And citizens are saying they like it. The Charlotte Observer said it had fewer cancellations from readers perceiving bias towards one side or the other after the 1996 Helms-Gantt race than any other election. The very pros and the very cons. But those people who are conflicted about the issues, who are in the middle, never get a voice in our stories. I would suggest to you that balance is in the middle, not at the extremes.
Great novelists do it all the time.
Consider abortion coverage. They see merits in both sides of the issue and they just hope they'll never have to personally deal with it. Well, that's what has started to happen all over the country as journalists have begun listening to ordinary people as actively as they listen to elites. Many of you may have heard about what happened in Asbury Park. The Press decided to do a civic journalism project on what ails that sorry seashore community.