News of the papacy and the upcoming conclave dominate every media website, newspaper and social media outlet right now. Here is how to tell if you are reading a balanced article. Are the only quoted sources in it from the left? Villanova’s Massimo Faggioli. Father Thomas Reese, LGBTSJ. Father James Martin, LGBTSJ. Georgetown’s John Carr. Former USCCB official John Gehring. If a reporter consistently features these men, without balance from a conservative or traditional viewpoint, it is called Media Bias.
Most reporters are notoriously lazy — fine. But featuring the same tired, old sources from the liberal end of the spectrum discredits the news article and, ultimately, the media outlet. We have mentioned this before, but this week’s news cycle has gone right back into Lazy Source Mode for mainstream media reporters.
Avoid such media — a one-sided slant is not mainstream, it is ideological. Or, at least self-balance the left-wing “mainstream” news with an article or report from a conservative media outlet.
But be wary of the New York Times, Washington Post, Reuters, CNN and all of the networks which repeatedly feature the above-named sources, unchecked. Just as a news article would not be balanced if it only quoted Cardinals Burke and Sarah, a media report only quoting the left, or doing so 5:1, is missing the other side of the story. And anyone who does not accept the fact there are (at least) two ideological sides to the upcoming conclave story has been either living in a cave or inserting one’s head in the sand for the last several years. This will be a conclave of revolution vs. counterrevolution.
