Perhaps I fall into line with Critical Theory when I say that I completely believe that no researcher will ever be completely objective. It is better to admit to our biases than too pretend we don’t have them and still let our research be colored by them. For example: I absolutely LOVE the Daily Show (with Jon Stewart). I watch every episode. If you have watched at least one episode in the last 4 years, you will know that Fox News is often the butt of many a Daily Show joke. Jon Stewart’s complaint, that he makes every time Fox News is mentioned, or whenever he goes over and is a guest on a show at Fox News (or every time one of his guests is a Fox News correspondent) is that Fox News has a biased, conservative narrative that arches over all of their programming, including opinion and hard news. Jon Stewart often calls Fox News out on this, and it is very funny. However, whenever he asks someone who works for Fox News about this (and he asks about this every chance he gets), they always deny that there is any bias in their programming. If you have ever watched even the tiniest segment of Fox News, you will know that they are lying. You will also know that they are lying if you look at an event covered by Fox News and then look at the same event covered by some other organization. There are definitely biases. However, Fox News insists that they are not biased, they simply tell the truth, and if you think they are biased, then you just can’t handle their truth. How much better would it be if Fox openly admitted to it’s bias? It would be better for me, because I could then point out to Fox News watchers that Fox News programming is biased without any argument. However, Fox would probably not benefit from any such admission. They could potentially loose viewers because our society places much stock on objective truth. Of course, I too am guilty of bias. By expressing my love for The Daily Show, I have shown my bias. I agree with Jon Stewart on a lot of issues. Does this color my critique of Fox News? Absolutely it does.
So what does this have to do with finding ourselves? Let me tell you. I think that we have to admit to our biases, not only to others who might be listening to us, but also to ourselves. If we admit our biases to ourselves, we can analyze where those biases come from. If we can analyze where those feelings come from we can get to know ourselves better. Understanding ourselves better will help us as we learn about different topics we can learn even more about ourselves. This is a lovely little cycle that I believe will help us to gain more Truth than we can in any other way. Perhaps we will simply learn more about ourselves and our relationships with others, but I do think we could use a little bit more of that in our society.
1 comment:
Seriously, it is hard for my to watch fox news because they are bias throughout every program. It doesn't even matter which one you watch, if its news, it will be skewed. I like how you stated that people aka fox needs to admit to their biases than too pretend they don’t have them. If their was a disclaimer during the program at least people might be aware that what they are receiving isn't actually the "truth".
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