2008 Woodie Awards
The truth is not all journalists are biased
Kyle Hansen
Issue date: 5/2/07 Section: Opinion
Every media outlet has a slight bias, whether they admit it or not. And that is OK. It is just good to know ahead of time what that bias is and counter it with a news source with a different bias.
Enter technology again.
While the Internet may allow for an information overload, it also allows one to easily get news from multiple sources. Doing so will only feed your own bias and can potentially skew your perception of the world.
I use an RSS reader to keep on top of what is happening. Right now, I subscribe to 73 different feeds. Some of those come from the same sources, but there are at least 10 large news sources like the San Jose Mercury News, the L.A. Times and the New York Times, plus many different blogs. In the last 30 days I have read more than 10,500 items.
As I admitted, I am a little over the top, but reading these feeds only takes a few seconds to look at the headlines and then read only the items that seem interesting.
Getting news from a variety of sources means that I am not just listening to people that agree with me. Sometimes the news in the San Francisco Chronicle seems a little slanted to me. But I can read about the same story from the Mercury News and the Oakland Tribune.
The only problem is that all the news can get overwhelming. Every once in a while I just have to click "Mark all as read," and move on.
But the variety is good. It helps me to be more rounded as a person and more educated as a citizen.
So the next time you are tempted to complain about the media being biased and evil, consider your own news gathering process. The unavoidable natural bias in the news is not a problem if you are utilizing the resources around you.
Kyle Hansen is a Spartan Daily staff writer. Guest columns appear every Tuesday and Wednesday.
Enter technology again.
While the Internet may allow for an information overload, it also allows one to easily get news from multiple sources. Doing so will only feed your own bias and can potentially skew your perception of the world.
I use an RSS reader to keep on top of what is happening. Right now, I subscribe to 73 different feeds. Some of those come from the same sources, but there are at least 10 large news sources like the San Jose Mercury News, the L.A. Times and the New York Times, plus many different blogs. In the last 30 days I have read more than 10,500 items.
As I admitted, I am a little over the top, but reading these feeds only takes a few seconds to look at the headlines and then read only the items that seem interesting.
Getting news from a variety of sources means that I am not just listening to people that agree with me. Sometimes the news in the San Francisco Chronicle seems a little slanted to me. But I can read about the same story from the Mercury News and the Oakland Tribune.
The only problem is that all the news can get overwhelming. Every once in a while I just have to click "Mark all as read," and move on.
But the variety is good. It helps me to be more rounded as a person and more educated as a citizen.
So the next time you are tempted to complain about the media being biased and evil, consider your own news gathering process. The unavoidable natural bias in the news is not a problem if you are utilizing the resources around you.
Kyle Hansen is a Spartan Daily staff writer. Guest columns appear every Tuesday and Wednesday.
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