he979415@ohio.edu
As a journalist in the 21st century, it is incredibly important to remain neutral and transparent in your writing. Too often, journalists are covering stories that have bias or are leaning one way or the other on the political scale. Even if journalists remain neutral in their writing, they are often seen by critics as supporting one side or the other simply by covering the story. Remaining neutral when covering a story is the best way to ensure that your audience is receiving a positive message from your writing.
In order to maintain neutrality in your writing, journalists should always attempt to tell both sides of the story. One-sided stories often contribute to the common belief that the media is biased. According to another blog, as journalists we are often encouraged to find a "niche" and to be great at writing about specific topics, by doing so, we are already exposing ourselves to the possibility of creating bias in our writing.
The dilemma occurs when bringing into account the idea that journalists are supposed to be transparent in their writing. If one is supposed to be transparent, shouldn't they be upfront with their opinions and beliefs, no matter the bias? The burden most journalists have to accept is the fact that if they were transparent about their own beliefs, it would most likely offend a significant portion of their readers. Journalists must come to the realization that they now work for the people, and their main priority is giving them the most accurate and unbiased information, as factual and straight-forward as possible.
So how should a journalist stay neutral when they are writing? One of my favorite quotes from the reading is "if someone tells you that they have no opinion, even on serious issues, that they are totally objective and that they also never make a mistake, you would probably think they are either a liar or a sociopath." It truly is impossible to bring no opinions or beliefs with you when you become a reporter or journalist. Some suggest that the best way to combat bias in your writing is to be upfront with your own personal beliefs and opinions. The problem with this concept from a journalist's perspective is that most likely, your audience will begin to view your work differently. They may even boycott your writing all together and choose to get their news from another media outlet.
The best way to ensure that your writing reaches the largest audience is to remain neutral when covering even the most controversial topics. Readers are much more likely to continue to choose your news outlet if the information is given to them in a neutral and transparent way. In order to do this, you should write multiple drafts of your articles before posting them and reread them to ensure there is no chance of any bias. It is also a good idea to have another person, (usually an editor), read through your work to determine if they detect any bias in your writing.
(Image Source: Bloomberg Opinion)
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