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bringstheeagle December 20th, 2025 6:44am

Is it realistic to expect perfect neutrality from news media when neither journalists nor audiences are neutral?

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slynin Indy
Today: 8:39 am

It should be the goal, not the enemy.

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crfg Florida
Today: 5:14 am

Key underlying elements of journalism which should be valued and always present are objectivity ,thoroughness and accuracy. Thoroughly present the facts objectively and accurately and let the readers decide where they stand.

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lcamino Florida and Georgia
Today: 2:20 am

Yes. They should stick to facts, not opinion.

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mackindj
Dec 20, 8:55 pm

It is realistic to expect restraint from obvious interjection of opinion in a “news” story.

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Wasecan84 USA
Dec 20, 8:10 pm

Real journalists exist, they just don't get hired by FOX, CNN or MSNBC.

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badattitude no place like home
Dec 20, 5:41 pm

Aren’t like 95% of journalists Democrats?

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RightOfCenter TheCurrentThing
Dec 20, 2:34 pm

It would be refreshing if they could be honest about their biased coverage, but they can’t. They have begun to believe all their own lies.

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FATSHADOW Cyborg Gorilla
Dec 20, 11:54 am

If they are selling ad time, they are biased.

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Ebola007 Florida
Dec 20, 11:49 am

We all have biases but it’s reasonable to expect that the news be provided in a factual, neutral manner.

Retro california
Dec 20, 1:21 pm

If they want to be considered "professionals" they should be neutral, like a doctor or jury. Otherwise they should be called "hacks."

Donaldo2 charlie kirk
Dec 20, 10:11 am

I think its possible to have a news organization give srraight facts, but it probably wouldnt get many viewers and i dont think its realistic to expect neutrality now days

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pipishere Gocked and Evil
Dec 20, 8:50 am

Being "neutral" or "unbiased" is not realistic to the point of being meaningless. Bias is also not inherently harmful. What is most important to me is providing complete details, that are accurate as possible, precisely stated, without deliberate omissions that affect interpretation. It's why I appreciate NPR's reporting, there's of course inherent unavoidable bias in which stories are chosen to publish and tone and such, but the actual reporting of an event tends to be thorough and include the general positions of the main sides on an issue. They don't tend to omit information or outright falsify in order to further a point. And i find it just as important with sources i generally like the leanings of as ones I dont, because I never want to be in the position of insisting on a false point because I'm lacking a complete and accurate picture.

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RightOfCenter TheCurrentThing
Dec 20, 2:38 pm

The worse bias & censorship the media is guilty of is the items that they do not present. It’s absurd that 95% of stories about Trump are negative. Only an idiot could believe that is reporting the news……

tidford My little piece of heaven
Dec 20, 8:37 am

No, humans are human. But there is a very humongous gap between a reasonable attempt at neutrallity and the profound partisanship practiced on the Left by traditional MSM and on the Right by Fox etc.

To hint, as this poll does, that just because humans are imperfect and will always have some bias, that it is perfectly natural and reasonable for news outlets to be partisan echo chambers aligned to political extremes is wrong and dangerous.

News organizations are made up of multiple individuals. If the vast majority of those individuals come from one side of the political spectrum, then that news organization will NOT represent the nation as a whole, but quite naturally will become an echo chamber magnifying each side's worst instincts. Pure mob psychology.

An honestly balanced newsroom can avoid the destructive mob psychology of the partisan echo chambers that are ripping us apart.

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Odysseus We All Need A Fantasy
Dec 20, 8:24 am

I don’t understand where people ever got this idea that news should be neutral or unbiased. It has never been neutral or unbiased. News has always had a built in bias. Just choosing what goes into a news report and what is left out of a news report is a form of bias.

Americans have a rather unique opportunity to select news from a variety of perspectives. We have both right and left wing bias. We have domestic or foreign news bias. We can get a religious or non religious bias.

The problem in America is that most Americans choose to only get their news from one perspective but that is out of choice and not necessity.

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credo stop killing people
Dec 20, 8:20 am

Forced neutrality is an enemy of truth.

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BaxterSanchez Amarillo
Dec 20, 12:50 pm

I'd like to understand this statement a bit more if you could explain it

credo stop killing people
Dec 20, 10:17 pm

If you are a journalist, and one side is clearly right, and has all the facts on their side, and the other is clearly wrong and spouting conspiracy theories with no basis in reality, then you should not be neutral.

The goal of journalism should be objectivity, not neutrality.

ovcourse Commiefornia
Dec 20, 8:04 am

Neutrality in news presentation would actually make me want to watch TV news again. I haven’t watched TV news in nearly six years.

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FLSun Florida
Dec 20, 7:19 am

Opinion presented as fact is the issue.

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statguy North Central Florida
Dec 20, 4:37 am

Perfect is not the goal. Some is the goal.

“Perfect is the enemy of the good”
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_is_the_enemy_of_good

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bringstheeagle Colorado
Dec 19, 11:47 pm

Neutrality is an ideal, not a reality.

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