Untitled And Unbiased

Although my quest for unbiased, moderate journalism continues, I came across this piece about the death threats levied against Republican senators in Wisconsin and the mainstream media's refusal to report on it especially in the wake of the Gabrielle Giffords shooting in January. Oh, I've read and heard many pieces about this in the past week. I've heard it mentioned on the Rush Limbaugh radio program and noted at newsbusters.org for instance, two obvious conservative outlets. What makes this piece unique is that it comes from an unexpected source.

This article by Lee Stranahan, posted on the left-leaning Huffington Post website, is quite possibly the single most unbiased writing I've ever encountered by someone who openly admits to being a liberal. I'd rather you read his article directly than have me rehash it here, so click the link, but I applaud anyone who is able to look beyond the rhetoric, actually look at the facts and report on them accordingly, even if it flies against the consensus views put forth by the majority on their side.

What is telling in any sort of news article or posting online are the "opinions" given by the anonymous commenters. That's where the outrageous and nutty aspects of any given ideology will crawl out from under their respective rocks, spew some crazy venom, then slither back. This happens on both sides. Reading Stranahan's article, surprisingly a lot of people actually agree with him. The "wingnut" elements do make an appearance, however, and I encourage you to read through some of them.

Blind loyalty to any type of political ideology is dangerous, in my opinion. Level-headed people, no matter what they believe should be able to model their own opinions and make decisions for themselves. There have been several instances where I have disagreed with the Republican Party, most noteworthy was the Terri Shiavo case in 2004-05. That was embarrassing, actually. I could write about this for days. I have a theory that the people on the left who are critical of Fox News (calling it things like Fixed Noise and Faux News, always original when regurgitated) likely spend zero time watching it. If they did, they'd realize that the actual NEWS side of the channel actually does some pretty damn good reporting, while leaving the opinionated portion of the channel to the Glenn Becks, Bill O'Reillys and Sean Hannitys. And for every accusation of unbiased reporting from FNC, you could make the reciprocal argument against MSNBC. Except I find their news reporting shows to be extremely left-leaning. (Contessa Brewer and Andrea Mitchell, anyone?) 

I actually watch MSNBC, and though I occasionally dabble in it, I may start poking around HuffPo a little more. At least Lee Stranahan.