Every now and then, I read a news story that I have some actual knowledge about. For example, not long ago, one of the Denver newspapers did a story that mentioned my company's recent work on the Auto Assault TCG. More often than not, I find some sort of factual error in these stories. In this Auto Assault piece, things weren't entirely accurate regarding the relationship between my company and the one behind the Auto Assault MMO on which the game is based.
As I said, on those occasions when I know something about a news story, it feels like I'm spotting factual errors more often than not. Which really begs the question: is every news story this littered with errors?
Now maybe it just happens that when these particular stories come up, my encyclopedic knowledge of most things "geek" outstrips what the average reporter would be expected to learn for a single assignment. But I can't see that sort of thing accounting for all such discrepancies.
So my only conclusion is that you really shouldn't trust anything you read in the news. Not necessarily because of any "spin" or "media bias," but because sometimes they just don't know what the hell they're talking about.
5 comments:
In my experience, the amount of research and knowledge utilized by the average reporter is astonishingly low. Every time I see a news report about something I'm familiar with, 50 to 60 percent of it is wrong. Yes, this does make me doubt all news reporting about all subjects. Journalism ain't what it used to be. Maybe it never was.
As a trained chemist, I have seen the same phenomenon in any news article involving "chemical" issues, such as any report of a chemical spill (e.g., from a tank truck wreck). They are uniformly inaccurate and in fact display their own kind of "bias" (chemicals = bad). I have noted this even in an area like Ithaca NY, where the HAZMAT responders are based at Cornell and are knowledgable, yet apparently are never consulted by the reporters.
Working for a monthly magazine with its monthly deadlines, it can be tough enough to find time to do a ton of research (especially when it comes to things like "How many characters can you play per turn in Blah: The TCG?"). I can't imagine living with daily deadlines.
Ahh...but do we trust what we read in blogs?
I'm more concerned with laziness than political bias in the media. I can appreciate a well-researched piece written by someone with a subtle or overt left or right leaning. Just f***ing research what you write!
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