Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Sad Day

No, the Green Dragon didn't break down for good. The Christian Science Monitor is ceasing daily publication and becoming a weekly while also focusing on their web version. I don't purchase the CS Monitor (although I did recently become a KPBS member!), and now I feel guilty about it. I've been reading it online for years, and think they do some of the best news reporting in the world. At one point I considered subscribing to their "treeless" edition, which delivered a facsimile of the print publication to your email inbox every morning. But because I could read a different version online, I didn't.

Much has been said about media bias, and the argument has legs. But the larger problem is that people don't go to unbiased news sources. If you watch Keith Olbermann or Bill O'Reilly for fun, fine. If you watch them to learn about the day's events, you need your head checked. The CS Monitor is a truly impartial publication, and I hope their migration to focus on the web reflects the changing tides of media technology, rather than portending their demise.

5 comments:

Karen (Cupcake) Carter said...

Great to know. I will look into it!

Anonymous said...

Honestly, I like it when a news source wears its bias on its sleeve. Though the _CS Monitor_ might move closer to unbiased on the bias continuum, it is not unbiased that I so much value as an explicit frankness about bias. For example, _The Econonmist_ does not hide its brand of liberalism--a free market emphasis with a more Libertarian social view. Watching Fox News or AM talk radio, you may disagree (I certainly do), but you know what you're getting. My main source of news is NPR, and I recognize and value its American liberal slant. But for it to masquerade as unbiased is just that: a masquerade.

Anonymous said...

I meant *listening* to AM talk radio. (I get so nervous when I leave a comment on a writer's blog!)

Michelle Panik said...

Hey Karen!

Hi John, I respectfully disagree that NPR is biased. Their socio-cultural stories maybe be progressive, but I feel with their reportage they go to great lengths to maintain impartiality and give equal time. But I definitely agree that sources that are upfront about that they they lean one way--or provide commentary--should be applauded.

Anonymous said...

Hmm...I will listen with your comment in mind. Perhaps I'm just hearing what I want when I tune in, but there have been some McCain stories--especially around Joe the plumber--that have not shied away from pointing out the folly of the Republican candidate's economic policies. Because of its funding, though, NPR has to move toward the unbiased. I know that studies have been done that look in a very granular way at minutes per side, etc. I should look those up.