What News is to Me

01/20/15

I personally don't like the "the news should be X, not Y" argument. In this day and age, there's limitless platforms available for any kind of news setup. My only requirement for news to actually be news is to cover some perspective within this reality about any given thing. Good news simply covers that perspective well (aka, a pretty complete perspective giving some sort of insight or understanding to those whom are alien to that perspective).

It doesn't have to be objective, it doesn't have to be fair, it doesn't have to be non-partisan. Perspectives aren't any of those things. Now-a-days, it's easy to immediately get the opposite perspective almost immediately. And, in reality, I don't think the news was ever non-partisan, they only pretended to be, and such dishonesty only ever hurt it.

Though, I am not against non-partisan data. It's just, that's serious work, and needs to be taken seriously. Random samples, peer review, double-blind setups, serious analysis, serious considerations on how to present data without implying things the data doesn't imply. Real science.

That stuff should happen, and I think a news platform that takes that seriously would provide excellent and actually scientific insights, but all news being that way? Information would lag behind the events for way too long. A myriad of quick perspectives could perhaps approximate such proper science, and anything that needs it could get the proper scientific treatment.

At least, those are my thoughts for now, but my opinion here is changing as I constantly get new information and resources. Already, I may be changing my opinion as I read and internalize the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics.