A colleague of ours once compared his role as reporter to that of a teacher, standing in front of a classroom of children waving their hands to be picked. The teacher can’t call on everyone, only a few. How does he choose? What motivates the decision to pick one hand over the other?
Our reporter colleague took this metaphor in one direction. We will take it in another.
However the teacher chooses – for base reasons like racism or sexism; out of some sense of justice and fairness by keeping track of who has been picked in the past or to make a point by picking the one kid in the back who isn’t raising his hand at all – demonstrates a bias.
Tens of thousands of people live in the Gazette’s coverage range, yet relatively few of you will ever be quoted in our stories. A very few of you are quoted regularly. There are reasons for this bias – sometimes it is the right and responsible thing to do and other times it is simple ignorance. We quote town planners, school superintendents, selectmen and councilors because it is their job to have expertise and opinions on many matters in the public sphere and they are the keepers of the “official line.” We quote others based on the elementary school adage about squeaky wheels getting grease (or to stick with the original metaphor the one kid frantically waving his arm and moaning as if in pain from not being picked).
Every day, several times a day, through email or phone calls people say to us “you should do a story on this,” or “on me” or “on my daughter” or “on my dog.” And we do. Sometimes. Sometimes we don’t. We have good reasons for our decision, but it reveals a bias – we discriminate by choosing one thing over another.
Once we do decide to follow a story, it’s not always apparent whom we should speak to. Those oft-quoted public officials are just one voice, one perspective – matters in the public sphere are bound to affect the public, but whom?
Who we speak to and what they tell us will inform our ability to inform you. Too often it is only after a story is published that we get a call from a person who has information that would have balanced a story’s bias. Rarely, if ever, in the Gazette has a story’s bias been borne out of malice. We succeed at our job when we deliver the best possible stories – informative, entertaining and balanced. To accuse us of willful bias against a point of view is to accuse us of willfully doing our jobs poorly.
Raise your hand and reach out to your editors and reporters at news@inthegazette.com or by calling 282-4337. We want to call on you.
That the Gazette is delivered to every mailbox in our five communities should persuade readers that it is an effective medium to reach your neighbors about news and events that may be of interest to them. People care what is going on in their neighborhood and good deeds and impressive accomplishments ought to be trumpeted. We hope our coverage contributes to that end and you can help ensure that it does.
You can also increase the amount of space in the Gazette for more perspectives and opinions by telling business owners, whether on Long Plains Road, Main Street or in the Old Port that you read the Gazette and they should advertise with us.