Philosophy
The image of an unbiased press — faithfully reporting news without fear or favor — is a romantic and quintessentially American conception… and pure fiction. Everyone is biased — including publishers, editors, and reporters.
No matter how hard journalists try to remain impartial, their opinions influence their reporting. Merely selecting a story or fact means other stories and facts are ignored. By definition, this processing and editing of events distorts the news.
The public is better served when the media admit their inherent biases, allowing the public to determine how that bias has influenced their reporting. It is far more dangerous to deny bias and labor in self-delusion or worse, with a secret agenda.
WOC believes our readers should know our philosophy and, to the extent possible, our positions on the issues of the day.
Abortion
Abortion is the most contentious issue of our time. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court decided the issue by judicial fiat, depriving both abortion advocates and opponents of an opportunity to battle for the hearts and minds of the electorate. Instead, the Court relegated the abortion fight to Supreme Court confirmation hearings. Instead of an open discourse to persuade the public, Americans are left parsing judicial histories of stealth nominees with no records on the issue. WOC is against abortion… but would relish a fair fight to convince a majority of Americans of this position’s merits.
Global Warming
WOC embraces science but is wary of junk science. Zealots and politicians — on both sides of the issue — invoke “science” to support their positions. Only one side can be right. Unfortunately, the so-called science supporting global warming (or climate change, or whatever radical environmentalists are calling it this week) is shockingly weak. The Earth has naturally warmed and cooled for millions of years, long before the advent of men and the Industrial Age. The prospect of wasting trillions of dollars on a boondoggle means legitimate, competing interests — like curing cancer, researching space travel, or alleviating world poverty — will receive proportionately less funding. WOC is wary of any cause touted as a crisis to precipitate immediate action.
Healthcare
WOC favors healthcare reform — but adamantly opposes nationalized healthcare. Our healthcare system is overpriced, inefficient, and unresponsive. Indeed, who hasn’t thought the system is broken? But American healthcare — much like democracy — is the worst form of healthcare except for all the others. Just imagine the U.S. Postal Service running your local hospital or doctor’s office. How many Americans go to Great Britain or Canada for healthcare? The answer isn’t radical intervention by the government, but rather government-encouraged innovation by the private sector.
Immigration
WOC believes immigration and welfare policy are wrongly conflated. WOC favors a liberal immigration policy: America has jobs and opportunities for anyone willing to work. WOC also favors a conservative welfare policy: able bodied citizens should not receive welfare and, certainly, no one should immigrate to America without the means and intention of supporting themselves. Unfortunately, the issues are frequently confused, with hostility towards liberal welfare policies channeled towards immigration policy.
WOC favors term limits. Lord Acton observed: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Was a truer sentence ever uttered? Political office should be a temporary assignment — not a lifetime appointment. Unfortunately, given rampant gerrymandering and the advantages of incumbency, many elections are tantamount to lifetime appointments. WOC advocates throwing the bums — Republican or Democrat — out of office before they start naming buildings and bridges after themselves… more»
