bigWOWO's Editorial Policy: Fair, But Not Always Balanced

Erin from Hyphen brought up an interesting issue on the Hyphen Blog: After the Banana: Reflections on the AsAm Blogosphere.  In her blog post, she raises the question of neutrality, and whether we as bloggers ought to be adhering to fair and balanced reporting.  With respect to the Banana event, she links bigWOWO specifically:

Write-ups of the event since, though, have been troubling to me. Aside from Jon Yang‘s very balanced account (thank you, Jon), I find that my fellow bloggers have opted for a kind of resolute cheerleading, such that our team can do no wrong, and to be critical is to speak treason.

I agree with her statement that Jon’s account was balanced, and while I wouldn’t portray my own blog as “resolute cheerleading,” I agree that it was pro-conference.  Erin also brings up some good points in the comment section:

But we can’t have it both ways: Expect to be taken seriously while declining to be held to a standard of representational integrity? We can say what we want, and need not know whereof we speak? That makes for neither good journalism nor, I submit, good blogging.

Those of us who operate as progressive blogs, including Hyphen, by definition take positions; we have arguments, we do not pretend to neutrality. But presenting a progressive perspective means, if anything, a greater obligation to our chosen readership, doesn’t it? I believe ethical media requires that the writer exercise critical thinking and encourage it in his/her readers. The balanced presentation of information is vital to this. 

I thank Erin for her words; they have forced me to think about  my own editorial policy here at bigWOWO.  So here it is:

1. To the best of my ability, I will always post the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.  I will never ever knowingly post lies on bigWOWO.  Do you all remember the guy who filed a false report to the police about a hate crime in order to get on the news?   I was just as angry about the alleged racism when I first heard it, but after learning that the complainant was being untruthful, I retracted my original post about the so-called hate crime and told the full story for my regular readers.

Some people in Portland wanted to have this so-called hate crime rally, and they wanted my support.  I said no.  Some of my friendships suffered as a result of this.  But whatever.  I’m not going to apologize for refusing to lie.  I put in way too many hours into this site to allow liars and con-men to damage bigWOWO’s reputation for telling it like it is.

2. This is an opinion blog, not a news blog.  Just as Maureen Dowd and David Brooks only present  their opinions on issues, bigWOWO is my opinion and my opinion alone.  I’m not a reporter; I’m an opinionist.  Sure, every so often I’ll post up the words of other people in order to give them a voice, but it’s usually all me.  When I talk about people, issues, or events, I will most likely mention what I think is relevant and ignore what I think is not. 

A good example of this is environmentalism.  I see no need to give voice to the people who claim that global warming is a fraud.    Or parenting–when it comes to blogging about parenting, I give greater voice to public figures who actually do it over those who theorize.  Everything I post is factual, although not necessarily balanced.

With respect to opinion and reviews, see here:

a) Product reviews: I don’t cover everything.  Some people have e-mailed me movies that they’ve done, and if I think it’s not relevant, I might not cover it.  Or if it’s just too busy with work and family and stuff, I might not cover it.  So I’m already somewhat biased just because of what I choose to include or not include.

I will be fair when I review something.  You’ll hear what I like and what I don’t like without any outside influence.  However, keep in mind that this is an activist blog.  I usually review products based on their potential for social change and social justice.  If you read my reviews of books by Jamie Ford or Min Jin Lee, don’t expect Kakutani or Bloom.  Expect the views of an activist Asian man.  And yes, you can expect bias–based on whether or not I think it promotes our cause. 

b) Mutual Interests: If’ I–or anyone else–is involved with a project, expect bias.  For example, I put my own money into Miss Asian Oregon, so expect me to promote it.  I was on the Banana Conference panel, so expect me to promote it.  I support Thymos, so expect me to promote it.  If someone has a vested interest in a project, don’t expect that person to be unbiased–because he’s not.  I’ll do what’s right, but I’m an activist, which means I advocate for certain changes or organizations.

This also applies to products where I’m clearly in the creator’s corner.  For example, I just conducted an interview with the Kartika Review and Jamie Ford here.  I’m not unbiased.  I want you to read about Jamie’s book because I think it empowers Asian Americans.  (In compliance with the new blogger laws, no, he didn’t give me a free book or any other kind of compensation in order to get me to say that.)  I want you to buy his book because of the reasons I mention in the intro to his interview.

3. As you all know, I hardly ever moderate comments.  I don’t think I’ve ever banned anyone, nor have I ever deleted any comments that weren’t spam.  Everyone who brings an intelligent and respectful opinion gets a voice.  You don’t have to agree with me on pageants or rice chaser movies.  If we’re all respectful, I’ll give you the opportunity to make your voice heard, either through comments or podcasts.  That’s my way of  being fair and balanced. 

So there it is–bigWOWO’s editorial policy.  I feel that it’s a good policy, and in no way does it compromise any journalistic integrity.  I speak the truth while sharing my opinions.

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1. Information and Segregation