Wednesday, February 29, 2012

I Heart NPR

From the NPR Ethics Handbook:

At all times, we report for our readers and listeners, not our sources. So our primary consideration when presenting the news is that we are fair to the truth. If our sources try to mislead us or put a false spin on the information they give us, we tell our audience. If the balance of evidence in a matter of controversy weighs heavily on one side, we acknowledge it in our reports. We strive to give our audience confidence that all sides have been considered and represented fairly.

That’s why I love NPR, they are the only news you can trust (possible exception: BBC when they report on America as outsiders). Most news sources simply report both sides of a story, even if one side has enormous evidence (evolution, or global warming, say) and the other has but a few crackpots holding up a shoddy scaffolding of deceit. So the consumer of the news comes away feeling like both sides are equally legitimate. Which is almost never the case in reality. Be fair to the truth.