this post was submitted on 30 Oct 2023
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Bias will always exist. That is a given
But many outlets have learned to make clear demarcations between editorial and reporting. It isn't always obvious if you aren't looking at it, but it is the idea that actual data is reported "honestly".
For example: Take a look at how most outlets report on the Israel/Palestine war. Some will list IDF casualties for Israel and civillian casualties for Palestine which introduces immense bias (I want to say Al Jazeera does this?). Others will use verbiage like "N Israeli citizens were killed. N*100 Palestinian civilians died" which introduces bias on the other side. A good outlet will use the same verbiage and data for both sides.
And that is immensely useful. Because, again, to harp on that war: There is so much FUD out there that it is REALLY hard to know what is true or not. And sure, social media is a lost cause. But so are a LOT of news outlets and that is why the hospital bombing immediately entered "jet fuel can't melt steel beams" territory.
And no, I am not going to list an "objective or unbiased" outlet. Because that never leads to a good discussion. It always results in "Yeah, well here is an example of them not being perfect. Checkmate" and, more importantly: People who understand the need to care about this should learn how to evaluate for themselves. Rather than rely on some rando on a message board to tell them how to think.
I apologize if what I wrote came off as a trap. I am just trying to have a broader discussion about the demand for objectivity that we see people throw around pretty much daily. Politicians do it, pundits do it, people arguing online do it, it’s just this thing people do and I think we need to critically assess it. It is not meant to challenge you or trap somebody and going “haha you’re wrong.”
TL;DR: It’s just a critical assessment/discussion. Not a trap.
It isn't a "critical discussion". It starts from a fallacy (if perfection can't be reached, why bother?) and continues to completely misrepresent the purpose of news media.
Because going back to your "When did World War 2 start?" non sequitor:
The nightly news has little to no reason to even have a stance on that. In fact, if Anderson Cooper were to get on screen and say "World War 3 started today", it would be immediately followed with "The fuck? Okay, Fred is drunk again and I need a new script... sorry for cursing, I hope we bleeped that.".
What the news WOULD report on is "Israel has begun a bombardment of Palestine in retaliation for a string of terrorist attacks". A GOOD outlet would then say "This is one of many flash points in a decades long conflict going back to the foundation of Israel in the late 1940s", an explanation of the open air prison that is Gaza, and possibly a deeper piece on the ongoing terror attacks from both sides.
As for a longer form documentary or article: Again, what matters is "fair" comparisons.
I think this is a little too hostile for my blood to be honest. I’m having what I believe to be just kind of a friendly, academic discussion. This isn’t meant to “prove somebody wrong” or get into a fight.
Anyway, I know you think it’s a fallacy and that is a valid opinion, but it is a pretty widely accepted perspective among historians and academics in other fields. I mentioned another comment the book That Noble Dream which covers the objectivity question in history. Might be worth thumbing through it or looking at some excerpts. It’s a pretty seminal historiographical work and puts forth what is basically an accepted fact (lol) when “doing” history. You’re telling a story assembled from various narratives and doing your best not to do violence against certain narratives or omit certain voices.
Obviously you can never be 100% airtight, and as others have said it does not mean you shouldn’t try since we can’t be “perfect” and objective, but if we can’t acknowledge the limitation and the fact that objectivity is a myth then we will continue to see people cry out for “objective” news sources and the like whenever they don’t like something. That’s the real fallacy. And the secondary negative consequence is it encourages stripping down topics to the point where not only is nuance lost, but valid perspectives and narratives from people are completely disregarded/omitted.
Again, you are comparing a historical discussion to reporting on current events. They are very different situations with different expectations.
I get that you are happy that you learned something interesting in philosophy class. And that is a very important thing to understand. I love discussing the nuances of history and the motivation behind different wars (and understanding those would help a lot with current conflicts...). But it has very little to do with the nightly news or being aware of current events.
History and news go hand in hand with their philosophies.
This is a really obnoxious way to communicate with people. There is no reason to be dismissive because you disagree with me. I have been nothing but cordial and this was wholly unwarranted. You know literally nothing about me, my background, or expertise.
Have a good rest of your day.
No. You came into a discussion of why it is important to support good news outlets with "Well, Philosophy 101 taught me that there is no such thing as an unbiased or good news outlet" and continue to not understand the difference between "8000 civillians have been killed in the retaliatory bombings over the past few weeks", "8000 people died as a result of the Hamas terrorist attacks in the past few weeks", and "The root cause of World War 2 is..."
It is an inherently bad faith argument coming from a position of ignorance, at best. So maybe I don't know your background, but I very much can make informed decisions on what your expertise, or lack thereof, is and can see strong indications that you are doing your best to not scream "fake news, fake news".
Peter Novick is basically considered the father of modern historiography. To reduce his work to "philosophy 101" is incredibly dismissive of a great mind and an important figure who has done much for history as a field. His work is thoughtful, interesting, and important, if a bit dry.
You claim I am ignorant yet you are dismissing a cornerstone of humanities as a field without even knowing who he is or what he wrote. That's like saying "I don't really know who this Cerf guy is but I don't give a shit what you learned in CompSci 101." That would be profoundly ignorant to say.
Have a good one man. I'm done. This was a really shitty interaction to have today but I guess that's just one more reason to spend less time around here. Not going to let you get me all bent out of shape. Cheers.