Another thoughtful piece in Columbia Journalism Review, this one on the topic of media bias. It eloquently makes the case for journalists who comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

As the writer puts it:

Reporters often seem perplexed by the venomous attacks directed at them. They have a hard time seeing that it is not so much the idea of bias that infuriates their critics as the refusal to admit any bias at all. That line is getting increasingly hard to toe, so I'll suggest an alternative that most reporters, of whatever political camp, might find acceptable: go ahead and admit an obvious bias -- a bias against power. It is a presumption in keeping with the profession's tradition of comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable. Some may still call it liberal, and to the extent that it is suspicious of the status quo, they would be right in a way. But I am advocating admitting to an active suspicion of concentrated financial and political influence and those who stand to benefit from it, not the promotion of any particular ideology, cause, or agenda.