Journalism, Politics, and Sci-Fi

We're moving this weekend to that new house I mentioned a while back so I really don't have time for a nice long well thought out piece here. But a friend of mine sent me this article: Would the last Honest Reporter Please Turn on the Lights by Orson Scott Card and I wish I could read it aloud to the whole country. Everyone should hear this message. It's a call for a return to journalistic integrity and honesty. Card discusses the reporting of the mortgage crisis and the current presidential campaign and shows how very biased the media has been. He seems to be specifically directing his message to newspaper reporters but I believe the mainstream television media is even more guilty. It's important to note that Orson Scott Card is a Democrat. He's also an award winning sci-fi/fantasy author, loved by his fans and respected by his peers, a majority of whom are also Democrats.

These two paragraphs from Card's article really struck home for me:

If you had any personal honor, each reporter and editor would be insisting on telling the truth — even if it hurts the election chances of your favorite candidate.

Because that's what honorable people do. Honest people tell the truth even when they don't like the probable consequences. That's what honesty means . That's how trust is earned.

How can we, the consumers of the media, hope to learn what's really happening in the world? How can we hope to make a well informed decision at the polls when our media, our supposed watchdogs, have taken it upon themselves to make our decisions for us? We should be outraged.

The best we can do is watch Fox News in equal doses with MSNBC and CNN, read humanevents.com to balance out what we read at nytimes.com and washingtonpost.com, listen to Micheal Savage and Thayrone on the radio to balance out the major networks' nightly news broadcasts. It takes effort and judgment and a discerning ear to sort through the bias leaning to both sides. And, sadly, there's no guarantee that you'll actually discover the truth.

I'm off to pack. Go read Orson Scott Card's article. It's also available here.