"Fit to Print"

As I walked into my kitchen today, I was greeted by a familiar newspaper, spread out across the counter. The New York Times has become a common household object at my house, and is a generally very widely read newspaper. Its stories reach thousands, and many people rely on the New York Times as a major source of current events.

As I glanced across the page, I noticed a small box in the top left corner, with what appeared to be the motto of the newspaper. It read: "All the News That's Fit to Print". This made me wonder:

What defines what is "fit to print"? What goes into making this decision, and what is the impact?

In order to answer these questions, I realized that newspapers in general are, in a way, a construction of history. Newspaper editors determine which stories are most important to be remembered and reported, based off of their own opinions through their own interpretation. This selection process tailors the news to create a certain picture of the world, either a picture that is as accurate as possible, or skewed in one way or another. Many things influence the decision of what is "fit to print", making the decision making process even more complex, and sometimes corrupt.

The public has realized this, and created an answer to that corruption. An organization called FAIR works "as an anti-censorship organization" to "expose neglected news stories and defend working journalists when they are muzzled." This group describes their opinion on bias in the media on their website:

 "Mainstream media are increasingly cozy with the economic and political powers they should be watchdogging. Mergers in the news industry have accelerated, further limiting the spectrum of viewpoints that have access to mass media. With U.S. media outlets overwhelmingly owned by for-profit conglomerates and supported by corporate advertisers, independent journalism is compromised."

Does this quote define the process of finding what is "fit to print"? Is that decision made through relationships with allies of other companies which is mutually beneficial, but overall harmful to the audience of the media? We must be aware of the bias in the media, and realize that a popular newspaper like the New York Times heavily dictates what people know about current events, and what they don't know. Is that what news is supposed to be?