It is indeed true that we all have biases. But having been a journalist, I think I can say that it is possible to be impartial. In fact, that is the fun of being a reporter if a reporter is what you want to be. Some years ago, when I wrote for The Inquirer's religion page, I wrote a story about a woman who had written to tell us that she had seen angels. I paid her a visit, heard what she had to say, and passed it along to readers. Not long after the story appeared, I received a letter from her thanking me profusely ... for just reporting what she said. Seems all of her friends had been telling her that she should never have spoken to a reporter, that all I was going to do was make fun of her. The thought of doing that never crossed my mind. My job, as I saw it, was to report her experience, not pass judgment on it. After all, one of my biases is that experience trumps all theories. Who was I, who was anyone, to say she had not experienced what she claimed to have?
A nice story in support of impartiality, Frank.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for linking to me.