When we read the news, we expect to find out what’s going on. It’s a simple expectation, but one that is apparently much harder to realize than it appears. When we read, watch or listen to the news, we are getting a distillation of what is going on; we are getting second-hand information, which has necessarily been filtered.

Media bias seeps into news broadcasts, in everything from choosing which stories get aired – and in what order – to how the stories are delivered. As consumers of media, we choose a bias most closely aligned with our own. Personally, I like Brian Williams, but someone else could prefer Katie Couric. The American news media is often held up as a shining example of unbiased media, a model of objective reporting. Yes, there are opinion-based outlets, like Fox News or MSNBC, but for the most part, Americans expect the news to be an objective reporting of facts.

The objectivity also connotes a dearth of personal opinions. You don’t read the front page of The Badger Herald to find out what the reporter thinks – that’s what the Opinion page is for. The articles are for the ‘truth.’ So when a reporter steps beyond that boundary and expresses his own opinion from his position as a reporter, there are repercussions. A series of such scandals have recently rocked NPR, unfortunately coinciding with a Congressional effort to strip federal funds from the institution.

It began with Juan Williams, an analyst for both NPR and Fox. Williams, while on Fox, admitted that he “got nervous” when he saw someone in Muslim dress at the airport. He also said he believes that NPR should be defunded. Williams was fired, in a public, messy scandal with accusations of procedural missteps that resulted in the resignation of Ellen Weiss, then head of NPR.

Williams’ opinion is certainly alarming – the pervasive equation of Muslims as terrorists is a dangerous manifestation of ignorance and intolerance. It is an unfair charge leveled against an American minority that has paid the price for such sentiments through an increase in hate crimes and other expressions of religious intolerance. But Juan Williams was speaking as a private commentator, and spoke only for himself. Did firing him make him reconsider his dangerous attitude towards Muslims? Did he engage in constructive dialogue about Christian privilege? Or did he just lose his job in such a way as to give him a new platform from which to espouse his rhetoric?

Next came Ron Schiller (obligatory disclaimer that he is not related to Vivian Schiller), who called Tea-Partyers “xenophobic” and “racists.” Schiller also said that NPR would be better off without federal funding – a comment which was both taken out of context and lost him his job. Schiller, ironically enough, was a fundraiser for NPR. Such a generalization about a group’s racial prejudices ignores the diversity of opinions that is present in any organization. But at the same time, many connected to the Tea Party have voiced racist sentiments. Schiller was fired because of his comments, which were made privately during a sting operation orchestrated (and manipulated) by James O’Keefe. Again, Schiller’s resignation did not result in a larger dialogue about racist expressions in modern society.

Now, Vivian Schiller has resigned, either because she was forced out, or because she wanted to leave. These scandals have called into question whether she can effectively lead NPR. Under her tenure, NPR has increasingly come under fire for its biased reporting and its federal funding is in jeopardy. According to Williams, NPR is for “liberal-leaning, upper income America.”

But is NPR really all that biased compared to other major news outlets? Is it more biased than Fox? Than MSNBC? Than the Huffington Post? What is this standard of objective truth-telling that we hold journalists to? Is it at all attainable, or should we instead accept that journalism is necessarily biased, and that we, as consumers of information, must recognize that bias that comes with that information?

Publicly-supported media has brought us everything from Arthur to Morning Edition. Not having commercials is great, not only because commercials – especially radio commercials – are the most annoying things in the world, but also because of what their absence represents. NPR is biased; all news outlets are biased. I’m clearly biased in everything I write. But NPR stands for a type of journalism that is removed from the commercial competition in which other news media live and die.

So the next time you watch Brian Williams on NBC (which should be soon), remember that behind all that amazingness is a person, with opinions and biases. Katie Couric has them too. Look for those biases. Look for your own biases. And then try to figure out your own truth, instead of just accepting someone else’s. Oh, and before you tell anyone what you decide, make sure you know who you’re talking to.

Elise Swanson ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in political science and English.