Media
The 1st Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, among other rights, grants freedom of the press. It specifically states: "... Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of the press ..." As with the rest of the Constitution, a brilliant political principle without question. With its brilliance though, it does not regulate the quality of the free press and throughout our history we have seen both outstanding journalism and pitiful examples of a free press. In the second decade of the 21st century, there are two strong political ideologies (left & right) controlling the political dialogue in this country. During the 2012 Presidential Election, spin from the left and right are presented as mainstream information and what was formerly mainstream, balanced & unbiased information sources have changed or evolved their format to the point that unbiased reporting is unavailable. In the 2016 Presidential Election, there was no effort at all to cover up the biased reporting of the mainstream media. Today's news sources are targeting specific messages to gain specific ideological audiences, thereby presenting bias. This bias is most times unidentifiable, not completely truthfully nor presented with perspective and context that the reader/viewer/listener requires and expects. Shockingly, sometimes this bias is purposely (NBC) camouflaged (NY Times - 4th paragraph down) from the reader/viewer/listener. In our polarized society, these strong messages on both sides overpower the ability of people with limited time to evaluate issues to find a center, compromise, reasonable or mainstream position. Especially when each side is also saying they offer the center, compromise, reasonable and mainstream position, whether they do or not. There are media watchdog organizations out there, but they also represent an ideological left and right. Much of this website is dedicated to shedding light on the bias in current American journalism. While we long for that great post-WWII journalistic era, where we were served by responsible, professional and largely unbiased journalism, unfortunately, we are no longer so served. That makes it difficult for American citizens to find the truth among the hype, agenda peddling and biased reporting. If you look at the bottom of this page and all pages on this website, you will find major (and some not so major) news organizations listed based on their political leanings, Left or Right. You will immediately notice there are none listed in the center. While there may be the occasional article in any of these news sources which could be a center, balanced and truthful report, by and large the reporting from that news source is defined by its L-R political leanings. The Gray Area is attempting to help its readers by so identifying the biases of the news source from which a report originates to help you identify the spin within the news piece you are reading or watching. We will include an article in the center if we believe it represents the center, a thoughtful, balanced and honest perspective. That way, presented with facts and recognizing the source, you can make up your own mind. In this 'media' section, we comment on the egregiousness of some reporting so that you may see the best and worst of what we must today use as our sources of information. From an analysis of all the sources, THE GRAY AREA HAS CREATED ITS OWN SPECTRUM OF MEDIA BIAS.
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a "national trust"

4/12/24
from The Gray Area:
4/12/24:
The New York Times reported on an essay from an editor at NPR, Uri Berliner, who criticized NPR for it's "progressive worldview".  Mr. Berliner said  “I decided to go out and publish it in hopes that something would change, and that we get a broader conversation going about how the news is covered”. Apparently he got that conversation started. The essay has created a firestorm within NPR and across the media landscape The New York Times reported. It is not news that NPR is a left wing news organization. That has been true for decades. But, this from an insider adds evidence to the claim. Following is a summary of what Mr. Berliner said as reported in The New York Times.

'He said that “people at every level of NPR have comfortably coalesced around the progressive worldview.” ... a litany of journalistic missteps around coverage of several major news events, including the origins of Covid-19 and the war in Gaza. He also said the internal culture at NPR had placed race and identity as “paramount in nearly every aspect of the workplace.”

NPR has forcefully pushed back on Mr. Berliner’s accusations and the criticism. “We’re proud to stand behind the exceptional work that our desks and shows do to cover a wide range of challenging stories,” Edith Chapin, the organization’s editor in chief, said in an email to staff on Tuesday. “We believe that inclusion — among our staff, with our sourcing, and in our overall coverage — is critical to telling the nuanced stories of this country and our world.”

Some other NPR journalists also criticized the essay publicly, including Eric Deggans, its TV critic, who faulted Mr. Berliner for not giving NPR an opportunity to comment on the piece.

The Times said that some journalists have defended Mr. Berliner’s essay. Jeffrey A. Dvorkin, NPR’s former ombudsman, said Mr. Berliner was “not wrong” on social media. Chuck Holmes, a former managing editor at NPR, called Mr. Berliner’s essay “brave” on Facebook. Telling language is noted above that gives subtle, but important, evidence in support of Mr. Berliner's allegations:
  • Mr. Berliner's language;
    • “people at every level of NPR have comfortably coalesced around the progressive worldview” ...coverage of several major news events, including the origins of Covid-19 and the war in Gaza
    • NPR had placed race and identity as “paramount in nearly every aspect of the workplace.”
  • NPR's language:
    • “We believe that inclusion ... is critical — is critical to telling the nuanced stories of this country and our world.”
  • Others said he was "not wrong", and "brave".
Here is where the accusations and the defense language match (bolded above & below):
  • "race and identity" has been “paramount in nearly every aspect of the workplace” of every legacy news organization, and admitted publicly by some including The New York Times.
  • The origins of COVID -19 have been debated since the first days of the pandemic, with the progressive worldview being followed by the experts, the WHO and other domestic & world wide organizations.
  • The 'war in Gaza' is a progressive political narrative introduced by all 'progressive worldview' news organizations, including the Times, to re-frame Israel's war against Hamas as a genocidal, colonial war against Palestinians in Gaza. That is an inaccurate, propaganda narrative, but one the progressives portray, protest about, and want the story to be about.
  • NPR's response confirms all this with the statement, "We believe that inclusion ... is critical — to telling the nuanced stories of this country and our world.” 
  • Hiding the Mueller Report and the Hunter Laptop story because it would help Trump! This is the 'woke mind virus' as Elon Musk refers to the 'progressive worldview'.  What is important is if your team wins! Whatever it takes! By what ever means necessary!
Mr Berliner called NPR a “national trust” that people rely on for fair reporting and superb storytelling. Clearly it is not. Should the government continue to fund partisan propaganda? Is 'partisan propaganda' the mission of NPR as written in the government funding documents? Does the government need to be or should it be, involved in public media? Given this betrayal of the 'public trust', I think not. This 'trust' should be re-evaluated immediately. Lets hope that "change" Mr. Berliner mentioned, "and that ... broader conversation ... about how the news is covered” continues in earnest, with an open & honest approach.  It won't be easy, considering the ideology and revolutionary thinking behind that 'progressive worldview'. More From The New York Times (subscription required):


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