…Not Affirmation.
A
s a journalist, I try my best to remain impartial and to avoid any bias. While I do have broadly left-leaning tendencies, I recognize that there are merits to arguments heard on either side of the aisle, so long as they can be supported with evidence. So, when I was told recently that I was pushing a left agenda with my articles, I was taken aback and, as a journalist who strives for objectivity, a bit offended.
While studying journalism at Mohawk College, there was quite a bit of time spent focusing on verifying sources, which involves checking and rechecking everything that you are reporting, doing your research and your due diligence to ensure the accuracy of the story you are telling.
When journalists fail to be accurate, they leave themselves open to reasonable criticism, where readers may feel that not all facts have been accounted for or opinions not fairly represented. This leads us to the question: Does being accurate also mean being fair and balanced?
To attempt to answer this question I reached out to some fellow journalists to gauge how they feel about fairness and accuracy.
“I often tell students that fairness and balance is overrated,” said David Smilie, Co-ordinator of the Journalism Program at Mohawk College. “Accuracy is the important thing.”
According to Smilie, one’s adherence to precisely representing the facts of a story is paramount. Smilie comes from a scientific background where opinions on a particular subject are irrelevant; the facts are the important aspect and should be treated with the highest priority.
Matthew Barker, a freelance journalist with credits to Mohawk’s Ignite News and CBC’s Fifth Estate, expressed sentiments that ran slightly differently to Smilie’s. As Barker explained, “You have to write a nice, well-balanced article that gives the views of everyone.” According to Barker, it’s nearly impossible to tell an accurate and truthful story without first seeing the views of every perspective.
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“I often tell students that fairness and balance is overrated … Accuracy is the important thing.”
— David Smilie, Co-ordinator of the Journalism Program at Mohawk College
Smilie and Barker have two very different approaches to journalism, though both have merit, and in each, we see that facts are the foundation on which accuracy can be built. However, does being accurate mean that the article is unbiased?
Not necessarily.
“Everyone does have bias in some respects,” Smilie explained, “as journalists, we try to ignore bias, but the only way to do that is by recognizing your bias. The onus is on us to do that.”
Barker has his own ways of getting around bias.
“If I come upon an issue that I’m writing about,” Barker explained, “I try to get as many angles and as many opinions as possible. That way I don’t have to worry about being accused of being biased.”
Still though, accusations of bias happen. An important thing to note when discussing bias is that while there are writers who let their biases shape their writing, there are also times when, irrespective of their approach, writers are perceived as having a bias.
As consumers of media, we have a tendency to gravitate towards media organizations, Facebook pages, and people that reinforce our beliefs. This, coupled with algorithms designed to send us content we “want” to see, can reinforce our thought processes or belief systems even further. Meaning, that when something factual challenges these thought processes or belief systems, we may perceive it as biased as a way to deny its truth or significance. This can lead to friends or family members reading any coverage of topics like climate, activism, or unions as pushing a left-wing agenda, rather than taking the story for what it was, as reported.
In a landscape where journalists and the media are under constant scrutiny to be both first and correct, it is more important than ever to ensure that the stories we write stick to the facts and that we are accurate in reporting them. Does that mean bias will be completely put to the side? I don’t know, but it’s worth a shot. Inherent bias may be difficult to avoid, but as a trained journalist, it is worth it to the story being told to make sure no stone goes unturned. As the late Jim Lehrer stated in a 1997 report by The Aspen Institute, “Acknowledge that objectivity may be impossible but fairness never is.”
A version of this article appeared in print in The Ontarion issue 188.3 on Mar. 12, 2020.
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