Home » informazione » Imparzialità all’Economist
informazione

Imparzialità all’Economist

L’Economist si chiede se i giornali devono essere imparziali. E lancia una piccola richiesta di opinioni.

«IN A world where millions of new sources of news are emerging on the
internet, consumers are overwhelmed with information and want to be told
what it all means. As we note in our special report,
America’s highly profitable Fox News channel is not the only news
organisation that is unafraid to say what it thinks and is prospering as
a result. Other examples include the Al-Jazeera television network,
with its unabashed support for Arab reform and, indeed, The Economist, which has been proudly banging the drum for free trade, internationalism and minimum interference from government since 1843.

The
idea that journalists should be “impartial” in reporting news is, in
fact, a relatively recent one, and finds most support in America. In
Europe overt partisanship in newspapers is widespread and state-run
television channels often have party allegiances.

Some
commentators welcome the rise of a partisan press, provided it is
accompanied with a new emphasis on transparency. They are often
sceptical about news organisations that claim to be impartial–one
example being Britain’s BBC, frequently accused of left-wing bias
despite its statutory requirement to be balanced. These sceptics argue
that instead of pretending to be completely lacking in biases and
opinions, journalists should be open about any financial interests or
political leanings that may colour their reporting, and provide much
more detail on their source material, so that their audiences can
evaluate the strength of their arguments. Others argue that this would
hardly compensate for the loss of a commitment to giving all sides of a
story, to make it easy for audiences to form their own judgments.

So,
even in the internet age, should respectable news organisations strive
to be fair and balanced? Your views, and votes, are most welcome.»
Secondo me, l’Economist segue un metodo più che ottimo. Basa le sue opinioni su una ricerca di fatti e su una cultura interpretativa forte. Non sceglie tutto in base a posizioni partigiane in favore di per questo o quel potere, per quello che vedo di solito. In questo senso, ha opinioni e ne fa, ma non ne è dominato e non tenta di manipolare i lettori anche quando tenta di convincerli. In ogni caso, al di là del caso dell’Economist – sul quale come su ogni caso specifico si può discutere a lungo – l’idea è chiara: trasparenza culturale, empirismo, orientamento all’interpretazione sono tutto tranne che partigianeria. Imho.
ps. Visto il modo in cui è stata posta la domanda, peraltro, la risposta era scontata: «should respectable news organisations strive to be fair and balanced?»; risultato un buon 75% di sì, nel momento in cui pubblico questo post…

Commenta

Clicca qui per inserire un commento

Luca De Biase

Knowledge and happiness economy Media and information ecology

Video

Post più letti

Post più condivisi