Journalism is broken

Part infinity

First, some good news. One of the encouraging things about the recent controversial letter journalists were asked to sign about coverage of the war in Gaza was its recognition of the problems of “both-sideism” in journalism.

We - journalists from across the Australian media landscape - call on Australian newsrooms to undertake these steps to improve coverage:

1.Adhere to truth over ‘both-sidesism’. Both-sidesism is not balanced or impartial reporting; it acts as a constraint on truth…

Twenty years ago, back in the blogging days, when people like me started complaining about this inherent problem baked into the professional practice of journalism, we were told to pull our heads in, that no such problem existed. Both-sideism wasn’t a thing, don’t you know. You just don’t understand how journalism works, journalists assured us with a pat on the head and ten other condescending fobs that saw all criticism dismissed as ignorance. Or abuse.

So, it’s good to see that there is a more general acc…