Is the nytimes biased?

Good, honest, non-biased information is hard to get. Getting the truth about something is very valuable even if does not suit you or fit you.

Because of the internet information has been commoditized. We all have different social circles and environments in which we live. For some news organizations it is a race against the clock to get certain information in front if their customers. Journalists are like baseball players they want that home run. They search and search for that one opportunity that puts them on the map. For a journalists that means being read, selling loads of books, giving lectures or getting the Pulitzer prize.

A lot of journalist get blinded by ambition, I make it sound bad but that is not the case. You want that story that puts you again and again on the map.

There is this documentary called The Fourth Estate and it gives the viewer a small but good insight into the world of cutthroat (investigative) journalism and everything surrounding it. The documentary focusses a lot around politics, which is fair and important but it does not show any other aspects of the news. It is mostly about the current president of America and what he is doing.

Politics has always been for most part behind closed doors and during the Obama administration most of the information was positive, that is fair to say right. When Hillary was beaten by Obama, the black man won (I dislike putting it like this, but it is what it is) that was a BIG thing in America and media went a long with it and gave him enormous praise. I liked him too. Then after 8 years, every news outlet wanted Hillary to win, there was no other choice. Donald Trump the savy businessmen, used his celebrity status and his salesmanship to win the office. Thereby using the ugly side of what he knew newspapers would pickup and profit from heavily (it is part of the game). So Trump won as a republican, unacceptable! So what do you do when your political candidate loses, in this case Hillary, you try to make it as hard as possible for the winner in all sorts of manners, starting with the negative news coverage.

I used the new york times during my college years for academic research. Why? Because I knew the nytimes as a source is as good as it gets. That changed when this article from the nytimes surfaced. Because it showed me that when times got tough, one of the most important newspaper choose the easy way out, chosing a political candidate.

Yes, Trump is a very different candidate than any other previous presidential candidate. Still, as a newspaper I expect you to be neutral and report how it is, even if that means fact-checking everything because a political candidate or now president lies.

This tweet from him kind of sums up how many people think about it. Not me personally but I get it.

I’ve had to beat 17 very talented people including the Bush Dynasty, then I had to beat the Clinton Dynasty, and now I have to beat a phony Witch Hunt and all of the dishonest people covered in the IG Report…and never forget the Fake News Media. It never ends!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 15, 2018

For me personally, I have some distrust with the news organizations. Before I post a story on social media, I check multiple sources. That wasn’t necessarily the case before the Trump election, still I did, but not this much. To this day I consume information from all sorts of blogs and podcasts, but mostly through twitter from persons I think have a decent track record in their perspective fields.

You know what worst thing of it all is. The tensions in society but also with families, friends etc. Do you know the saying:”Sticks and stones may break my bones but words won’t hurt me”, I wonder if we can get back to those times.

Below a conversation with Joe Rogan (no, he is not an intellectual, nor an academic, but he has a very good podcast (in my opinion) in America and he makes some interesting arguments)