This is a great idea and I should probably get involved since I spent my life in journalism.
For now, I'll mention that when I started in the field some 25 years ago (!!), things were very different. How different?
On the day I was hired, the executive editor warned me about the following rules: No political posters or signs were to be on or around my desk, and no political bumper stickers were allowed on my car. I'm also pretty sure he told me that if I was a member of a local political club I had to resign -- but being just out of college, this wasn't an issue.
They made these rules because they wanted to make sure we didn't look biased. The funny thing was that I was an arts and entertainment writer and this still went for me too.
These days, reporters put their political opinions in writing on Twitter and Facebook and think nothing of it. This would have been grounds for firing in the old days.
And while the media might have always been biased, just the fact that such rules were in place set a tone. It told reporters they had to at least try to appear balanced. These days, that doesn't apply, which is why you get things like hundreds of anti-Trump pieces in the Washington Post and maybe one anti-Hillary article.
For now, I'll mention that when I started in the field some 25 years ago (!!), things were very different. How different?
On the day I was hired, the executive editor warned me about the following rules: No political posters or signs were to be on or around my desk, and no political bumper stickers were allowed on my car. I'm also pretty sure he told me that if I was a member of a local political club I had to resign -- but being just out of college, this wasn't an issue.
They made these rules because they wanted to make sure we didn't look biased. The funny thing was that I was an arts and entertainment writer and this still went for me too.
These days, reporters put their political opinions in writing on Twitter and Facebook and think nothing of it. This would have been grounds for firing in the old days.
And while the media might have always been biased, just the fact that such rules were in place set a tone. It told reporters they had to at least try to appear balanced. These days, that doesn't apply, which is why you get things like hundreds of anti-Trump pieces in the Washington Post and maybe one anti-Hillary article.