How not to appear as an unbiased journalist
I see all types of journalism in the tech field, some I agree with and some I don’t. We always say that personal tech is just that, personal, and that what works for some will not work for others. I saw something today reported in such a way that blows me away in how biased the statements are that leaves me with a very bad taste in my mouth.
The piece of journalism is from Paul Thurrott of the Supersite for Windows. The article under discussion is his review of Safari 4 released yesterday. It is impossible to treat this review as objective when you run into a statement like this:
Apple fanatics–you know, those idiots who would buy anything with an Apple logo on it–will get all giddy and clap like little girls at a Hannah Montana concert when they see Top Sites, the new default Safari 4 home page. But these people are missing the point (what else is new?)
No matter what you think about the program in question, this is not the way to get anyone to take you seriously. It really looks bad for Thurrott any way you slice it.
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The irony is that Thurrott is really talking about himself. Has there been a single Microsoft product release (apart perhaps from Vista) where he hasn’t been wildly enthusiastic? I realize he has to keep being positive in order to keep getting visits to the Microsoft campus and exclusive tips, but he looks more and more like a shill.
Paul Thurrott is hardly a shill. Apart from the fact that he uses and reviews Apple products, he is generally even handed and happy to point out flaws with Microsoft’s products. For instance, he was very critical about aspects of Aero Glass in Vista and recently criticised the new taskbar in Windows 7.
You’re wrong about Vista too because he was generally positive about and recognised the fact that it is a great OS with room for improvements.
Having said all that, I’d question whether Paul is acting as a journalist on the site James linked to. I consider WinSupersite to be a blog and as such I don’t see the point of criticising a lack of objectivity – as long as he doesn’t overdo it. Remember blogging != journalism.
The funny thing is though, it is hard to be impartial and unbias when it comes to technology, just like anything else. We all have our favorites. We all have what we hate. The issue is whether we keep those biases to ourselves. Journalist try to remain unbias, but even when they do, you can always read between the lines. In Thurrott’s case, it looks like he just decided to say “screw it, I am going to say this.” Besides, with him writing that statement, he just got a LOAD of free PR and multiple hits to his website. No PR is bad PR anymore.
It’s his opinion. I read his site just like i do this site for opinions. lighten up. Everyone that post something on a computer these days think that they are Walter Cronkite. Does anyone really believe that when you read a review of anything that opinion is not a significant portion of the results? Please, spare me the “non-biased” stuff. Just keep blogging about what you think in regards to tech and mobility and we can figure out the rest.
Are you all journalists now? Don’t you have to go to journalist college or something first instead of blog college?
Haha! I agree and think that JK shouldn’t throw with stones while sitting in a glass house himself. PT is one of the most unbiased JOURNALISTS on the web.
I also agree with one of the other posters that the quality of some of the posts on JKon… have gotten worse and worse. I too have thought about not coming back.
Lastly, I find it fascinating that on blogs it apparently is the pinnacle of journalism if you post a link to another website/blog (which has the real story) and you don’t do anything but write your opinion about the real story. Great job, JK!
My point is not the message, nor fanboyism or anything like that. You shouldn’t be calling folks rude names in editorials, and that’s what his “review” is. Whether or not he likes a program or not is valuable information. Calling people who disagree with him “idiots” is short-sighted IMHO.
I am using Safari 4.x on Windows XP to post this reply and FYI, the box for my name is not placed correctly on the screen.
More to the point, though..bloggers aren’t the only ones with obvious opinions and sometimes hidden agendas. When I first installed Safari 4.x, the opening preview/cover flow screen (which has several ‘favorite’ webpages) prominently featured in the top middle the CNET review of the Blackberry Storm — a review that was less than favorable. I see this as Apple’s not too subtle way to promote the iPhone.
Looks to me that all the sites that bother to post about Paul Thurrott and his stupid posts have taken the “bait” — LINK bait that is. Look I just helped!
Anyone willing to read one article and pass judgment may in fact label Paul as biased towards windows. But anyone with the commonsense to give a second look will find out he is one of the most unbiased windows journalists out there.
Can the average web audience member distinguish bloggers from journalists, news from opinion or editiorial?
What bugs me is the amount of opinion or point of view that is interpreted as fact. Sometimes this is the author’s fault for not being clearer and other times it is the audience’s fault for just not taking it for what it is.
