Nice memo released this week from the editor-in-chief of Reuters: “Covering Trump the Reuters Way.”
I would add two important things that the national press has to remember:
1) anonymous sources can’t be trusted or used as the basis of a complete story; use the information to hunt for the truth, and …
2) suppress your personal political preference bias from ALL your “reporting” … if I can figure out your political position or who you voted for from the tenor of your story, there’s a problem. This isn’t easy – in fact, it’s hard – but that’s what makes it “work,” too.
And this, as stated in the memo:
“Don’t vent publicly about what might be understandable day-to-day frustration. In countless other countries, we keep our own counsel so we can do our reporting without being suspected of personal animus. We need to do that in the U.S., too.”
Stop whining on Twitter like a bunch of brats; whine – or wine – in private; discuss, debate, have fun, etc., in public.
