Let’s Hear It For Bias!

“So what?” asks a minister about the media’s preconceptions.

by Dr. L. Joseph Rosas III

ny public figure who has received more than the desired amount or kind of coverage from the media has quickly complained about bias: the apparent preference for bad news over good, the negative and cynical interpretation of facts, the judging and misconstruing of one’s motives, a “bentness” to some hidden agenda of the media elites.
Recently the Memphis Ministers’ Association hosted a roundtable discussion with Kim Hindrew of WMC-TV Channel 5; Jackson Baker of the Flyer, and David Waters of The Commercial Appeal. The focus of the discussion was this alleged media bias, particularly in the coverage of our bailiwick: religion.
With the usual disclaimers about prejudice against religion, the problems of dealing with complex issues in a soundbite-driven medium, and the lack of “real” news on the religious front, the panel basically agreed: There is no such thing as a truly unbiased media.
Nor should there be. One cannot be a detached observer of life. We are all trapped in a lived existence. There is no neutral vantage point from which we can interpret life. Even Joe Friday (“Just the facts, ma’am”) had to do some interpretation.
At a local level, the recent media coverage over the annexation/incorporation debate illustrates the challenge of unbiased interpretation. In the national media much has been made of the charges, counter-charges, and subsequent reversal regarding the White House role in granting special clearance for burial in Arlington Cemetery.
Some in media were ready to believe the worst and others equally willing to defend the White House – illustrating the fact that all news reporting involves interpretation. Fair interpretation involves acknowledging one’s own personal baggage, background, biases, and sympathies. The media, like the rest of us, must acknowledge their biases.
This does not mean that all truth is merely a matter of interpretation. But it does remind us that The Truth, The Whole Truth, And Nothing But The Truth is more difficult to obtain than we like to think. Indeed, in most instances all we can hope for is truth beyond any reasonable doubt.
The myth of modernity is that if all people of sound mind could simply rationally observe the same phenomenon, we would be in agreement on the fundamental issues of life. While science – the apex of modernity – can make the world a neighborhood, it cannot make humankind act like a family.
Neither science nor religion can offer absolute certitude. Faith is a fundamental prerequisite to daily life. Post-modern culture glories in a diversity of thought and expression that reminds us that no one has an absolute corner on the truth.
In a democratic society we need the multitude of interepreters (including the media) that provide the raw material for our own individual reflections on life. Is the media biased? Yes! Aren’t we all? We would not want it any other way.
Bias is another word for passion, commitment, or faith. Socrates said that the unexamined life is not worth living. All we can hope for is the careful scrutiny of all facets of our lives. The truth is not some abstract proposition to be held in mundane belief; the truth is ultimately a relationship with God that sets us free. n
(Dr. L. Joseph Rosas III is pastor of Union Avenue Baptist Church and president of the Memphis Ministers’ Association.)