Your Turn

by Glenn C. Koenig, webmaster at Town Wide Mall

As I see it, journalism is always biased, no matter how dedicated a reporter is in striving for pure objectivity.  This bias comes from the decisions about what to report, rather than how to report it.  The sheer complexity of the world at large is inconceivable.  Even the variety of human activity is still incomprehensible in scope.  The best a journalist can do is choose just a few stories on which to report, given the vast number of options available.

And in so choosing, they must try to satisfy some basic criteria, such as:
• Am I curious about this subject?
• Will my audience be interested in this story, or find it of value?
• Do I have the resources (time, skills, and background) to do this story justice?
• Can I tell the story sufficiently in only a few hundred words / a few pictures / short video clips?
• Will my audience have the time and patience to delve into this story, once I publish it?
• Did someone already start a thread on Facebook, potentially rendering my story idea moot?

OK, that last one does actually happen,* but I certainly can’t blame anyone for sharing news on Facebook!  Clearly as a very small journalism outfit (me, and one other reporter, so far), I certainly can’t expect to cover more than a tiny fraction of what’s of interest here in town.

Anyway, I call this bias, “selection bias.”  That is, the selection of which stories to tell is a bias hidden behind the scenes, so to speak, in any news organization.  We read (or listen to, or watch) the news that we see.  It’s hard to think about what else there might be, while our minds are focused on the stories at hand.  When the New York Times says “All the news that’s fit to print,” that’s clearly a bit presumptuous!  Anyway, it’s a phrase in the passive voice.  Perhaps it should say “All the news we saw fit to print.”

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This leads me to attempt to diffuse my selection bias, somewhat.  Instead of my practice of always choosing the story to report, I’m asking you to propose stories you’re interested in.  What are you most curious about? It could be something here in Maynard, or something having a relationship with or impact on Maynard and life here in town.

If you click on the headline of this story, above, and then scroll all the way down, you should see a comment box.  If you fill that in and click the "Submit" button, I will consider your suggestion.  Yes, your comment will be seen by other readers of this story, if you do this.  So if you need to write to me privately, you can always use the “Contact Us” feature in the main menu bar, at the right hand end.

Please understand, as stated in my list of criteria above, I may not find it practical to do a story on everything suggested by readers.  My resources remain rather limited, and I have some limitations other than selection bias, so I may choose not to do some stories.  But, regardless, I invite you to give it a try.

Notes

* Case in point:  The Green Meadow School building topic and upcoming vote story exploded on Facebook before I could complete my story on the topic.  I published my story, anyway, as I had worked for months on researching it, but when I tried to give notice on the various Facebook group pages devoted to Maynard, the existing threads "floated to the top" of those groups and my story notice was "pushed down" into relative obscurity.
OK, my ego was a bit bruised, I must admit.  But after all that work, it was difficult to see that happen.  Finally, I decided to post links to my story within the threads started by others.
Meanwhile, I'm working on a bulk e-mail system, but I don't have it ready yet.  My goal is to allow people to subscribe to an e-mail feed without having to log onto Facebook, if they don't desire to (or they just don't have a Facebook account.)
I understand the popularity of Facebook, as it's much easier to start a group or post comments there, as opposed to constructing and updating one's own web site.  One drawback, however, is the addictive nature of Facebook, a "feature" carefully cultivated by the company that runs it.  Once you log in, it throws many very enticing other posts at you.  After awhile, you realize that you've spent an hour and a half on there, when you only intended to be online for ten minutes.

Fun fact:  The typewriter shown in the illustrations with this story is the IBM Correcting Selectric II.  Yes, I own one (which I found discarded on the curb years ago), and I keep it in working order with the help of Tom Furrier and his staff at Cambridge Typewriter, in Arlington. I photographed it as I was preparing this story.
According to Tom, this model was the best typewriter ever made, in terms of the "feel" or action of the keyboard, and the quality of the type on the page.  Even the IBM Selectric III models weren't as good, he told me.  Back in the 1970s, before personal computers, I lusted after owning one, but at $800 each (or about $5,000 in 2023 dollars), I couldn't possibly afford one. In fact, may businesses rented them from IBM, at the time.  The IBM PC came on the market in 1981.

(Note: Town Wide Mall did not receive any benefit from Cambridge Typewriter for this mention.)

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