Friday, October 17, 2008
the "unbiased" news
The Chicago Tribune's editorial board announced today that they endorse Barack Obama for President of the United States. I understand that this newspaper is in Chicago, where Obama is from, and that based on the rights to free speech these members are allowed to express their beliefs and views. But is this really appropriate? In a time where the media is continuously accused of having a liberal bias when they're supposed to report unbiased news, is this the right thing to do? Should they really openly admit to endorsing the democratic candidate? I think this potentially could present a dilemma for some readers who are either republican or undecided; maybe now they won't trust the stories presented because they know the paper favors Obama.
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6 comments:
This is not a new phenomena, the Chicago Tribune has endorsed a presidential candidate for the last 161 years. So why shouldn't it endorse one this year? The real phenomena is that this is the first time the paper has ever endorsed a democratic candidate and shows a huge step away from the conservative stance the paper has consistently held.
but was it right for them to ever have endorsed someone in the first place? is this a tradition that really should be kept up or should news corporations really remain neutral and only present the facts?
I agree with rali2. this is an EDITORIAL-- it is about the opinion of the editorial staff. Endorsing a candidate is no more partisan than endorsing a bill, or issue, ect.
I see two sides to this. On one hand the idea of remaining unbiased is ignored in their declaration of support for Obama. They may lose readers, but then again, they are based in Chicago, in the democratic state of IL.
In my opinion I don't think it is bad.
I don't think that it is bad that they publicized who they support. The Trubune is traditionally a conservative newspaper so now that they openly support Obama they could also gain more readers, lose some conservative readers or stay the same.
I have never known that the Chicago Tribune endorses a presidential candidate, but I would be afraid that their opinion can push people away who do not agree with their opinion.
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