Bias in Journalism

"lorem ipsum" (nothing123456789)
08/12/2013 at 13:08 • Filed to: Jalopnik

The only person you can truly trust is yourself. You never know when anyone else is lying, or if their judgments and agendas line up with yours. For example: if you voted for Barack Obama in 2008, you expected a certain amount of financial regulation and healthcare reform, and a decreased global military presence. Now, while he’s come to achieve most of his goals in a sort of roundabout way and watered-down fashion, I’d argue that he hasn’t done quite what he said he’d do. You can’t trust a politician. They say they’ll do one thing, and they’ll do another.

It’s the same thing with journalists. Because we, as intelligent beings, are full of opinions on absolutely everything , we can’t think about anything truly objectively. We will always look at something with our own spin on it. For instance, I could never be trusted to write a review of a Chief Keef mixtape, because I can’t listen to his music without thinking about how much of a fucking idiot he is. I’d never write a negative review of a Woody Allen film, because I watch each one of his movies through rose-tinted lenses. Finally, I will never take any British art besides Turner or Constable seriously because the Italians do it better.

This brings me onto my main point: I don’t trust Top Gear magazine whenever they write about a British car. Every single one of their writers (especially the tall one on TV with the pot-belly) thinks that every car ever produced in the UK is holier than Jesus. Even British engineers, designers, companies, and drivers get a special shout-out in that magazine for being British. It’s a problem because I, quite frankly, hold dog shit in higher regard than their nationalism, and because it shows unreliable reporting. I know it’s a non-issue because I’m not about to go and buy an F-Type or a Range Rover, but to the people who can, they’re reading unfair comparisons between British and other cars, and taking it as fact.

There are many other media outlets that are guilty of this same thing. I’d imagine China is a pretty big fan of Great Wall, or whatever they produce, and I’m sure Italy’s magazines mistake a Ferrari for pornography on a daily basis. The only exception here is America, which for some reason really likes German cars. I just want my news to be unbiased and objective, and none of it is. Even the BBC and the New York Times, two of the most prestigious media organizations on the planet, are guilty of partiality in their reporting.

I’ve got an idea, though. Let’s force Switzerland to take over all reporting duties for the entire planet. Only a neutral country can be trusted to report without an agenda. They won’t want to hide the scandals in the Catholic Church, or the atrocities American soldiers committed in the Middle East. Most importantly, though, they won’t put any country’s cars on a pedestal, and that’s really what the world is looking for. Automotive journalism sans bias.

DISCUSSION (8)

Goshen, formerly Darkcode > lorem ipsum
08/12/2013 at 13:14

Plus, they host the Geneva Motor Show.

William Byrd > lorem ipsum
08/12/2013 at 13:17

Interesting, and makes sense. Being non-biased as a human being is very challenging, and dare I say usually impossible. We all are built around our experiences, our preferences, etc. and that can and will cloud what we prefer.

Clarkson isn't always positive about British cars, but when he isn't, it's usually outweighed by the positive during that episode/article/etc. He is vehemently anti-American when it comes to cars. Not 100% of the time of course, he enjoyed the ZR-1 driving it across the West in the US, but back on his home track all he could talk about is how the back plastic piece beneath the hatch pushes in when you poke it (not unlike his pot belly).

I guess the point is that we all need to make up our own mind when it comes to cars. Go drive them, go sit in them, talk to people and get opinions, but in the end, it's your money.

Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. > lorem ipsum
08/12/2013 at 13:18

Well, i remember the pot belly man said in Sunday Times:

Car Review is the most inexact science ever invented.

So i just read reviews as an entertaiment, not taking it seriously.

highmodulus > lorem ipsum
08/12/2013 at 13:19

Its ironic, because Top Gear the TV show relentlessly makes fun of how crap most the British auto industry was.

William Byrd > highmodulus
08/12/2013 at 13:22

It's mostly past tense though.

highmodulus > William Byrd
08/12/2013 at 13:28

True, very few actual British car makes. All are just brands from big foreign auto conglomerates. Mini is still made there, and doesn't seem to get a free pass. And Noble was roundly mocked for being "built in a shed" and for breaking during a comparison feature. Range Rovers might be a bit of a blind spot for them maybe- but often the ones they like are rather good (and they properly mock the old ones for the reliability issues). Hammond's cross eyed Morgan took extensive mocking as well.

#I think I have a Top Gear problem

Gamecat235 > lorem ipsum
08/12/2013 at 13:29

Bias in reporting is inherent. It is inescapable. There is no possible way to completely avoid bias as some aspects of language more or less require it. And the act of observing and reporting something brings the perspective of the writer into the end result.

For this reason, trusting a single source for any sort of nonempirical data can lead to biased or incorrect assumptions. This doesn't hold true for just auto reviews, but for most everything in life.

TL;DR, Always obtain multiple sources of data for anything.

William Byrd > highmodulus
08/12/2013 at 13:31

They do make passing reference to the fact that almost no Brit cars are owned by British people at least. But there are several automakers that seem to do very little wrong. Jaguar doesn't seem to have many flaws, neither does Aston Martin.

"Built in a shed" is usually used in a complimentary way if you think about it. "Even though it was built in a shed...." and they usually continue with how amazing it is (Caterham, Ariel, etc.).