FROM THE PUBLIC EDITOR'S DESK : How and when can bias ever be justified?

One of my best friends used to ask me over a decade ago: why should one buy a newspaper full of slanted information and even skewed opinion while he possesses rich opinion on many an issue himself?

He would produce a piece of paper onto which he had listed titles of stories and articles which he perceived to be what he called “wickedly biased.”

Here is a newspaper reader who never questioned the veracity of the story as he would tell you, “…the story is true; this actually happened, but it is slanted; sort of off-centre and definitely for a purpose.”

Journalists, at home and abroad, keep on being called upon not to be biased. Some readers of newspapers and magazines, listeners and viewers of radio and TV keep coming up with complaints on how stories are written and presented.

And, it is not only about the richness or paucity of content of stories and articles presented; but also how they are angled, especially when they are about two contending parties, clubs, groups and, or individual persons.

At Mwananchi Communications Limited, publishers of The Citizen, Mwananchi and MwanaSpoti newspapers, we have experience of even two contending groups – each complaining about “unfair coverage,” “imbalance reportage” and on only one occasion (!).

This has largely happened in the heat of political elections, football clubs at all times but mainly during championship contests; and between appointees in government ministries, companies or corporations, where one appointee may claim to be undermined by another through unequal trending pattern by media.

This is where the work of a journalist sits squarely in the eyes of every individual. And it is when facts, figures and evidence are not enough in the story. Needed too, is the way you present what you have with the honesty that leaves no room for bias or perceived bias.

Is bias inherent in reporting; is it naturally cultivated by what is being reported; is it influenced by circumstances; could it be due to lack of skills in working away from it or a deliberate endeavour? Is it necessary after all?

And bias has no specific home. Read what others say about it. The following piece is a work of the Committee for Concerned Journalists and is available at https://www.americanpressinstitute.org.

“In recent years the public seems to have adopted a more nuanced view of bias. Perhaps this is because many critics have found their voice online – where studies confirm that half the blogs contain just the author’s opinion – or that one-sidedness has become a successful business model.

Journalists, nevertheless, often feel compelled to try to prove that they are “unbiased.”

But what if they took a different approach? What if journalists acknowledged that bias does exist, that it is built into the choices they make when deciding what to leave in and what to leave out?

That bias is embedded in the culture and language of the society on which the journalist reports? And that “news judgment” does reflect the journalist’s background as well as the news organisation’s mission and business model?

What if the journalist said, in other words, that bias may not always be a bad thing? That it may serve to create narrative texture or make a story understandable.

One can even argue that draining a story of all bias can drain it of its humanity, its lifeblood. In the bias of the community one can also find conflicting passions that bring stories to life.

A bias, moreover, can be the foundation for investigative journalism. It may prompt the news organization to right a wrong and take up an unpopular cause.

Thus, the job of journalists is not to stamp out bias. Rather, the journalist should learn how to manage it.

In the end, making choices requires journalists to think. A journalist needs to be conscious of bias so he or she can know what bias makes it into stories.”

And here is the debate: bias or no bias.