Objectivity Applying objectivity too broadly can lead to passive receptivity of the news rather than the press being aggressive analyzers and explainers of it The press has conflicting dictates Be neutral yet investigative ID: 352961
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Slide1
Re-Thinking ObjectivitySlide2
Objectivity
Applying objectivity too broadly can lead to passive receptivity of the news rather than the press being aggressive analyzers and explainers of it.
The press has conflicting dictates:
Be neutral yet investigative
Be disengaged yet have impact
Be fair-minded but have an edgeSlide3
An attempt of objectivity has persisted in many journalistic organizations because nothing better has replaced it.
And the public is cynical of marketing slogans such as “fair and balanced.”Slide4
The concept of objectivity can lead to
false balance
and lazy reporting.
“He said, she said”
“Both sides of the story”
False
equivalencies
False balance leads to failure of pushing the story, incrementally, toward a deeper understanding of what is true and false.
Too often rely on official sources, which leads to false balance and “he said, she said” reporting.Slide5
The concept of objectivity often makes reporters hesitant to inject issues that aren’t in the news already.
“News is driven by the zeitgeist.”
Who sets the agenda?Slide6
Objectivity Abandoned
The Internet and cable news drive a non-stop news cycle, which elevates the appeal of “attitude” in the news, making the balanced, measured news report seem anachronistic.
Public relations has matured into a spin-monsters so that virtually every word a reporter hears from an official source has been shaped and polished in order to manipulate public perceptions.Slide7
Thus, “fairness” has often come to mean a scrupulous passivity – to cover a developing story as it is manufactured.
Too often a story represents the view of cooperative sources (Bob Woodward).
If problems or issues are being ignored by official sources, reporters too often don’t dig, don’t force officials to confront the problem or issue.Slide8
Bias
Bias is driven by ideology.
Politicians always see “unfairness.”
Bias is driven by class.
Biggest bias in the news is based on the lack of socio-economic diversity in the newsroom.
Fewer non-Ivy League, blue-collar reporters such as
Breslin
,
Royko
,
Hammil
.
Bias driven by conflict-oriented, event-driven, horse-race coverage and by existing narratives.Slide9
Bias driven by “altruistic democracy,” “responsible capitalism” and
reformism
. (
Gans
)
Reporters are reformists, against corruption, exploitation, cruelty, violence, discrimination and abuse of power. For honesty, fairness, courage and humility.
They like to look out for people who cannot look out for themselves
.Slide10
New Direction
Journalists must acknowledge, humbly and publicly, that what they do is far less detached than the aura of objectivity implies.
Reporters must be encouraged to develop expertise and use it to sort through competing claims, identify and explain underlying assumptions of those claims, and make judgments about what the audience needs to know.
Master their
beats (specialize).Slide11
Reporters must be
precision
journalists, which is arguably activist, but approaches the unobtainable goal of objectivity better than traditional reporting strategies.
Precision journalism requires expert usage of big data.
Finally, reporters (including bloggers) should be human first, reporters second.