Do Journalists Report the Truth?

This is an interesting question, and I think it is one that has grown very complex in the world of modern media. Often the journalists who are seen on a mass scale (those whose work is found on the shows and newscasts of CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC) are criticized for reporting untruthful information. I don't think this judgment is necessarily fair. The vast majority of the times, these journalists are reporting the facts of what happened, but they are also interpreting those facts in a unique way, resulting in a form of "biased truth."

When a large news story breaks, multiple news outlets will all jump on the story. And while the information, facts, statistics, and so forth are the same for all outlets, the reports will often be quite different. One example is how MSNBC and Fox News reported on the decision in the Supreme Court case regarding Arizona's SB1070 immigration law. Fox chose to highlight how the court upheld parts of the law, thus trumpeting a victory for Arizona's conservative legislature. MSNBC highlighted the large portions of the law that were struck down, thus claiming victory for the Obama administration. So while the news was the same for both outlets, the difference was found in interpretation. So, mass journalism's biased truthfulness often isn't the "purest" form of truth, but it's truth nonetheless.