Neutrality isn’t the same as being fair

Abstract

We may aspire to impartiality when reporting, even while admitting the impossibility of achieving it, but is it always good enough? John F. Burns, chief foreign correspondent of the New York Times and its London bureau chief, explains why a neutrality that masquerades as impartiality can sometimes – especially in the theatre of war – be too easily translated into a lack of empathy for the people involved. "A bloodless neutrality," he writes, "can fall a long way short of being fair."