Nonprofit News & Bias

In a little kerfuffle that is indicative of tin ears, the Columbia Spectator bewails the bias of a new nonprofit news source that has contracted with the Washington Post; while probably retaining their tin ear in regards to the historic bias conservatives have long decried, of that other nonprofit news source, the Public Broadcasting Company.

America is a maturing national population that has access to an incredible array of news sources, virtually all of them biased in one way or another, and the intelligence of the American population is that we are learning to do our own research—by utilizing many news and information sources—and reaching our own decisions, a result not always appreciated by the powers that may be at any given time.

An excerpt from the Columbia Spectator article.

“Who knew that the latest chapter in the sad decline of mainstream American journalism would take place at the Washington Post?

“A sorry episode involving the paper that spoke truth to power during the Watergate scandal began quietly last month, with a press release about a new digital publication called “The Fiscal Times.” According to the release, TFT’s purpose is to report on U.S. fiscal, budgetary, and economic issues that the struggling corporate-owned media increasingly lack the resources to cover regularly.

“TFT, with a staff of veteran Washington reporters, “will provide supplemental content to publications for free,” said the release, “benefiting from the exposure of a byline in established platforms.” It had already formed a “content-sharing agreement” with one major daily: the Washington Post, whose executive editor, Marcus Brauchli, CC ‘83, will be the keynote speaker at the Spectator’s annual Blue Pencil Dinner on Feb. 13.

“On the surface, it all sounded fine. U.S. fiscal policy and the federal budget process affect us all and deserve more coverage. TFT, evidently, is just the latest in a new collection of nonprofit, nontraditional news organizations, like Politico.com and ProPublica.org, rushing to fill gaps in mainstream news.

“Or is it? TFT is bankrolled by Pete Peterson, the Wall Street baron who co-founded hedge fund giant the Blackstone Group. Peterson has also been crusading for 30 years to convince Americans that the nation is on the verge of bankruptcy, the only solution being drastic cuts in domestic social programs like Social Security and Medicare. While he’s managed to convince some powerful figures, including members of Congress, plenty of prominent economists disagree. They point out that millions of vulnerable people would be thrown into poverty if his prescriptions were ever adopted.”