American press has lost touch with its roots

I have pondered upon the idea of sharing my opinion, whatever it is worth, with the readers of the Daily Globe.
    I have read with disdain some of the Gatehouse News Service opinions and editorials. I see a distinct slant toward a wide-open society that has no guidelines for the protection of the average citizen. I see a disregard for the original intent and establishment of news reporting, which is sometimes called the Fourth Estate. The first three estates consist of the church, the nobility and the commoners, or more recently, the executive, legislative and judicial branches of our government. Whichever you accede to, it is of utmost importance that the “press” (including all of the news dissimilation groups) is a very important and powerful entity in this United States of America.
    In the Thursday, June 4, 2009, edition of the Daily Globe, the opinion by Donna O’Neill, she laments the decline of the printed news industry. I believe she explains to us the problem without realizing it, or she chooses to ignore it.
    In the second paragraph, she tells of setting at the dinner table with her father as he tells of local and national current events. They would then state their opinions on the subject. This is great, but it alters the current events into a personal commentary on those events and gives those events a personal slant that is meant to influence, not to just inform.
    Later in the column, she reiterates the problem by saying, “So much has changed from the days of “Just the facts, ma’am.'" Most people want the news — “Just the facts, ma’am,” — and not some reporter’s bias concerning the topic. That is for the opinion page. The bias of the reporter should not alter the reporting of the news. Impartiality should be a prime agenda of the reporting of current events.
    An example of biased reporting is when an accident is reported, the vehicles are described as “a 2009 Ford Focus and an SUV." Why not describe the other vehicle as a 2008 Ford Flex? What has SUV to do with it, except to influence the reader concerning a mind-set by some that SUVs are unsafe?
    One reason that so many people are getting news from Internet sources is the fact that many of those sources are reporting the facts. Although many tend to slant it, as do the other sources. With many sources to choose from, you can generally determine the actual facts. 
    The comparison of newspapers with auto workers, self-employed business owners, farmers, teachers and other public service individuals is ludicrous. Those groups do not have the ability, let alone the responsibility, to accurately inform us of current events.
    Horace Greeley would be saddened by how the news reporting has altered itself from a watchdog and an investigative medium into a self-serving, biased, agenda-promoting group of agencies that all lean in the same direction in attempting to influence the thinking of the general populace of America. In some cases, it would be called propaganda.
    Just as many institutions in this day, the press has forgotten the roots from whence it came. The press started as a force to report current events and properly investigate stories or possible stories to keep the unsavory elements of the citizenship accountable for their actions.
    It is my opinion that the Fourth Estate should return to dissimilation of the current events, asking the hard questions, delve into the shadows of our elected officials and their appointees and report what they find out to be facts. Not to write opinion pieces disguised as news.

Vernon Bogart
Dodge City