Washington Post
From Post national political editor
John F. Harris' online chat:
Washington, D.C.: I think Paul Krugman's strongest criticisms are those he levels against the press and its reporting. His points are picked up as satire by Colbert and others.
You say, "I believe our job on the news side is to report facts and analyze them intelligently and fairly." Please explain what you mean by "fairly." It is merely "he said, she said?"
John F. Harris: No. That is not our role. It is a very common criticism that journalistic conventions about objectivity and fairness require us to put truth and falsehood on an equal plane. "Republicans praised the sunny day, but Democrats asserted it is really raining."
I think the criticism sometimes has validity. We should state the facts and truth as plainly as we can report it, not take refuge behind "he said/she said." Is it raining, or not?
But it is also true that we in the press are not a High Court of Truth. Many things that seem self-evidently true to partisans on one side do not look that way to others. So this gives us an obligation to present divergent points of view, and acknowledge that information information is fragmentary and the "truth" is subject to many interpretations. That is what I mean by fairness.
