PressEthic

New York Times public editor Byron Calame recently devoted an entire column to the subject of balanced reporting in terms of reporters making fair attempts at getting quotes from both sides of the stories they cover.

He wrote:

“Seeking comment from those written about, especially when they are put in an unfavorable light, is a particularly important aspect of fair coverage. It helps ensure that readers get the most complete and accurate view possible of a newsworthy development. Unfortunately, The Times has had too many cases recently where subjects weren’t given a chance to comment, or the attempt to reach them was insufficient.”

He noted several articles in the past few months, including one on Senate elections in Connecticut and a supposed “war of words over the war in Iraq” between candidates Joseph I. Lieberman and Ned Lamont, in which the reporter relied on a computer database to (inaccurately, as readers later learned) find old quotes to support the story.

While all of the examples Calame reported were from articles printed in the past few months, he argues that obvious disregard for fair and balanced reporting has been increasing over the past few years.

“I found indications, though not firm evidence, that The Times has fumbled this vital aspect of fairness more frequently in the past three years than it did in the previous decade. The average was roughly one such note a year through 2003. Since then, however, the number has been rising: three in 2004, four in 2005 and seven so far this year.”

Calame speculated in the column that the increase in numbers of corrections have increased possibly due to “greater transparency and openness to reader complaints,” since the scandal involving Jayson Blair, or even due to the growing need for newer and fresher stories in the age of 24 hour, internet-fueled news.

Though I agree that the affects Blair’s faking stories on the front cover of the supposed “paper of record” are profound, I’m more inclined to support Calame’s second idea. Journalists are now reporting and writing in the age of record numbers of people online, the blogosphere, and Internet research databases. The growth in the pressure to produce content is eclipsed only by the growth of an audience with the power of instant feedback, and journalists will just have to adapt to those increasing demands.