Guardian – Make up your mind!
The Guardian has published both of these articles albeit two years apart…
What do you make of these two positions? Are you confused about which line the guardian is taking, or do you think they have just changed their view point over time?
at 2:17 pm
This is a great example of the difference between reporting and commenting. Many newspapers today are focused more on repeating than on reporting.
The articles or comments are written by two different individuals. Sometimes it can be difficult as a reader to distinguish between what the personal opinions of the author are, and what are facts.
at 5:47 pm
Ralph,
I wholly agree, and more than that, it also highlights the difficulty the general public have when being presented by these emotive issues (especially when opinion peices are run as “fact”). The truth is generally a more nuanced and balanced picture , yet reading the article on the right would seem to suggest that all land investment is landgrab. There have certainly been examples which fit this description, but many emerging nations are actively seeking this type of investment, and indeed the FAO feels the “right” investment is one of the main ways to combat future food shortages and bring much needed infrastructure development to these regions.
However, I fear the drive is for comments and visits, and a balanced and informed press is not exactly something we should expect in the near future.
at 4:19 pm
This is hilarious and unfair, but that’s what newspapers do – simply influencing mass perception of the topic.
at 3:19 pm
I also agree that it is becoming more and more the responsibility of the reader to distinguish between fact and personal opinion, more than this I feel that journalism and journalists have evolved in their ability to blur this line.
The problematic nature of this kind of journalism serves to leave the reader misinformed and with a skewed perception. I hope that moving forward we will see a more balanced and fair representation of fact, but like Colin I do not believe this will happen any time soon.