Fair vs. Objective
Yet the shills are more welcome than ever in the nation’s television newsrooms. That’s because the big networks have chosen to be fair instead of objective. The reason for their choice? Being fair is easier. Rather than digging up facts and seeking out expert analysis, the newshounds can call in a couple of shills from either side of an issue to shout at each other. Doing it that way saves a whole lot of time and hard work. What’s more, the anchors don’t ever need to think about the issues for themselves.
Daniel Altman on October 13th
Daniel Altman (incidentally, the author of Neoconomy: George Bush’s Revolutionary Gamble With America’s Future) agrees with Jon Stewart’s point on Crossfire and has given it a name: fair
versus objective
. This lets us see that Fox’s tagline, Fair and Balanced,
is actually correct. They are fair and balanced, presenting someone from each side of an issue to respond to issues framed in a clearly non-objective manner.
