“NEWS IN THE MIDDLE” exists to simply report the nature of news analysis and news commentary from various perspectives, so that readers and listeners can decide from themselves, having heard the report and the analysis from various perspectives.”
"Don't let them fool ya, Or even try to school ya, We've got a mind of our own..." BOB MARLEY
“NEWS IN THE MIDDLE” exists to simply report the nature of news analysis and news commentary from various perspectives, so that readers and listeners can decide from themselves, having heard the report and the analysis from various perspectives.”
There are at least four categories of people (in my opinion, but I think there is widespread agreement on it) that should NEVER (although they can in their hearts) publicly endorse a political candidate or reveal partisan positions.
(1) JUDGES. Who wants to go before a judge that has publicly endorsed somebody that might have a bearing against your case. Not me! The American Bar Association feels the same way about this. Click here to read what The Bar Association has to say about this.
(2) JOURNALISTS. There have been sparse times in the history of our nation when Reporters reported. The Society of Professional Journalists states journalists should, “SEEK TRUTH AND REPORT IT.” They on on to state, “Ethical journalism should be accurate and fair. Journalists should be honest and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.” You can read more about standards for Journalists Code of Ethics by clicking here. Not to pick on journalists, there still are some fair ones, and I’m certain that many more would like to simply report what they’ve seen, discovered, or researched. Much blame needs to be laid at the feet of eh editorial and production teams that are motivated top down for the buck There are exceptions!
(3) PASTORS AND MINISTERS. Why would minsters and pastors who have a voice across a large swatch of society alienate 50% of their potential audience to influence. Billy Graham when in his nineties looking back on his life said, , perhaps the most successful evangelist in all of history said, “I also would have steered clear of politics. I’m grateful for the opportunities God gave me to minister to people in high places; people in power have spiritual and personal needs like everyone else, and often they have no one to talk to. But looking back I know I sometimes crossed the line, and I wouldn’t do that now.” It seems like the mission of the pastor is to create in my vernacular a “Christ crafted conscience.” Help people to weigh the important issues and trust them yo make the right decisions about them. Read the Graham interview by clicking here.
(4) ENLISTED MILITARY PERSONNEL. ” Per longstanding DoD policy, active duty personnel may not engage in partisan political activities and all military personnel should avoid the inference that their political activities imply or appear to imply DoD sponsorship, approval, or endorsement of a political candidate, campaign, or cause.” Read the rest of the Department of Defenses policy and rationale by clicking here.
FULL DISCLOSURE: As the primary curator of the articles and viewpoints presented – I joe paskewich – need to identify and reveal, as best as possible, my own bias, as I understand it. I’d like to see myself in at least two and a half of the four categories, I am a Christian pastor, have been for going on forty years. My primary responsibilities are in teaching people the Bible and attempting, however feebly, to take the ancient context and connect it to our own. If there are any politics involved in that it is to help people form “a Christ-Crafted Conscience” that will lead them to live out thier faith in their relationships, homes, workplaces, daily interactions, and in the public square. Including personal politics. reading, studying, and following Jesus people seem to come very different poles and applications of in thier individual lives.
I’ve been a ‘journalist’ in the past. Albeit, a small bit one, but a journalist nevertheless. I wrote freelance, for money, for a few years, doing interviews, stories, and reviews. I guess the money makes me a ‘professional,’ though I hardly felt in that category. I even wrote an article that got censored in a publication I was assigned to because of a board member’s board affiliation about a research article I did. They paid me for eh story, but buried it. I’d like to think I operated by the Society of Professional Journalists states journalists should, ‘Seek Truth and Report It.” At the end of the day, I guess that’s up for somebody else to decide whether it was actually done or not, but we should at least try.
Half of one. JUDGE. Jesus said we should not judge anyone. Tupac is the one that had the tattoo ‘Only God Can Judge Me.’ People arrive at differing conclusions derived from the same data. It’s not the role of ‘News in the Middle’ to judge those reporting or commenting. We’re trying to accurately report what is being said without spin. That’s not t say there isn’t absolute truth, we believe there is. Nor is it to say the truth lies somewhere in the middle. While that might sometimes be true, it does not stand to reason that the news is any different than is being presented. We hope to serve it up raw. You decide.
DISCLAIMER: We’re not reporting the news, we’re just telling you what people are saying about the reported news. It’s amazing how the same (supposedly) reported facts can be interpreted so differently from polar positions. We also sometimes simply post things raw and in context. After all where else are you going to find that?
We share links, which means that others are doing a lot of the hard lifting. Subscribe to their services, bookmark them. We’ll try and help you navigate through it all, but we are not unaware that there re a lot of people we are linking to that are doing the best they can to serve us. Keep an open mind and visit them often!
EDITORIAL ASSUMPTIONS: We’re not trying to sit around and figure out “what do people want to hear?” Our approach is more like “what do I want hear?” assuming there are lots of other people in the same place. Be your own commentator. While we have respect for commentators, and feature commentators, we think it’s best that you hear what everybody is saying and become your own commentator. Commentators are the people you sat across from in high school. What makes them any different or qualified than you, except somebody is putting loads of notes and and research in front of them. We’re we’re going to do the same thing for you. We’ll put it in front of you, but this time you don’t have an editor or office upstairs telling you how to repeat or interpret what you just read / heard. “News in the Middle: Because People Have Brains.”
THERE IS ANOTHER OPTION! Then again, it could be that our lives would not be any less enriched if we never looked at, read, listened, or debated the news ever again. God has given us all a measure the same of time, we should use it wisely. If you feel you must participate in regular news consumption we hope to be a source that makes the journey more pleasurable and less stressful along the way.
Thanks for stopping by!
