Friends, I’m sorry. I think we’ve made a mistake. As we watched a few more news sources fall prey to the skewed idea last week that presenting more than one angle of an issue is no longer necessary nor good (while simultaneously suggesting all reporting on any incumbent being too old to run again immediately cease), I think the mistake made is that we sometimes suggest we should be tuning into non-biased sources. That’s not necessarily true.
That point was brought home for me not via CNN nor FOX nor even MSNBC. That point rang clunkily true during ESPN’s College GameDay, one of my family’s favorite fall pastimes.
On Saturdays we tend to sit a little longer, take in a game, and pay attention to what’s happening on the college gridiron. Last weekend at day’s end, I noticed top billing/more attention paid to a few select games. What did they have in common?
In each scenario, at least one team was a member of the SEC, the NCAA’s Southeastern Conference, a notable powerhouse of collegiate athletics. While prominent, what’s also true is that there exist multiple other powerhouses deserving of our attention, such as the Big Ten and ACC (and well, the Big 12 and very-deleted PAC 3 or 4). ESPN just seemed to pay the most attention and be the most excited about the SEC.
There’s nothing wrong with that.
But why would we mention GameDay when speaking of bias?
Great question. Guess who owns the SEC Network.
Yes, ESPN. It benefits ESPN’s bottom line if they report on the SEC in a favorable, more exciting way, so that more viewers tune into their other-owned network.
Friends, let me be clear. It’s ok and even a wise practice to tune into biased sources. Says one of our fave sources in AllSides: “Center doesn’t mean better! A Center media bias rating does not mean the source is neutral, unbiased, or reasonable, just as Left and Right do not necessarily mean the source is extreme, wrong, or unreasonable. A Center bias rating simply means the source or writer rated does not predictably publish content that tilts toward either end of the political spectrum — conservative or liberal. A media outlet with a Center rating may omit important perspectives, or run individual articles that display bias, while not displaying a predictable bias. Center outlets can be difficult to determine, and there is rarely a perfect Center outlet: some of our outlets rated Center can be better thought of as Center-Left or Center-Right, something we clarify on individual source pages.
While it may be easy to think that we should only consume media from Center outlets, AllSides believes reading in the Center is not the answer. By reading only Center outlets, we may still encounter bias and omission of important issues and perspectives. For this reason, it is important to consume a balanced news diet across the political spectrum, and to read horizontally across the bias chart.”
Balance is more important than bias… a balanced news diet, a balanced sports diet. It’s thus ok to tune into ESPN; it’s simply wise to know the bias.
Hence, let’s provide an updated chart from AllSides. Are you aware of what you’re watching?
We’re in this together, friends.
Let’s be discerning conveyors of news…
Well… and sports, too.
Respectfully…
AR