re: #646 Obdicut

Reporters are not supposed to report in an unbiased way. I have no idea why people think that. When reporting on Iran stoning women to death, reporters don’t have to pretend that that’s okay. When they’re reporting on someone who thinks gays are abominations, they really don’t have to give that idea equal time.

What reporters are supposed to do is to be transparent about where they’re coming from. The model of this is Murray Kempton.

They’re also supposed to take into account their own biases and make sure that those aren’t distorting the story.

Reporters as individual people do indeed have their own opinions.

Bud Obdi, my dad was a reporter and editor for a newspaper for 40 years. Reporters report facts, even when the facts are inconvenient for their own personal opinions. Editorial staff analyzes and presents opinion.

But ‘unbiased’ is an impossible state to reach for a reporter who is reporting on issues of any importance.