5/16/21 Is Fairness Overrated?

Lester Holt, a big-name broadcast journalist at NBC, recently received a lifetime achievement award from Washington State University. That's the alma mater of Edward R. Murrow, a journalist's journalist in the World War II era.

The canon of Murrow's day was to cover all points of view objectively. Holt, in his remarks, tossed that canon aside, saying, “I think it’s become clear that fairness is overrated.”

What Holt is talking about is whether there’s value in giving the point of view of all sides when one of those sides is a blast of hot air. As Holt put it, “The idea that we should always give two sides equal weight and merit does not reflect the world we find ourselves in. That the sun sets in the west is a fact. Any contrary view does not deserve our time and attention.”

The point of Jeffrey McCall's op-ed, attached, is that that perspective is wrong. Mentioning points of view is not distributing misinformation, he says. Worse, if you dismiss an opinion that you think is nonsense, you're assuming that you do know the truth. You're also dumbing down the news by keeping people from evaluating other sides.

If you're covering Trump Republicans, you're covering conflict rather than substance. Do you really need that point of view stuck into a story about, say, immigration? Writers and Holt are saying no. McCall is saying yes.

When you turn aside from a point of view that you think is ridiculous, you're also turning aside from people who agree with it. And that's why right-wing voters can't stand the mainstream media. https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/553719-journalism-dies-in-newsroom-cultures-where-fairness-is-overrated?fbclid=IwAR1ru5xnmv-HshGzSY_pZmxXcfeSyykx1GxHOPRd84AaTWWAdQ_Op5mHpoU&rl=1

Do you agree with Holt or McCall? Are we missing "On the other hand..." in the news?

Do you think that the media is deliberately brushing aside right-wing views? Or are right-wingers simply demanding a bias that they agree with?

What kind of nonsense does the Right believe in that you think should NOT be reported?