Opinion:

When Is Reporting Bias, And When Is Bias Reporting?

A Letter To The Editor Brings This Reflection From TNO Editor

by Johnny Gunn

Following publication of the last issue of The Nevada Observer we received a letter to the editor challenging us on our objectivity, and suggesting in strong language that we are heavily biased in our reporting on the Congressional District Two (CD2) Republican Primary race. The questions raised deserve not just a response from us but reflection as well. From one side of the coin, what looks like bias might just be bias, while on the other side, there might be just reporting. Here is the letter in question.

"I am writing this as private citizen Steve because it has been on my mind...

Gee, Johnny, you forgot to mention Frankie Sue, Gov. Guinn, Brian Krolicki, Brian Sandoval, Harry Reid, Jim and Dawn Gibbons, John Ensign, etc., etc. in your article. What do they have in common? All have either had shows or been frequent guests on Nevada Matters. Oh, by the way, Dean Heller terminated his relationship with Eddie Floyd more than a year ago.

I think your reporting on the CD2 race has been very biased from the get go, which leads to my question, does Dawn Gibbons have to claim you as "in-kind" contributors on her C&E Reports?

At least be fair and mix in a few facts when you do "news" stories.

Respectfully,

Steve George"

Have we covered the CD2 Republican Primary fairly? Let's look closely, because we believe that reporting fairly is more important than biased reporting. We have covered Sharron Angle's campaign rather well, we think. She sends us news releases fairly often, we have complete access to her web site, which is well done, and those that work in her campaign are available most of the time if we have questions.

Dawn Gibbons' campaign is also well covered. Gibbons is an astute politician who understands the value of the press, and has made it her policy to see to it that The Nevada Observer is aware of what her campaign is doing. As an example of that, following the devastation of the hurricanes in the Gulf Coast, Gibbons went to Houston to work with refugees. She made us aware of the fact she was going and we asked that she file a report on her work there. That's not bias, that's good reporting. Gibbons was the only politician in the state that did what she did.

That report was at our request. Gibbons also traveled to Arizona to investigate first hand the efforts of the federal government regarding illegal immigration across the U.S./Mexican border. Following that visit, her campaign issued a press release on the matter, and we carried much of it. That's not bias, that's good reporting.

Steve's primary complaint in his letter seems to be our reporting or lack of it regarding Dean Heller's campaign. Heller has not sent one single press release to The Nevada Observer. Hard to cover a campaign that doesn't exist. Heller doesn't have a web site promoting his campaign. Hard to get information from something that doesn't exist. And, Heller's campaign workers are all but impossible to contact. Not reporting on Heller's campaign isn't bias, it's simply impossible to report on something that isn't there.

Dealing with Heller's relationship with Eddie Floyd, indicted for numerous drug and money laundering charges, we weren't discussing who was on Floyd's radio program, we were talking about Heller's relationship to Floyd's Nevada Matters Corporation and his speech to the shareholders.

Regarding the man, Secretary of State Dean Heller, we have been more than generous regarding reporting on SOS news. During the 2004 election cycle when Secretary Heller was working to create an entirely new form of voting, the touch screen voting machines, and implemented the paper verification system into the electronic voting, The Nevada Observer stood four-square behind the program. We wrote several in-depth articles on the systems, on the companies that had systems available, and publicly supported the Secretary.

As with any news organization, we have not been simply supportive of a man just because he holds public office. We don't fawn over anyone. They perform well, we say so, they perform poorly, we say so, they attempt to hoodwink, we jump down their throat. That's our job. Lately, Secretary Heller has performed less than poorly concerning implementation of the computerized voter registration system mandated by federal law.

That system is a complete failure, probably can't be salvaged, and has cost the state (that's you, remember) millions of dollars. Secretary Heller did not come forward and say there was a problem in developing the program, but rather, one of the state's most respected registrar of voters, Larry Lomax in Clark County, had to blow the whistle on the project.

Reporting on that is not bias, it is reporting.

Regarding our coverage of the gubernatorial campaign, if anyone has a right to complain right now it would be Jim Gibbons. We have had numerous articles on Bob Beers, on Dina Titus, on Jim Gibson, and few on Gibbons. In fact, our two cartoonists have had a field day with the Gibbons' campaign.

We at The Nevada Observer have said this before, and we stand behind it. Political parties in Nevada don't mean much, but responsible politicians are sometimes few and far between. We've seen an elected official disgraced recently; we've seen many elected representatives taking money and gifts from questionable sources; and we have witnessed just how weak the state's election laws are, particularly in respect to campaign finances.

We respect your thoughts and ideas, we welcome them, and it's important to understand, we are not trying to lessen the thoughts that Steve had in his letter, but it is important from time to time to spell out why certain things happen. Maybe someone in Heller's campaign will recognize the fact that no news isn't always good news, and start actually forming a campaign with real issues and ideas.

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Correction: In the February 15 edition we said EDAWN was the Economic Development Authority of Northern Nevada. Of course it is the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada. Our apologies.

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Cartoon by Thomas Nast, April 12, 1874