It's All Over, Folks
Objective journalism is deemed a thing of the past
“Fair and balanced” is a nice slogan for a news agency, but it can sometimes just be that: a slogan. We live in an era of especially lopsided reporting, where one news channel or publication leans left while another leans right. What’s worse, we sometimes see journalists injecting their personal opinions into news stories (especially on cable news channels), which naturally sways us one particular way rather than letting us draw conclusions using our own intellect.
Turns out a whole crop of experts has decided that’s not a bad thing.
“Objectivity has got to go.” That’s what one editor told Leonard Downie, Jr., according to his recent opinion piece in the Washington Post. Downie is a former executive editor of the Post and is currently a professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.
In his piece titled “Newsrooms That Move Beyond Objectivity Can Build Trust,” Downie explains that “the concept of journalistic objectivity is a distortion of reality.” He also says that more and more media experts “point out that the standard [of objectivity] was dictated over decades by male editors in predominantly White newsrooms and reinforced their own view of the world.” With newsrooms becoming more diverse, writers and editors “feel [objectivity] negates many of their own identities, life experiences and cultural contexts, keeping them from pursuing truth in their work.”
“I never understood what ‘objectivity’ meant,” Downie says when talking about his years as an executive editor. “I didn’t consider it a standard for our newsroom. My goals for our journalism were instead accuracy, fairness, nonpartisanship, accountability and the pursuit of truth.”
Isn’t that objectivity?
Not really, Downie insists. While he defines objectivity as “expressing or using facts without distortion by personal beliefs, bias, feelings or prejudice,” he goes on to say that because there are so many personal beliefs in today’s newsrooms, you must throw objectivity out the window.
What are you left with? Possibly “bias, feelings or prejudice.”
Journalists should absolutely have the opportunity to report on subjects important to them. Of course a woman can cover a story about sexism in a workplace. A gay man can cover a story about a bakery that refuses to bake a cake for a same-sex marriage. Reporting on news that is important to reporters leads to more well-rounded coverage and thus more awareness throughout the community.
What reporters should not do, as one learns in Journalism 101, is inject their personal experiences or beliefs into the story.
One newspaper editor told Downie that she has “no prohibitions against staff members working on stories involving their identities or life experiences unless they demonstrate a strong bias.” Once someone does that, it becomes a first-person account and not a news article. Those types of stories are needed, but they shouldn’t be presented as nonpartisan journalism.
A well-written, heavily researched and expertly fact-checked news article makes an impact on readers. Armed with important details, readers have the chance to draw their own conclusions. No need to sway them with personal anecdotes or partisan lingo. When we throw objectivity out the window, though, that’s where we’re heading.
This writer breathed a sigh of relief as most commenters on Downie’s piece pooh-phoned his push for moving beyond objectivity.
“I understand why new reporters would like to be liberated from dull, but necessary, professional standards, but I don't understand why the grown-ups go along with it to the detriment of their profession,” one reader noted.
“There are loopholes in this silly column that you could drive a truck through, but it certainly helps explain the precipitous drop in public trust for the media,” opined another.
“It is journalism's move AWAY from objectivity that has cost it trust,” wrote another.
The article you are currently reading is an opinion piece. It is this writer’s belief that objectivity in journalism is not obsolete and, in fact, is needed now more than ever. What’s your opinion?