I'm sure anyone who has ever done
research on any subject - for a personal interest, a college paper, or for a
book you're working on - has come across bias information. And, I'm sure you've
found it as frustrating as I do.
As fiction writers, we expect to
put our own 'spin' on the information we dig up. It's what we do. It's call
writing 'fiction'! What I'm having a problem is reference material supposedly
written by journalists, but tainted by the authors own prejudices.
There is a distinct difference
between reporting information and editorializing about it. At least there
should be. Unfortunately, in this age of video magazines, electronic journalism
and YouTube, the line - which has been eroding over the last several decades - seems
to have evaporated completely.
A journalist's job is to report the
facts. They are not supposed to comment on them. They aren't supposed to
include undocumented things. Equally, they aren't supposed to leave out facts.
It's what Joe Friday said in Dragnet, 'All we want is the facts,
ma'am.'
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