The myth of “neutral reporting”

A beginner’s guide to bodyweight training + defining rejection (Issue #313)

The myth of “neutral reporting”

A beginner’s guide to bodyweight training + defining rejection (Issue #313)

By The Medium Blog ∙ April 18, 2025 ∙ 3 min read ∙ View on MediumWe’re taught that journalism is meant to be objective. But anyone who’s worked in the field — or even thought seriously about it — knows that isn’t true. As health and science writer Robert Roy Britt explores in a recent piece, the idea that reporters can fully remove themselves from the story is more about optics than reality. The appearance of objectivity has long been treated as a professional ideal, but the way narratives are shaped is far more subjective than we often admit.Britt uses the example of Megyn Kelly. When she publicly endorsed Donald Trump, many critics and colleagues said she had crossed a line. But Britt argues it was a rare moment of transparency. Instead of quietly allowing her views to influence her coverage while claiming impartiality, she made her stance explicit.Kelly’s decision shows how the news industry actually functions. Reporters decide which angles to pursue, which voices to highlight, and what context to include. These editorial calls are shaped by personal history, values, and assumptions. Acknowledging those influences gives a more accurate picture of how stories come together. With that in mind, Britt poses this question:What if all prominent far-left and far-right media personalities (and the companies they work for) dropped the delusion of “fair and balanced” and simply wore their biases on their sleeves, instead of hiding behind a false cloak of objectivity?Relatedly, journalist Janice Harayda argues that bias often shows up not in what reporters say, but in what stories get told and how much attention they get. She recalls how, at her college newspaper, a single cockroach in the dining hall could make page one, while more serious issues were buried. That same logic explains how a Trump trial can dominate cable news while global crises go unmentioned. The bias lives not only in what’s said but in what’s left out.Both pieces land on the same idea: journalism is built on judgment calls. Reporters constantly make choices that reflect their personal and institutional values. Pretending otherwise only feeds distrust.If bias is inevitable, isn’t transparency part of the job?— anna dorn

💬 Good quotes

Venture developer Kambiz Homayounfar on trusting your coworkers: “The problem — and it is a real problem, an existential one for startups — is that trust requires patience, and patience is in short supply in an industry obsessed with scale.”
A beginner’s guide to bodyweight training: “Slinging your own bones around is extremely satisfying for me in a way that lifting metal plates up and down is not.” (Mia Lazarewicz, ninja warrior and gymnast)
Designer Kelly Smith: “Different languages divide up colours in different ways. In Ancient Greek, ‘glaukos’ covered dull shades from light blue to olive green, while ‘kyaneos’ referred to grey-blue ranging towards black.”

A dose of practical wisdom

Silence, distance, or detachment ≠ rejection. (Jennifer McDougall)··· Deepen your understanding every day with the Medium Newsletter.__Sign up here .__Edited and produced by Harris Sockel _ & __Carly Rose Gillis_ Questions, feedback, or story suggestions? Email us:__tips@medium.com Like what you see in this newsletter but not already a Medium member? Read without limits or ads, fund great writers, and join a community that believes in human storytelling .

From The Medium Newsletter

A newsletter by The Medium Blog2M subscribersView on MediumMore from this newsletterSent to registered2nd@gmail.com by The Medium Newsletter on Medium
Unsubscribe from this newsletter or unsubscribe from all newsletters from Medium
Manage your email settings
3500 South DuPont Highway, Suite IQ-101, Dover, DE 19901Careers·Help Center·Privacy Policy·Terms of service