THE MYSTIQUE OF OBJECTIVITY

Jay Rosen has followed up on his post Too Much Reality (see my initial post), by publishing a long, thoughtful and spot-on essay by Doug McGill on The Fading Mystique of an Objective Press.

The idea that objectivity is a dying force in journalism isn't new. In the late days of my newsroom career, we spent a lot of time talking about the weaknesses of "objective reporting" and what should come next, settling uneasily on a goal of providing reporting that was fair, balanced and compassionate. That was more than 10 years ago, which gives you a pretty good idea about the deeply conservative nature of the media.

In his piece McGill writes that objectivity is an admirable goal but in practice it has become a method of self-censorship.

Are we served as citizens of a democracy when reporters feel their job is done, merely to report "both sides" of a given public issue? What if the reporter, himself or herself, was deeply convinced — or would be deeply convinced if he or she took the time to look into the issue more closely — that one or another of the side in the argument was right? That is, that one or the other side had the actual facts of the matter on their side? Would it be the reporter's obligation then, to point this out?

If so, then why don't we see more of this in journalism today? Why don't journalists more often take a few extra steps per story, to find out the indisputable facts that support one or another side of a given public issue? True, this would not come across to news consumers as typical "objective" news coverage, but would it possibly serve readers as citizens, and the entire society, better than the standard "he said, she said" template for news?

McGill writes from the perspective of a former NY Times reporter (who pleads guilty to the he said-she said style of objective journalism). As well as critiquing the weaknesses of journalism as it is currently practiced, he offers some thoughts on how we got here and what needs to be done.

McGill's piece is a long one and a worthwhile one. If you care about journalism, take the time to read it all.
10:26:47 PM  LINK TO THIS POST