VoiceofSanDiego.org is biased for reform, aims to write with authority

PressThink
Jay Rosen has published VoiceofSanDiego.org’s guidelines for new reporters, which show how the site’s editors view their mission differently than that of a general-interest news site. The guidelines start off with this declaration: “We only do something if we can do it better than anyone or if no one else is doing it.” Although the site doesn’t have an ideological bent, “we do believe San Diego can and will do better. … If anything, this is our bias.” Reporters shouldn’t worry about getting scooped; they should “worry about not consistently making an impact.” And the guidelines state that while “there is no such thing as objectivity … there is such thing as fairness.” Rosen published the guidelines because they ban “he said, she said” journalism: “The day we write a headline that says: ‘Proposal has pros, cons’ is the day we start dying. … There is no such thing as 50/50 balance. There is a truth and we work our damndest to get there.” || Related: Rosen criticizes “he said, she said” nature of NPR story on abortion clinics in Kansas; Schumacher-Matos asks NPR readers and listeners to weigh in on story about police practices at the Mall of America.