Bias is not new in the national debate

What makes America great is that political debate is not only possible, it is encouraged. But lately, the current aggressive, shouting, and violent tone of the debate have been blamed on the bias of one media outlet or the other.

Maybe the difficulty is the reliance on receiving news and information from only one news source. Bias is nothing new to our national debate. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were both American patriots but they were also political adversaries. Each was promoted by newspapers with opposing political views. John Adams was a federalist and his ideas were promoted in The Gazette of the United States. Thomas Jefferson was a ... well, a Jeffersonian democrat and his ideas were promoted in The Philadelphia Aurora.

Reading of only one of these newspapers may have lead some to think the other is certainly no good. Bias is part of the equation and we all must appreciate its existence. Even the most well intentioned scientists have their work reviewed because of the human tendency for bias.

No news source, no person is free of bias. It is the American experience to have strong substantive debates. It is also the American experience to be open to new ideas. (Did we not invent nearly everything?) We can hold onto our beliefs, while understanding there is a bias. We can only advance the debate, by understanding our own beliefs, understanding the other side, and understanding the inherent bias in both.

John Krummen

Naperville