Interpretation

In chapter one of "Mass Media and American Politics" by Doris A. Graber and Johanna Dunaway The interpretation of a news story by the media is discussed. The fact that the news is viewed through the lens of the interpretation of the media outlet that is reporting the story can be an obvious fact. The bias of a reporting journalist can sometimes be inferred directly from reading the piece that they present. More often however, it is the bias of the editorial structure filtering the journalist's work that is more obvious. Whether the skewed presentation be by design or simply caused by personal interpretation of the presenter may not always be as clear. Typically what has greater clarity however is the intention of the point of view embodied by a news story.

When discussing news such as mildly to moderately important current events, both domestic and abroad, the interpretation of the reporter may innocently act to flavor the story with a certain point of view. This may be caused by a reporter's lack of knowledge or experience with certain situations, cultures, or technologies. Perhaps less innocent, the personal theological, ideological, or political views of the reporter may act to skew their interpretation of the news story. Should the personal views of the presenting reporter or editorial body conflict with the nature of the news story, their interpretation of the events may be noticeably slanted in the direction of their views. Now to leave the realm of innocence, the potential political or ideology agenda of the publishing news organization or the reporter may become apparent in the flavor of the news piece. This is not necessarily due to the interpretation of the facts by the reporter but more due to the agenda of the organization or reporter.

Whether the skewed interpretation of the news is based on a lack of knowledge or a lack of ethics the end product is typically the same. The news piece delivered is either off center in terms of point of view or potentially inaccurate in terms of facts or motivations. As much as we would like to believe that our news media of choice presents factually accurate information and events which are devoid of any slanted viewpoints. Unfortunately, it is more than likely a naïve perspective to assume this is true more often than it is not. It is simply not practical to assume complete accuracy of reporting in this day in age, cynically one should heed the concept that you can not believe everything that you read.