ABC - Accountability, Bias and Credibility
This is a blog I created for my website: www.ChrisSicuranza.com/blog. Please head over there from time to time to check out my thoughts on politics, public relations and more.
Accountable: adjective - (of a person, organization, or institution) required or expected to justify actions or decisions; responsible
Accountable: The word embodies so much to so many, especially right now. When we elected our new administration into office, we were hoping for more transparency. We as everyday citizens should, ideally, track what was going on with these mega bailouts.
Sure, Recovery.gov was created to give us fun charts and graphs to digest, but will the average American interpret this data? Hardly. Instead, millions turn to the daily papers, hourly newscasts, or the never-ending buzz from the net. The only problem is the political or economic bias that the organizations put out.
For example, News Corp. (ie Fox News) owns both the Wall Street Journal and Myspace; one represents the ultimate in trade information, the other, a hub for networking (and now musicians). Between these two outlets alone, News Corp. can affect millions of people, and more importantly, their opinions.
In fact, Fox News has constantly tried to cry foul against Democrats while lifting up Republicans. Case in point? The recent South Carolina scandal showed an unfaithful Democrat governor who was deeply regretful of his extra-marital affairs. One problem: the governor was a Republican! Fox News has a history of labeling the wrong party unto a name, but especially after a scandal, when magically they become Democrats!
(Wow - he switched to the Dem. party right after this scandal, huh? Sneaky Fox / Courtesy: Media Matters)
Is there any hope for us to get unbiased news then? If the government has an agenda, and if private outlets have been trying to sway the masses with their bias, how can we be sure of our coverage?
We can’t, really. But, we can invest our time into researching a claim. Don’t be so quick to judge superficially and make sure you know the source of any story. If an outlet has a reputation for a bias, especially one you don’t agree with, stop supporting the outlet with your viewership.
But there is hope. Some independent and unbiased folks have tried to take matters into their own hands. Case in point, CapitalWords.org - a website dedicated to showcasing conversations in our capital, while documenting who said it and what their record is.
I recently found out that my local representative, Rep. John Tierney - MA (D), has one of the lowest scores in terms of him actually speaking. I followed up and sent an email and asked why he wasn’t speaking more. While I never found an answer, I did find he moved off of the lowest speaking category. Did a public outcry emerge because he wasn’t walking up to the podium enough? Doubtful. But imagine if millions of Americans actually held their public officials accountable in such a way that we could track what they did (and, no, not just political tweets either).
In brief, we need more accountability. Far too often, we are mislead by slanderous rumors or just plain false information. We need more third party outlets who adhere to the integrity of the traditional American journalist.
It leaves me wondering: with all these new bailout jobs, why didn’t we fund that kind of position? We need to get back to basics - back to our ABC’s: Accountability, avoiding Bias, and creating Credibility again.
Accountable: adjective - (of a person, organization, or institution) required or expected to justify actions or decisions; responsible
Accountable: The word embodies so much to so many, especially right now. When we elected our new administration into office, we were hoping for more transparency. We as everyday citizens should, ideally, track what was going on with these mega bailouts.
Sure, Recovery.gov was created to give us fun charts and graphs to digest, but will the average American interpret this data? Hardly. Instead, millions turn to the daily papers, hourly newscasts, or the never-ending buzz from the net. The only problem is the political or economic bias that the organizations put out.
For example, News Corp. (ie Fox News) owns both the Wall Street Journal and Myspace; one represents the ultimate in trade information, the other, a hub for networking (and now musicians). Between these two outlets alone, News Corp. can affect millions of people, and more importantly, their opinions.
In fact, Fox News has constantly tried to cry foul against Democrats while lifting up Republicans. Case in point? The recent South Carolina scandal showed an unfaithful Democrat governor who was deeply regretful of his extra-marital affairs. One problem: the governor was a Republican! Fox News has a history of labeling the wrong party unto a name, but especially after a scandal, when magically they become Democrats!
(Wow - he switched to the Dem. party right after this scandal, huh? Sneaky Fox / Courtesy: Media Matters)
Is there any hope for us to get unbiased news then? If the government has an agenda, and if private outlets have been trying to sway the masses with their bias, how can we be sure of our coverage?
We can’t, really. But, we can invest our time into researching a claim. Don’t be so quick to judge superficially and make sure you know the source of any story. If an outlet has a reputation for a bias, especially one you don’t agree with, stop supporting the outlet with your viewership.
But there is hope. Some independent and unbiased folks have tried to take matters into their own hands. Case in point, CapitalWords.org - a website dedicated to showcasing conversations in our capital, while documenting who said it and what their record is.
I recently found out that my local representative, Rep. John Tierney - MA (D), has one of the lowest scores in terms of him actually speaking. I followed up and sent an email and asked why he wasn’t speaking more. While I never found an answer, I did find he moved off of the lowest speaking category. Did a public outcry emerge because he wasn’t walking up to the podium enough? Doubtful. But imagine if millions of Americans actually held their public officials accountable in such a way that we could track what they did (and, no, not just political tweets either).
In brief, we need more accountability. Far too often, we are mislead by slanderous rumors or just plain false information. We need more third party outlets who adhere to the integrity of the traditional American journalist.
It leaves me wondering: with all these new bailout jobs, why didn’t we fund that kind of position? We need to get back to basics - back to our ABC’s: Accountability, avoiding Bias, and creating Credibility again.