for professionalism and truth than the general news media.
Mrs. O'Leary's cow
Thanks for your inclusion of the "Mrs. O'Leary's cow" comment in your note. It applies to present day Congressional efforts to "solve" the current financial and constitutional crises. A news article or report could not contain this comment and be objective, but it certainly would be a fair and accurate assesment. Fortunately, Chicago recovered from Mrs. O'Leary's cow's exploits. As well, present day Chicagoans do not have to experience bovine bladder and bowel eliminations associated with stock yards. Hopefully, taxpayers and voters can someday enjoy political processes void of bovine waste. ( I don't think Mrs. O'Leary's cow could have hit the broadside of the barn even with its best efforts.)
I was introduced to US News and World Report in my public high school US History class in Albany, GA. Our semi-retired teacher was the beloved J.O. Allen, then 72 years old (he died the next year), a graduate of Columbia University who had spent his life as a leader in education. Of all that he gave us, one of the most valuable teachings was how to debate issues, using as a springboard the pro-and-con pages of US News, which were then a standard feature. Those lessons, and the standards presented to us for quality journalism and objective analysis of issues, have served me well for more than 50 years. After a 30-year career in education myself, I now work privately as a coach and mentor, and some of my clients have been university students, including many from other countries. As I work with them to bring their English up to an advanced level, I also help them to improve their critical/logical thinking skills, as well as to understand US culture and where each of us fits in the global context of today's world. To get them reading in English beyond their textbooks, I often introduce the younger/beginning students to the Reader's Digest. When they are ready, I suggest that they subscribe to US News, and discussing its contents helps us to continue building their conceptual base and understanding of both US and world issues. While your news magazine may vary in quality, it is consistently better than most of those that reach the general public.
The gist of my experience with US News and with the media in general: the oft-quoted-- and today too-often ignored-- idea that "we are all in this together." Education, not just dispensing information, will always be a (the?) primary responsibility, shared by all, in any viable democracy. The media is of course a major player, along with our families, schools, libraries, and museums, in sifting through the ever-expanding masses of information heaped upon us. This broad concept of education is one in which we are helped to measure quality, set priorities, and formulate our goals. It also helps us learn how to nurture ourselves, guard our health, and contribute to the common good--and thus to survive and grow as a civil society. I would hope that you could hold uppermost in mind always such a vision of your responsibility to partner in educating the public. I am grateful for your efforts so far, as I know what difficult issues and pressures you face in dealing with such a fragmented and vociferous bunch of "students" as we are. So, thank you, and keep up the good work...as we edge our way--or are plunged--into an ever-uncertain future!
advertisement
