[OSM-talk] weeklyOSM #382 2017-11-07-2017-11-13

[Frederik Ramm]

Hi,

On 11/17/2017 07:34 PM, Andy Townsend wrote:
> Also, there is such a thing as "fake balance".  Imagine you're
> running an article about someone who's discussing ways to offset the
> problems caused by the Mercator projection; you don't then need to also
> quote someone from the Flat Earth Society for the sake of impartiality.

This is actually quite important. In the US, after the election, I read
a lot of media critique where people said that many papers had
misunderstood their journalistic impartiality as having to give both
sides of an argument equal coverage, however nonsensical one side may
have been. This mistake that was made by well-meaning, liberal-thinking,
fairness-aspiring journalists, it was claimed, contributed to giving the
country Trump.

Let's not fall into the same trap.

Also, let's not try and tell the weekly how to do their job. I prefer a
critical and occasionally opinionated weekly that enjoys the freedom of
the press over a sanctioned and moderated "state media" that is always
polite and only reports successes and advances, and glosses over any
acrimony that might exist in the community.

I'm immensely thankful that we have the weekly, and that it has formed
independently of the powers that be in the OSMF, and that it dares to
report things the OSMF wouldn't necessarily blog about, and that they
aren't required to submit to some OSMF redaction. I find something to
dislike in every issue, but that's not the point; the fact that we have
a free press at all more than makes up for that.

Bye
Frederik

-- 
Frederik Ramm  ##  eMail frederik at remote.org  ##  N49°00'09" E008°23'33"