News is Never Black and White - Newsroom Confidential

Media Strategies Workshops and Dean Rotbart's Newsroom Confidential Column or CLASSROOM Edition.

News Is Never Black and White

By Dean Rotbart

Which newspaper do you read?

When it comes to news coverage of day-to-day events, does it really make much difference if you are reading The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Des Moines Register or the Orange County Register?

Most readers would say not. News is, after all, news.

I open my morning paper, The Denver Post, and read on page 3 of the front section that "Israelis kill 4 Palestinian police." For most people, the headline is really all that matters. I flip through the pages. Page 4, "Factory gunman shot self four times." Page 5, "Argentines turn to U.S. dollar as economy teeters." Page 8, "Astronauts pay tribute to victims."

I close the front section and flip to the sports pages. The Broncos won last Sunday at home against Seattle. I read, in full, what the sports pundits have to say. Since I watched the game itself on television, I find it interesting to compare the journalists' take on the game to my own.

Funny, how they and I watched the same game, but we see it differently.

I turn back to page 3.

Why did the Israelis kill the four Palestinian police? I wonder.

The news article is exactly 10 paragraphs long. It is written by Daniel Williams, a reporter for The Washington Post. Like most dailies, the Denver paper offer carries stories written by other newspapers.

In paragraph one, the article tells me the Israelis killed the Palestinian policemen in their cars Sunday morning.

In paragraph two, the story notes that Israeli solders also killed a Palestinian taxi driver.

In paragraph three, the story points out that all this comes as the American envoy General Anthony C. Zinni is trying to broker a cease-fire.

In paragraph four, I read that General Zinni's patience is running out.

In paragraph five, the reporter, Daniel Williams, observes that "Chances of Zinni's mission succeeding seemed improbable..." Neither side, he implies, trusts the other.

Paragraph six has Israeli and Palestinian spokespeople exchanging blame.

Paragraph seven says Secretary of State Colin Powell condemned a botched suicide bombing that took place the same day in Haifa. Eleven Israelis were wounded but only the bomber died.

The next paragraph, number eight, provides a direct quote from Sec. Powell.

The ninth paragraph, the next-to-last, explains that the Israelis entered the town where the police were killed in an effort to round up terrorists.

The tenth and final paragraph, reads in full: "An [Israeli] army statement said four Palestinian police in two cars tried to run a checkpoint and opened fire on the Israelis; they were killed when the soldiers shot back."

End of story.

But it is not the end of the story.

To get to the REAL end, one has to do ample additional research, the kind that no typical reader would ever bother undertaking. But such probing is my job.

I start by turning directly to The Washington Post. You see, I know that it is likely that the Denver Post may have edited the original Washington Post story to fit its allotted space or because a Denver editor thought the story needed editing.

Remember, The Denver Post headline read "Israelis kill 4 Palestinian police". The headline in the Washington Post offered a bit more detail: "Four Palestinian Police Killed in Shooting by Israeli Troops; Circumstances of Incident at West Bank Checkpoint in Dispute."

There were more details in the Washington Post story about the suicide bombing in Haifa and some additional information supporting the Palestinian contention that the Israeli's killed the police "in cold blood," but largely the story by Mr. Williams was the same in both Denver and Washington.

Other newspapers played the same set of events variously..

The New York Times story, "More Violence Jolts Mideast Truce Efforts," also devoted more space to the police shootings than the Haifa suicide bombing, but the Times made clearer than the Post that the Israeli action was part of an effort to uncover two caches of explosives.

USA Today headlined its story, "Bomber shot dead during attack in Israel" and focused primarily on the Haifa suicide bomber.

The Baltimore Sun article focused primarily on the frustration of Anthony Zinni and only briefly mentions the four Palestinian police.

Newsday (New York) headlined its story, "Suicide Bomb Fails in Israel."

So, which version is accurate?

All of them and none of them.

Reporting is not a science. No story is covered the same by any two reporters or news organizations. If stories were covered the same, it would be redundant to have more than one news organization..

What's important in all this is the knowledge that which paper you read and which reporter you read DOES make a difference. When the news is important to you, seek out a second or third version. You are sure to find them.

As for so-called objectivity in news coverage, forget about it. When journalists talk about being objective, it means they try their best to keep their personal opinions and biases out of their stories. Many journalists try. No one is ever 100% successful.

December 17, 2001