Call for “more intellectual diversity among journalists”
Tom Rosenstiel, a former political reporter who is now Director, Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, says conservatives are underrepresented in the journalism profession and something needs to be done about it.
“The perception of liberal bias is a problem by itself for the news media. It’s not okay to dismiss it. Conservatives who think the press is deliberately trying to help Democrats are wrong. But conservatives are right that journalism has too many liberals and not enough conservatives. It’s inconceivable that that is irrelevant.”
[…]
“There should be more intellectual diversity among journalists. More conservatives in newsrooms will bring about better journalism. We need to be more vigilant and conscious in looking for bias. Our aims are pure, but our execution sometimes is not. Staff members should feel in their bones that unfairness will never be tolerated.”
Those quotations appear in a column by Washington Post ombudsman Deborah Howell, who admits that over 900 subscribers in the past four weeks have cancelled because of the Post’s perceived liberal bias.
Her suggestions for remedying what she admits is a real problem seem rather anaemic, however. Hiring more conservative journalists is one option, but that won’t be easy at a time when newspapers are tight for cash because of falling circulation.
Anyway, Ms Howell seems to think the problem will be self-correcting.
After Obama is inaugurated, he will be the authority the news media challenge. It happens in every administration.
Why do I not find that particularly reassuring?
Liberal bias in mainstream media is, of course, one big reason for the popularity of political blogging, which many journalists and journalism professors regard as a blight on the body politic. They have only themselves to blame.
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