Why do you say that the WSJ is the Fox News of journalism?
They have articles that aren't great but for the most part have high quality content.
They have articles that aren't great but for the most part have high quality content.
[1] From dictionary.com: 'Editorial definition, an article in a newspaper or other periodical or on a website presenting the opinion of the publisher, writer, or editor'
Seems so. But, I think it's a question of relative degree. For instance, the comment to which I was responding seemed to take exception to the WSJ comparison with Fox News. That's a tacit acknowledgment of a certain belief about Fox News and their degree of bias.
>There's no arrangement of facts that is completely neutral. You have to lean one way.
Well, the phrase "arrangement of facts" is a bit loaded in that it suggests a manipulation of facts, so given that premise, yeah, the objective would seemingly be to "lean". However, I don't see any reason that the mere presentation of facts must lean in any direction.
But, maybe it's just a testament to how far gone we are in this age of infotainment that it's hard to even imagine that facts can be presented without bias.
I don't know about that. Truth is stranger than fiction and there's plenty of interesting information to be had. Editorializing and slant can be juicy, but good writing/presentation is timeless. Likewise, curating and clearly presenting information of interest has tremendous value to many; potentially even more so when it's clear that there is no bias.
>"dodgy company gets its comeuppance", "my favourite party does something good" or "person dies in an accident".
Those could just as easily be fact-based reporting on topics of broad interest. No bias is needed in delivering such factual content to make it more compelling. For instance, replace those "headlines" with:
"Facebook loses court challenge over privacy violations"
"Republican party donates clothes to shelter"
"Princess Diana dies in car accident"
There is a big difference between subtle bias when clearly reporting the facts and deliberately pandering to and riling up your customers based on their preconceptions.
There is a big difference between going into a story to find and present facts with as little of your own bias a possible, and going into a story with the direct intent of finding a way to spin it to satisfy your audience in boost sales.