No qualifiers.
One of the good things to come out of the past few years was that events have forced journalists to finally start facing some ugly truths about the profession, that they had abdicated their responsibility to inform, that they had used self-serving definitions of fairness as an excuse for caving in to pressure, that they not only tended to reduce complex stories to simplistic narratives but often let those narratives be dictated to them.
While we still have a ways to go, things have improved greatly. The conversation used to be lead by hacks like Howard Kurtz and tribalists like Jack Shafer. Now, the leading voices are arguably Margaret Sullivan and Jay Rosen, both of whom spent years playing Cassandra, having their prescient warnings ignored as things kept getting worse.
I'm sure there are exceptions, but every mainstream press institution I can think of at the moment has improved from its low point. I routinely find myself impressed by a piece of reporting or analysis from CNN (something that never used to happen). Even the Chuck Todds are starting to stand up on their hind legs.
This process of acknowledging and correct flaws has proved most difficult for the New York Times and NPR. The first is held back by compulsive self-congratulation and the axiomatic belief that is it is the world's best newspaper. The second has almost convinced itself that its now instinctive submissive crouch is a sign of maturity rather than cowardice.
Nonetheless, both are showing progress. This NYT piece represents a big step forward in acknowledging the situation, if not the gray lady's role in it.
"Centrist bias, as I see it, confuses the idea of centrism (which is very much an ideology) with objectivity and fairness." https://t.co/8CTknh59UU— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) December 23, 2019
Better still is this interview by Steve Inskeep, where he calmly but forcefully deals with the disinformation.
"Gotta stop you there." Invite Pam Bondi on your program for some of that good both sides feeling, you're going to receive made-up facts. Listen to what happens starting at 3:10. She is corrected, but keeps going. Inskeep decides to turn down her mic. https://t.co/YAHFzCRkCJ— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) December 19, 2019
And yes, that Pam Bondi.
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