Boston Globe: Biased news report or opinion column? Ombudsman Christine Chinlund gives her readers a lesson in telling the difference between news and opinion. I’ve read similar columns by other ombudsmen. I followed Miriam Pepper, of the Kansas City Star, very carefully for years (she’s now editorial page editor). She wrote about this issue at least once a year. I’m going to look for some hard data on media literacy and report back later. But the anecdotal evidence says many Americans have difficulty telling the difference between news articles and opinion columns. MediaMinded chimes in: “Hey, sometimes it’s hard for us in the business to tell the difference, Christine.” In other words, editors sometimes make it difficult to tell the difference by tolerating or, worse, allowing sloppy reporting and biased language.
The Rhetorica Network
I offer commentary on the rhetoric of the American conversation, especially as it unfolds in documentary film, the news media, and politics. Check out my feeds on Twitter and Instagram. Also be sure to see my work at Carbon Trace Productions, a non-profit documentary film studio in Springfield, Missouri. I am a Professor of Media & Journalism at Missouri State University. I teach classes in mobile journalism and documentary filmmaking.
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