What is a newspaper today?
I was born in 1960. Australian newspapers of that time contained almost only news and advertisements. Searching through Trove, I found no commentary, views or opinion on the news from papers back then.The same newspapers today contain much more than just news and ads. There is basically something for everyone today in a standard newspaper. But there is also opinion columns, views on many news subjects and commentary included in news articles. Why is there a difference between then and now?
Is it that newspapers are trying to emulate the type of discussion that happens on social media sites? I don't think so, because opinion columns in newspapers predate social media as we know it now. Some in America go back to the early 1900s.
While some newspaper articles contain opinions of experts, witnesses, and participants, most newspapers today include comment about leading news stories from their editors. I don't know about you, but I don't buy newspapers to read comments on what an editor thinks about the actions of others. I do not read op-ed columns and never have. But newspapers make them an important section of their publications.
Many newspaper editors are more informed about issues in the world, but their opinions are no more important than the opinions of anyone else. Why the world has bought into the idea that editors can solve the problems of the world better than anyone else remains a mystery to me. Do we want to be directed by someone we don't even know, so, therefore, cannot possibly trust?
I feel op-ed columns and the like is one of the reasons that people have turned away from newspapers today.
The prime function of a newspaper is to expose and tell the truth. Opinions, no matter how well informed, they only cover one side of the story, unlike factual journalism.
I find newspapers and media outlets supporting one side of politics or the other to be an immoral use of their function. Newspapers that do this are not newspapers, they are tools of a one-sided and oppressive organisation.
Newspapers and media outlets that support one side of anything have ruined what used to be a fair and free communication tool for the people of the world.
Newspapers should seek the truth and report on it. Newspapers should balance the publics need to know while minimizing harm and remain within the law. Newspapers should be accountable and transparent and supply ethical journalism that serves the public.
Opinions do not solve problems. Facts and balance help people figure out the issues of the world, and then people can act on fixing problems.