Paul is a Windows homer, what do you expect. I have listened to some of his Windows Weekly podcasts with Leo Laporte and he will occasionally trash Microsoft products, especially its Windows Mobile offering. I read that article and he spends most of time trashing Safari 4′s Tab implementation and its fancy GUIs (Cover Flow and Top Site) while implying that IE7 is superior. I seem to remember that IE7 was the LAST browser to natively support tabbed-browsing and they still have a crappy interface and don’t fully support web standards IMO. In his defense, his name-calling was a little out of character from what I have seen in the past, maybe he was having a really bad day or something.
Hmmm. I listen to the TWIT podcast ‘Windows Weekly’ and find him a decent listen, critical of Microsoft when needed. He’s been very critical of IE8. I think here he is referring to a specific type of person that we come across in all corners of the net.
His review is pretty good, based of course on the experience of Safari on Windows, which is not as good as Safari on the Mac (I actually tried both last night, using bootcamp on my Macbook Pro).
Bottom line, he could have done without that comment, although I did like ‘clap like little girls at a Hannah Montannah concert’. :-)
Perhaps the word you were looking for was not “unbiased”? Might I suggest “tasteless” or “immature” if you were concerned about how he describes people who disagree with him?
–Ken
It’s important to realize I did not say he was biased or unbiased. What I said was his name-calling was not the way to “appear to be unbiased”. I went on to state that these personal insults made it hard to treat his review as objective. I still stand by those statements. He must have been having a VERY bad day. :)
I agree that the phrasing that Thurrott selected is not a particularly good way to make his point. In fact, I don’t even think the point that he was making in that case was particularly relevant to the subject of the article.
I don’t see, though, why appearing to be “unbiased” or “objective” is even something that should be considered a goal in a review. Pretty much by definition, a review is going to be a subjective reflection of the author’s biases and preferences. Had the article been billed as a news item intended solely to describe the feature set of Safari, that would be a different story. A review, though, is supposed to be a subjective judgment on the merits of the product.
Again, I do think that he would have been better off leaving out the paragraph that you quoted. That isn’t due to anything related to bias or objectivity, though. Instead, he would have been better off leaving it out simply because it comes off as fairly unprofessional and also runs the definite risk of alienating some readers who might otherwise have picked up some valuable insight by reading his opinions.
C’mon James, it’s not like the guy named his site “SuperSite for Operating Systems.” It’s “SuperSite for Windows”. He couldn’t make his bias any clearer short of naming it “Windows is Awesome!” Can’t say he didn’t warn you.
Hi,
I enjoy Paul’s commentaries and they often bring a smile to my face. I think a lot of it is really just a response to a lot of the very superficial reporting that occurs in the media of Apple products. The failings of them and the extremely closed nature of the products is often ignored as is the fact that a lot the so called apple “innovations” are copied from other products. However, they are treated as being above criticism. Really, is there any value for example of ever reading a Walt Mossberg review, you just know that anything from Apple will be wonderful in his eyes, so it is a pointless read.
You know… it *IS* called the “Windows Super Site” for a reason. He is and has always been a Microsoft enthusiast, and like myself, he has made a living using and supporting and promoting Microsoft technologies. Also, finish the rest of the quote. Don’t cut off a person mid-thought… the DOT-DOT-DOT syndrome media outlets have really upsets me more than bias.
Anyway, I think his choice of words on Apple are a bit harsh (I know some very bright people who foolishly like Apple *cough*jkOnTheRun,lol*cough*), and it’s certainly unnecessary. It is his site, however, and when it comes to information ABOUT WINDOWS, his information is almost always spot on.
By the way, speaking of biased reporting, I remembering reading articles and comments on this site recently regarding Windows Mobile that for a few moments made me consider not coming back (especially when followed up by “OMG! LOOK HOW GREAT APPLE AND BLACKBERRY ARE!” posts, but when I stopped to think about it rationally I realized what a valuable resource I’d be losing if I did that, so here I am.
When it comes down to it… I’m OK with praising AND bashing products, companies, and even people once in a while. As long as you make an attempt at being accurate, I can deal with some harsh realities once in a while.
Brilliantly put and why you’re such a valuable member of this little community. Opinions are just that and as such neither right nor wrong, just one person’s POV. That POV is valuable to consider no matter if you agree with it or not. But I’ll never stoop to calling those who disagree with my opinion “idiots”. That’s just not my style. :) Thanks for sticking with us.
