Great conversations this week, friends! I appreciate that we can talk respectfully about tough topics. I know it isn’t easy. It’d be easier to insult… denigrate… stop listening. It’d be easier to rest in our echo chambers, where only the cushioning of our unknowingly, already-padded perspective bounces off the walls. Yes, it’d be easier to never have to wrestle with the aspects of our perspective which may be wrong. It’d be easier to never have to consider the notion that there most definitely exist areas where each of us is wrong.
As said here often, where we stand depends on where we sit. And sometimes we need to move our chairs around.
Timely, therefore, is this week’s updated, concise list from one of the Intramuralist’s more oft-frequented web sites.
As we know, bias exists. Let me be clear: bias isn’t necessarily wrong. It’s also not necessarily inaccurate. Bias, however, is in favor of a singular side. In the news, therefore, varied other potentially accurate perspective is intentionally omitted. We thus often are not getting the whole story; we are often being manipulated.
Such is why All Sides is one of my fave sites. They actively encourage reading across the political spectrum. In fact, they actually state that “center doesn’t mean better.” Allow the editors of All Sides to explain:
“A Center media bias rating doesn’t necessarily mean a source is neutral, unbiased, perfectly reasonable or credible, just as Left and Right don’t necessarily mean extreme, wrong, or unreasonable. A Center rating simply means the source does not predictably publish perspectives favoring either end of the political spectrum — conservative or liberal. A Center outlet may omit important perspectives, or run individual articles that display bias.”
Based on their detailed verification process and research, note their current assessment of how news sources rate:
According to All Sides, in this most recent analysis, FOX News moved from “lean right” to “right.” USA Today moved from “center” to “lean left.”
Friends, I love this tool! Wanting a more comprehensive, impartial perspective — and knowing where we sit makes a huge difference — I recognize I will not be sharp on the wisdom/folly of critical race theory, immigration, how much money the government continues to spend and the like if I only pay attention to FOX, the New York Post, and the Daily Wire. I’m going to have an equally distorted perspective on critical race theory, immigration, how much money the government continues to spend and the like if I only pay attention to CNN, MSNBC, and the New York Times.
Pay attention to those mixed sites. NPR news is thought to be in the center; their opinion page is not. Same with The Wall Street Journal news; their opinion page is also different.
What we pay attention to matters. And what we pay attention to grows.
Our perspective then grows…
Even when inaccurate.
Respectfully…
AR