White terrorist kills muslims with car

[Dill]

(06-27-2017, 10:47 AM)Benton Wrote: You put the facts out there — all of them — and let the reader make their own decision. Like giving someone a jigsaw puzzle. You give them all the pieces and the picture they make from it is their own, even if they force a few of the corners here and there. 

What you're asking is possible. I've had it happen to me (the one that always sticks out is I had an editor that was opposed to anything the local school board did, and he pretty well murdered everything I wrote to make them sound as bad as possible). But it should not happen, and the majority of reporters and editors are opposed to it. Just like putting an individual's beliefs into a story, that's not really journalism.

You have to select which facts to put out there though, right?

Also, I am not just talking about an editor with an axe to grind. I noticed that during the Vietnam War, journalists often were overwhelmed with "data" and so had to make choices about what to report. Many lacked area knowledge about Indochina, and this affected what they selected to report. They could not tell what, in hindsight, was relevant. They often confused the actions of very different groups. Some gradually realized the problem when they were on the spot in Vietnam, though editors back home did not.

The problem has continued into the present wars.