I concur with you, but I really like windows mobile
@James,
Thanks James… and I really enjoy this site, which is why I stepped back and didn’t just react out of irritation.
@wv,
So do I! :)
It is probably not something he should have had in his post but in the context of how Apple is treated by it’s fans and the press he’s just exagerrating what is a good point.
I don’t agree with him using the word idiots. But I think part of his tone and reaction is due to the absolutely rampant biased online discussion on Apple products. I find that I run across far, far, far more completely skewed reviewing and posting (especially on blogs where it seems you apparently are considered either completely ‘uncool’ or a Luddite if you you use a PC or Windows OS). It can become annoying in any walk of life when you are a user, adopter, or fan of a product/company that rarely gets viewed objectively. Especially when it is because of seemingly overnight, unfounded hatred towards a company that they more than likely spent their whole life computing on until the last few years….when a certain manufacturer became ‘cool’ with the college kids.
Lets see, you took a few sentences from a rather lengthy article, and draw your conclusions from that. Besides everyone knows Apple fanatics as hes describing whether it be Cali Lewis, Walt Mossberg, or my boss at work. If anything Thurott needs to practice what he preaches and quit slamming windows mobile
I don’t know, seems like the same sort of fanboy attitude of the apple blog, doesn’t it?
Im still fascinated by the thought that someone actually believes that a “review” of anything is not based on the reviewers opinion to some degree? When James or Kevin (I am a big fan of both by the way) review a phone and discuss the UI is that not to some degree your opinion when you start talking about form factor or how it feels in the hand for example. Im so confused…
I use Mac OS and Windows and frequent Paul’s site often. In fact, he’s is the reason why I bought my iPhone! I would bet that he gets a lot of hate mail from fanatics [he actually states it sometimes], which may tick him off on occasion, but I see your point. But do note that it sometimes hard to turn the other cheek. Lately, Paul has been a big consumer advocate. If something doesn’t work as advertised, he may let us know about it.
Bias can be tough to define sometimes. I prefer using Leopard at home, so does that me me biased? I guess it’s all how you look at it.
The issue seems to have been “fudged”, is it not the over personal and abusive manner that is in question here and not bias?
Perhaps Paul could appologise for his rude comments, sorry is a powerfull word that is used less and less these days :(
I’m happy for the guy to express his opinions directly. That’s how he sees it, and he’s welcome to say it that way as far as I am concerned. That’s the approach he takes to everything and his site is a useful source of informations and opinions. A different point of view usually to mine but on this issue I think he’s quite right.
His points against the Safari 4 user interface are completely valid. It’s immediately obvious that “top sites” is a terrible way to visualize information, objectively speaking. There is no point to the curvature, it wastes space, makes the actual information hard to read, and is an extra piece of visual information which conveys no actual information i.e. is just a distraction. The shadow effects also have no point.
That’s why even his insult is right! If this user interface is supposed to appeal to anyone, it’s those people that value style (particularly Apple style) over substance, because here the style is in conflict with the substance.
Definitely not all Apple users are like that (Apple does make good hardware using the most modern technologies). But there is definitely a group of fanatics and also groups of people who take up apple for social-identification reasons and tech reviewers need not to be influenced by any of this and maintain objectivity, as Thurrott was doing in what is in fact a very objective article.
I don’t think JK you are right to single out one person and one sentence – a trend with examples would have been more appropriate – but especially because it’s actually a pretty good article.
I like this site and find both of you to be very even keeled in general, which keeps me coming back. The gross fanboyism at a site like the BoyGeniusReport keeps me away from them even though they provide some useful information.
However, if you are going to call out Paul, (whom I like and comment at his blog very often, and have been called a WinJihadist before, so take this with a grain of salt) you must also call out the others in the tech journalism industry, which has only a scintilla more reputation than the so-called mainstream journalists, which is not saying much at all. I’m talking about the Mossbergs of the world. And considering that Paul is basically just a blogger like you guys now, you really have to start calling out all other bloggers that show even a hint of bias.
I will tell you something about Paul, though. If you have been with him for the many, many years that I have, you will see the floodgates open anytime he says anything even remotely negative about Apple. I can only imagine what his inbox looks like sometimes. The vitriol can be extreme. So I cut him some flack with comments like this, because he has dealt with a lot over the years, and this would be my natural reaction as well. We can’t also call him a shill, since he does use Apple products regularly, even the flawed but superior iPhone as he puts it.
