I’m as big a fan of traditional newspapers as anyone, and I still get a lot of my news from the New York Times (website) and other reliable sources. However, this case illustrates that mainstream media can’t take its public authority for granted.

The web opens new vistas for finding accurate reporting on many issues. If newspapers don’t avail themselves of the enhanced research potential offered by the internet, they will simply be elbowed out by more specialized blogs and generic news aggregators.

The future for newspapers may be similar to the fate already suffered by many travel agents. As people can increasingly find the cheapest fares through a few hours of searching online, they find less and less use for travel agents. The only people using agents these days are large companies… and mainstream media may only survive in the future by providing contracted analysis for companies that need it.

If you want to know about the situation of the Baha’is in Iran, just go to the best sources:

http://www.iranpresswatch.com
http://www.bahairights.com
iran.bahai.us
news.bahai.org/human-rights/iran/iran-update/

When I read the WP article the first time, I thought, OK here is a western journalist based in Washington, trying his best to write a piece (obviously to a deadline) on the persecution of a little-known religious minority in one of the axis of evil countries which has suppressed freedom of expression. In spite of the many inaccuracies, of which even I was aware and which you so eloquently pointed out, I thought the piece was rather sympathetic to the plight of the Baha’is in Iran. The article sounded not much different than many others I have read about the persecution of other minorities around the world (e.g. Kurds in Turkey, Ahmadis in Pakistan, etc.). After reading your masterful blog, however and the way you laid it out, I can now see a whole new standard of journalistic responsibility emerging and I also see how what passes for news can in some unexpected ways reinforce stereotypes and dampen zeal for change and justice. Now where do I turn for my news reading?

I should clarify that this post wasn’t intended as a personal attack on the journalist. I’m sure his intentions are sincere.

What concerns me is the kind of pseudo-objectivity that some journalists seem to feel obliged to convey in their reporting. It is a ‘show both sides’ approach taken to an extreme, where the truth is irrelevant and the news is only a series of ‘viewpoints’.

Journalists will never be objective. The best that they can do is try to overcome their own biases in their presentation of world events — after all, isn’t that the real purpose of the news? Overcoming bias involves meticulous research and an attempt to write about events with a discerning pen. Every word published by a journalist serves the purpose of conveying — in whatever limited way — the truth of events. If a statement is inaccurate, obscures the truth, or fails to illuminate the full context of the news, then it serves little purpose.

In the case of the Baha’is in Iran, the third-party documentation (in addition to the very reliable sources produced by the Baha’i community) is exhaustive and very very easy to access. The same can be said about the Baha’i religion itself. Despite all sympathies a journalist may have, I think s/he has an obligation — first and foremost — to conduct careful research, assess the matter with a searching eye, and then to guide the reader (who is most often less informed) into an accurate portrayal of the news.

To do otherwise is simply irresponsible.

And Mike, of course I remember meeting you. Hope your health has improved!

I would also add that the line “The Bahai headquarters is in Haifa, Israel, but the denomination says it has adherents in virtually every country” makes the Baha’is sound like a company which sets up bogus offices around the world for tax evasion. Why not just state the verifiable fact that there are established Baha’i communities in almost every country?
Could probably go on all day like this!