Should religion ever play a role in news gathering?
I often hear about financial scandals that exist in churches nowadays.
To me, the concept is quite appalling of course. But, it also sounds like a good story idea.
A baptist press even incriminated its own denomination:
http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2789&Itemid=120
Still, I'm a church-goer and my church does not have a denomination. In fact, we don't even claim the to be "non-denominational," rather, undenominational. Does my being involved and committed to my particular faith pose a conflict of interest?
How would I go about looking for corruption that exists in "Godly institutions" that are certain denominations or non-denominational? If I believe wholeheartedly I'm in the right religious place, is it immoral, unethical to look for faults in other religious places?
It seems like a sticky situation. Sure, I want to promote the good but can I turn a blind eye if I believe "the good" is being exploited?
And should editors ever ask one's religious preference, or should they ask a reporter if he or she can cover a particular story without bias?
I believe I can be unbiased when reporting, but is looking for stories like this imply bias in itself? Perhaps it's a bias more against wrongdoing and corruption ...
What's this columnist's bias?
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2008/01/expose-church-f.html
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This is a really tough question that I constantly try to answer and never quite come up with something solid ... but here are my thoughts anyway.
ReplyDeleteI think that as hard as we try to be unbiased, fair and balanced in covering stories, our own life experiences and belief systems will always come in to play no matter HOW hard we try to suppress them. As journalists, we tend to pursue stories that are of interest to us, whether we have a personal stake in them or not. While we may not actually insert a blatant opinion, I believe there tends to be an underlying tone from the writer's own perspective.
To answer your question of whether or not editors should ask one's religion or if he/she can be unbiased, I would say no. I say this because it could be one's religion, one's race, one's gender, one's social class or sexual orientation for all that matter - and somewhere down the line we are going to be faced with a story that may connect to one of these aspects. It's also interesting to note that minority reporters are often asked if they are able to cover their own community without a bias, yet white reporters are never asked this question.
Overall, I think being biased is naturally built in to journalism. What about investigative reporters? They're actively pursuing stories, usually to prove something - so, don't they have a bias before even talking to anyone? Just a thought.