Distance sometimes provides objectivity

By now everyone has probably heard about the ad (supposedly — I haven't seen it) posted by the City of Pasadena, California for a local politics & government reporter who is based in India. Guffaws all about. I am not so sure. So long as the reporter has unlimited phone and very high-speed web access, it might work well. In fact the stories might even be better as the reporter him or herself would be less likely (per Heisenberg) to influence the events.

Comments

[Jill]

YES! I agree. And I'm a Pasadena local and a blogger.

[Jill]

OH! You're the author of City Comforts! I own your book and I love it. Now I love it even more.

[JRoth]

It has struck me that some of the response to this story has been hysterical, but at the same time, I simply can't see that the drawbacks of an ex-pat reporter would outweigh the benefits. To me, the fundamental flaw is the inability of the reporter to familiarize herself with any of the issues firsthand. The only kind of reporting this person can do is he-said, she-said, with mathematical analysis on the side. But if someone stands up in a Council meeting and makes a real-world claim, the reporter would be unable to evaluate that claim against the facts (e.g., is the sidewalk where a cafe wants to put sidewalks really only 5' wide?).

It seems to me that this situation arises from the very worst instincts of modern reportage. While this hypothetical reporter could conceivably do a better job than what is done otherwise, there is no way for her to do a good job.

[David Sucher]

You are totally correct JR, except for one one small detail: I don't think that very many reporters actually get out and use their senses directly. I believe that people are (in general) taught to distrust their senses. There may be some good reason for that but maybe we have gone overboard. I noticed this phenomenon with the Viaduct fiasco. I would read/hear repeatedly that we have to connect the City to the Waterfront by tearing down the Viaduct so people could get there. Well of course there is NO PROBLEM getting to the waterfront as the hordes of people who walk along it will testify. Obviously, reporters who repeated such nonsense had either never visited the Seattle waterfront or did not trust their own senses over the opinions of others.

So I am not sure if -- considering the current state of media -- it makes much difference if a reporter has ready access to the "field."