Reporters and Their "Agendas"

I was checking in to the Goldman Sachs "Communacopia" conference this morning when the holder of the press badges jerked me from my morning fugue. 

"Do you have an agenda?" she asked. 

Good reporters don’t have agendas if they’re to present unbiased reportage to readers, I told myself. Journalism 101. Good reporters can’t have agendas. 

And exactly what was she doing, asking me about my agenda? I was about to see News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch speak. I’d been reading about Fox censoring Hollywood A-listers’ comments about war and who Patricia Heaton does or doesn’t sleep with during the Emmys; was Murdoch mandating that all reporters be required to reveal their biases and inclinations before entering the ballroom?

As I struggled for an answer, the administrator handed me a sheet of paper. It outlined the schedule for the next two days. 

Of course. My agenda.