To Our Readers
By John Flanagan
Saturday, April 20, 1996
I know many people have, because many of you have written or called to let us know. This phenomenon is one of the issues that many of the nation's newspaper editors have been grappling with this week at the annual meeting of the American Society of Newspaper Editors in Washington.
News reports focus on extreme positions and conflict. They tend to follow a confrontation model that has drama but doesn't faithfully reflect the many layers of feeling that different people have about issues.
Take legalizing gambling as an example. Some will say they are for it and others that they're against it. Most of us, however, probably have mixed feelings. We don't want to see the surge in crime and corruption that have come with gambling to other communities and we aren't convinced that gambling won't feed disproportionately on those of us who can least afford to lose.
News stories about legalizing gambling won't always reflect that ambivalence. They will quote those who take extreme positions for and against it, giving readers the impression that there's more of a battle happening here than is really the case.
The challenge to journalists is to provide context, not just facts. The truth isn't just black or white. It includes many shades of gray, shades that add meaning and validity to our attempts to reflect accurately what is happening in Hawaii.
