News and Opinion: Not to Be Blended

While all journalists have their biases, they must acknowledge that there are times when they can view their opinion and times when they must put their opinion aside to do their job. Journalists that fail to do so when reporting on the news are at best, failing to exercise appropriate care and professionalism, and at worst, attempting to use their reporting to influence people toward their personal views.

Bill O'Reilly of Fox News's "Obama Chronicles" is one such example. The series is pitched as a way of revealing more about Obama for both those who will vote for him and those who will not, but at several points shows O'Reilly's personal bias.

-In the first segment, talking about Obama's parents, O'Reilly characterized Obama's mother as a "hippie" who took "decades" to get a Ph.D and characterized his father as "irresponsible." While this is a less egregious example of his bias compared with other incidents, it establishes his judgmental tone.

-In a segment talking about Obama's connection with a controversial Catholic priest, whom O'Reilly said argues that America is a racist nation, O'Reilly frequently interrupted the guest when he attempted to explain the priest's position, disputing his arguments. This raises the possibility that O'Reilly did not want the guest challenging this negative characterization of the priest, which would make Obama look bad through his association with him.

-In the segment about Obama's connection with MoveOn, Obama's questions for the guest were significantly less critical and he did not interrupt as often. While he voiced some skepticism about the extent of Obama's connection with MoveOn.org, he did not show active disagreement.

These are not the only times when Obama has taken a highly judgmental attitude. One of the better known incidents is his interview with Jeremy Glick, whose father had died in the attack on the World Trade Center, in which he repeatedly told Glick to "shut up", accused him of sympathy with the terrorists, and cut off his interview and forced him to leave the building. Banderas' interview with Shirley Phelps is another example of blatantly opinionated coverage with no regard for delivering the news.

The Huffington Post is guilty of similar faults.

-This article about McCain supporters calling Obama a terrorist quotes a blog article that features biased language.

“McCain was speaking today in New Mexico, doing his usual personal attack on Barack Obama, as the stock market plummeted (you can see the ticker next to McCain on the screen, an apt reminder of what McCain and his fellow Republicans represent)” contains two thinly-veiled attacks on McCain, one on his campaigning style and one on his economic policy. It then makes a snide remark that "McCain does say in the next sentence that he's upset about all the 'angry barrage of insults.'" while contributing nothing that the other quotes did not.

-This article takes a highly presumptive tone with "There appears to be little doubt" about the ad being express advocacy, which indicates a reporter's agreement. However, because it is a wording choice, I am more willing to believe that it was due to carelessness, rather than active bias.

In a time when the media are being criticized for being biased and scrutinized by the rising movement of citizen journalists who write in blogs, it is up to individual journalists to take more care in reporting and writing to ensure that their reports adequately cover the issue without any hint of favoritism or spin. Not only do readers depend on the reporters for news, but media critics are watching them, and have the potential to see one incident as a symptom of systematic bias. Fox News and Huffington Report's lack of care is thus problematic, and it is up to media consumers and producers to do what they can to try to guide them toward more professional reporting.