There are too misunderstandings here.
Good questions.
First, neither I nor philip (if I may take the liberty of interpreting him) insist that the goal of a news outlet be political rather than journalistic. Its goal should be journalistic; but it will also have a political point of view and effect, whether it intends it or not. Its goal should either to openly declare its p.o.v. and publish good reporting with advocacy, or to try to be aware of its own biases, correct for them, and to to elevate factual reporting over its politics. What's maddening is those papers that claim to do the second while doing the first. As an example of a magazine that seems self-aware about its biases, I would cite Time, which has always seemed to me to self-consciously strive for the center.
This is a much welcomed modification of the views I've seen you argue about. I have no quarrel with someone who says you can generally find a fairly broad political point of view in, for instance, the NYTimes or the WaPo. Attempts to label it as liberal or whatever get it wrong in my view, but it's presence is something I would agree about. My problem arises when we say that journalists should write from their points of view, when it becomes some sort of moral mandate. Then we get, in my view, to the politicalization of the news. And that's not healthy.
As for the discussion of what's a centrist and what's a lefty, you and I hardly need to agree on that one. The making of the lines always says as much about our own political positioning as anything else. The NYTimes, the WaPo, Time Magazine, etc. all occupy various points in the political center, as do all the major network TV news.
However, the right-left-centrist distinction can get us all into trouble. And that maybe part of our problem. Any given, decent, politician may occupy positions which are distinct. Several, for instance, dem pols are against gun control, strongly in favor of affirmative action, wobbly on issues of choice, and decent on redistributive measures. Where do you put them? If I knew the nuances of Rep types, I suspect I could do the same for them. |
