In his latest column, Business Report Publisher Rolfe McCollister calls on journalists and editorial writers—who routinely demand transparency from public officials—to be more transparent about their own beliefs or biases.
He points to a Gallup poll released last year that showed just 40% of Americans say they have “a great deal” or “a fair amount” of trust and confidence in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly. Gallup noted it tied an all-time low in its polling of the public’s trust of the media.
“Do you wonder what political party a journalist belongs to or what causes they donate money for?” McCollister asks in his column. “Are they pro-life if covering a Planned Parenthood story? Are they an advocate of gun control if covering a shooting? Or are they gay if covering the Supreme Court? Do they support immigration reform if writing on the presidential candidates? Or is their spouse a member of the teachers union if covering education?””
Part of the problem, McCollister says, is the public knows little about those who cover and deliver the news.
“And from the Gallup poll, it seems like their suspicion of these sources is growing,” he writes. “This trend needs to change.”
Also in his latest column, McCollister touches on the national debate over bathroom and school locker room use, privacy and one’s rights.
“This bathroom debate has become a volatile one because of the initial ordinance in Charlotte, North Carolina, relative to transgender use of restrooms and subsequent action by the North Carolina Legislature and governor to overrule,” he writes, later concluding: “I would think most in America would feel there still has to be some absolutes. Not everything can be gray with changes and exceptions made for the next person who comes along and complains they are offended and have ‘rights.’ We all have ‘rights,’ and why should yours get trampled on for someone else?”
Read the full column, in which McCollister also comments on whether state lawmakers will have the guts to make necessary cuts to the budget and endorses attorney Edmond Jordan in his bid to replace the late Rep. Ronnie Edwards as the District 29 representative.
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