Journalists: Get Them to Tell The Truth!

Accuracy in the media?

“Many Americans, and most conservatives, consider the New York Times virtually symbolic of the liberal news media,” write Marvin Olasky and Warren Cole Smith. “The reputation is well-deserved: The Times editorializes in favor of same-sex marriage and abortion. Recently, Times columnist Thomas Friedman equated the Tea Party to Hezbollah. Fellow Times columnist Joe Nocera did him one better, saying ‘Tea Party Republicans have waged jihad on the American people.’ Sometimes, the Times is so committed to liberal positions it ignores its own reporting. In 2002, the Times reported, ‘the number of state prisoners has increased 500 percent, growing each year in the 1990s even as crime fell.’ The Times completely ignored the possibility that crime fell precisely because criminals were locked up.

Accuracy in the media?

Olasky and Smith continue: Christians, of course, appeal to a higher source for “absolute truth”: the Bible. Many Christians (and even more Times readers) might be surprised to learn that the Times’ founder, Henry Raymond, was a Bible-believing Presbyterian. In the 1870s the Times passionately opposed abortion, calling it “infant murder,” saying the practice is “rank and smells to heaven.” In 1871, Times reporter Augustus St. Clair did an undercover investigation in New York that easily rivals modern pro-life activists Lila Rose, Hannah Giles, and James O’Keefe. St. Clair and a “lady friend” visited the most-advertised abortionists in New York, posing as a couple in need of the abortionists’ services. St. Clair described what he saw in the Times in such graphic and horrifying detail that the public became enraged. One abortionist mentioned in St. Clair’s stories received a seven-year prison sentence.

Accuracy in the media?

First, for mainstream journalism, the “gig is up.” The liberal bias of most journalists is so well documented that few continue to deny it. Beyond bias, Americans increasingly believe journalists are arrogant and lack compassion. Former Oakland Tribune Editor Robert Maynard admitted reporters often “appear to be boorish.” This may be why, according to a survey by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, 78 percent of Americans believe news reporters "are just concerned with getting a good story, and they don't worry much about hurting people." These data are bad news for the mainstream news media, but good news for those looking for evidence the American people may be ready for a change.

Accuracy in the media?

“Secondly, technology is giving us new options” write Olasky and Smith. “Cable television, beginning in the 1980s, provided competition for the major networks. Digital technologies – satellite and the Internet – offer even more hope. World’s website and radio programs, for example, now attract more people than their print magazine.” The Christian Post website attracts 10 million monthly visitors. More than 7 million monthly visitors check out Beliefnet – a multi-faith site with a strong Christian presence. Bible Gateway has 10 million monthly viewers. “We believe these trends will continue,” write Olasky and Smith, “and will offer options previously unknown for Christian journalists.”