Monday, September 11, 2017

All the news that fits


Jonathan Small and I have a new post over at OCPA about media bias in Oklahoma. Whether through story selection or the choice of narrative framework, journalists don't always report the news fully and fairly. Moreover:
It’s not just what stories they choose to write (think of The New York Times slogan “All the news that’s fit to print”) and how they construct those stories. It’s also what stories they choose not to write. 
Here’s an example. When a public opinion poll in 2015 showed voter opposition to school vouchers, a reporter for the Tulsa World correctly deemed it newsworthy and reported the findings. But last month when OCPA sent this same reporter the results of a new survey showing strong support for Education Savings Accounts and other forms of private-school choice, she replied tersely: “Wayne Greene, opinion pages editor, is your contact at the Tulsa World.” In other words, all the news that fits, we print. Anything else is just your opinion. 
Now granted, newspapers are entitled to evaluate newsworthiness and make their own publishing decisions. Still, this hardly seems like an appropriate response from a reporter to a source. 
Is it any wonder that only one in seven Republicans trust the media?
Read the whole thing here.

UPDATE:

Another survey from the education establishment and—surprise!—another Tulsa World news story.

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