Anyway, walk carefully in to this land, and make sure that your own objectivity remains intact. It would be very easy for this blog to veer in to the neverlands, like what happened at Scoble and Pirillo.
Chill out everybody!
The key word was “fanatics”.
Or we missed the joke. Maybe JK is trying to demonstrate a lack of a different journalistic quality: understanding the native language.
Paul used the correct word. It’s the most concise way to describe a certain type of person that’s fanatical for the brand. Not “fan.” “Fanatic.”
Yes, spot on. Like I tried to infer earlier he’s talking about specific ‘extreme’ members of our tech community. I certainly never took it to be that he was calling all Apple users idiots, far from it!
Oh dear, like many others I enjoy this site, but don’t enjoy the sometimes rabid pro-Apple stance that has become more and more prevalent. And this is just such an time.
Learn to comprehend ENGLISH.
“Apple fanatics–you know, those idiots who would buy anything with an Apple logo on it”.
Anyone who buys something JUST because it has logo X on it is an idiot. They are not saying anyone who buys Apple for a good reason is an idiot. Just people who would buy an iToiletRoll if it was available. Same people who would buy the same product with a Penguin on it. Who would not get in a taxi if it had a Microsoft advertisement on the side. You know. Proper Idiots.
The thing you so utterly fail to grasp, is that many people, who have balanced views on things technical, groan in the same way as you have done when we are subjected to yet another JK exclusive about “Apple put camera in phone, best thing ever” rubbish. Everytime another iPhone case, or some other pointless accessory hits the market you bleat like every of iSheep in the iField.
Oooh look, yet another bug fix in the iPhone that gives us nothing extra in terms of functionality, and yet you wail on at Microsoft for WinMo 6.5 being not really a revolution. Sherlock Holmes must be sleeping easy knowing the level of investigation going on in the world at large now.
So don’t try to pretend you are journalists. Regurgitating news other people have blogged isn’t journalism. You are bloggers. It is about opinion, not news.
Never read Engaget ? Utter bilge of the Apple idiot variety. But they don’t come in for an criticism, do they. They are utterly rude about the Celio Redfly. Directly insulting to people who have bought one. But hey, they are other Apple fans, and you can’t criticise other people in your quasi-religion.
Don’t suppose you will “get it”. But this turns people off this site. Get a grip. Post sense not rubbish.
I respectfully disagree and think you’re being a bit harsh, and indeed insulting. Perhaps you could link to the posts that irk you. Where for example is the ‘bug fix post adding no functionality’ you’re referring to?
While I personally think James overreacted on this one I’ve never really found JKOTR to be as Apple biased as you are making out. We know that James is keen on Apple products, indeed, without some of the posts made here I would never have even considered a Mac, but now use one and am enjoying the power a combination of OSX and Windows 7 brings.
However, I’ve never found the Apple news overpowering here and over the years have got some great tips that have improved how I go mobile. Also regarding Engadget, pro MS posts usually get ranked highly!
Blogging is all about opinion and promoting discussion, which is why we’re here on this site!
Group hug!
Well, you all seem to make some good points. Please don’t go overboard with more name calling. Your OS is a tool. Use the tool that best suits your needs.
Peace
I agree with you James. The quote seems to be the worst of a bad lot from reading the whole piece. He is making two mistakes from what I have read. Stating opinion as fact and demeaning anyoue who may disagree with his “facts”. Both extremely bad form.
I think the best scenario is that he will loose many readers, both of the Apple and Windows fan-person ilk.
It was a gratuitous, silly comment by the Supersite author, but don’t let it get to you. Seems you guys are relatively new to Macs, and you’re going through a normal “defensive” phase for a Mac user. I’ve been using Macs regularly since 1993 (and PCs and their precursors since 1980), and these types of comments will continue to come up – not too much you can do about that. Unfortunately, in some ways it’s worse now, as people feel that they can say whatever rude and ignorant thing they want to on the Internet, and they do.
As for bloggers being journalists… it’s not as simple as being published regularly. I have a BSc in Journalism and was a business writer for nine years (I’m an editor now), and to get my degree I had to study media law, media ethics, the history of journalism, and, among other things, write actual news stories that would be graded by professors. A lot of bloggers call themselves journalists, but I can see they don’t know what they don’t know. And there’s no telling ‘em either.
Having said all that, FWIW, I think you guys are good. Don’t know if you have journalism training, but you do it well.