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Monday 4 February 2013

Non-Partisan Political Information Is Not Bi Partisan Information

By Rosetta Drake


The need for non-partisan political information is, sadly, not being met. Many organizations will present themselves as being a source of this type of content, however, they usually fail in one respect or another. Some of these are also part of the dominant media whose job it is to be as objective as possible. The vast majority of these groups will present information that advocates in one direction or another.

This type of information should be presented in such a way as to not be biased. This is hard to accomplish as passionate Conservatives or staunch Liberals want their views to dominate any discussion they are moderating. This is based on the two party system we have and the need for the political handicapping that most seem to think is necessary for their views to succeed.

There are, indeed, many Conservative websites and blogs that present thoughts and ideas from the right side of the aisle. They do not pretend to be anything other than what they are. Some of these sites are The National Review Online, The weekly Standard and the DrudgeReport. They present their ideas and seek affirmation from their visitors.

Purely Liberal efforts are not non partisan, either. Some out of a long list will be The Daily Kos, Liberal Oasis and MoveOn.org. The Liberal content on these pages does not lend itself to be anything other that what it is and that is Liberal in every way. This is the only point in which the two sides agree, and that is that content, promoted by them, can not be non partisan and, at the same time, effective.

Some of the websites and associations that profess non partisanship are PoliticalBase, SpotOn, Project VoteSmart and FactCheck. Some of them seem fairly middle of the road until you get past their analysis of issues. The funding for most of these groups comes from organizations, such as The Annenberg School and their Public Policy Center. The members of the staff have already made their preferences for left of center policies that would preclude fair and balanced suggestions.

The website, Project VoteSmart, does present some comparisons of candidates and voting issues that are fairly straight forward. The recommendations, as far as who to vote for and why, are under the spotlight when thinking about balanced efforts ideas. They will always come down on the side of Liberal candidates and issues regardless of the amount of facts available that may lead others to think otherwise.

People, indeed, do have the right to their own particular opinions, however, facts are very stubborn things and there is only a limited number of them to consider in any discussion. A prime example would be the discussion of global warming. Stating that the Earth is warming up because of greenhouse gasses emitted from industrialization is one thing. Not mentioning that the pre-industrial 1600s were hotter than today and that there has been no warming for the past 12 to 15 years makes a mockery of the premise of non partisanship.

When looking for non-partisan political information, look for what is not reported or mentioned. Look for a one sided approach to the information and who is quoted when they have pull quotes. Be informed by thinking about what side of the information is not being presented and be an informed gatherer of facts going forward.




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