David Rosenbaum '63, a senior writer for The New York Times' Washington bureau, demystified some criticisms of media bias for about 30 students Saturday afternoon.
Rosenbaum spoke about "What's Wrong With Journalism in America Today -- and What's Right With It," in the library of Casque and Gauntlet Senior Society.
Rosenbaum analyzed several public conceptions of the media.
He said newspapers and the press "come under a lot of fire," especially in election years.
The first criticism Rosenbaum addressed was the notion that reporters and editors are all liberals, and consequently, conservatives do not receive fair news coverage.
Rosenbaum stipulated that reporters and editors tend to be liberal and said surveys have shown a vast majority of reporters and editors are liberals.
The belief that "journalism should comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable," attracts people of a leftist ideology, he said.
He said the stories the press covers reflect its liberal tendencies. Recently there was a teenage rally for Jesus in Washington, D.C., and the New York Times did not cover it, he said.
"If it had been a gay rights protest, it would have been on the front page," he said. "It wasn't just that the reporters weren't interested in the Jesus rally -- the editors weren't either."
But he said reporters are trained to keep themselves out of their stories and give a fair-minded presentation of the facts.
Rosenbaum said there are plenty of conservative columnists and magazines, and talk radio has been taken over by conservatives like Rush Limbaugh.
The second criticism Rosenbaum discussed were the two contrasting stereotypes of reporters that are widely held by the public.
He said one view is that reporters are "too fat and happy and educated at places like Dartmouth" and "part of the establishment," while the other view is that reporters are adversarial, create cynicism and treat the government as the enemy.
He said not all reporters are fat and happy and offered analysis from his early reporting experiences.
Rosenbaum said he is "part of the first generation who went to the schools we did," like Dartmouth.
But he said his first editor "maybe went to high school and didn't know the difference between Machiavelli and tortellini," but was a "great editor."
He said a reason for the misconception that the press is part of the establishment comes from the journalists who "appear on talk shows and shout at each other and are rude."
"People think that is what journalists do," he said. "I wish they wouldn't."
He said he thinks every politician believes the press is too adversarial.
Rosenbaum said politicians think just because they say something "we should print it and think it is true."
He said reporters get a reputation for being hostile for pursuing the answers when people do not give them the truth.
"If calling a spade a spade instead of calling it a diamond or a club makes me 'hostile', then so be it," Rosenbaum said.
Third, he addressed the common criticism that the media are too sensationalist and cover "too much O.J. and not enough ozone."
"If they thought they could make more money by highbrow news, they'd do it," he added. "O.J. sells."
But he said this approach does not affect the news available to the public because there is "so much news, and so much more serious news than one person can possibly understand."
The last criticism he explained was the media's focusing on political strategy and character during election times in lieu of covering the issues.
"The issues don't change, you can only write the same story a few times," Rosenbaum said. "The tactics and horse race change every day. Change makes news."
Rosenbaum fielded questions from the audience following his speech. A few people asked about the growing popularity of the Internet and whether it will affect newspapers.
He said he does not think "the idea that cyberspace will put us out of business" is true. "From my perspective, we gather information and prepare and present it. There will always be a market for this," he said.
The Dartmouth invited Rosenbaum to Hanover to award him The Dartmouth's annual alumni award for distinguished service in journalism and public affairs.
