Journalistic Integrity Instead of Journalistic Objectivity?
Journalistic Integrity Instead of Journalistic Objectivity?
Submitted by kpaul.mallasch on Sun, 02/12/2006 - 2:10am.G. Pascal Zachary at dvorak Uncensored: Truth or Consequences: The Future of the Journalist in America - Zachary writes about "fair and balanced" being a myth and why he thinks accuracy is more important that objectivity. (Thanks to Romenesko for the refer.)
A snip here:
Technology bears some of the blame. In the good old days, a pack of journalists could enter into a secret pact. All reported the same essential facts, drawing on the same people, and coming to the same conclusions. The uniformity reports benefited journalists by taking the risk out of their jobs. No one looked bad.The Internet demolished the journalism herd, driving holes into the fraternity’s defenses and exposing most journalists to be poorly prepared, fearful of making grievous errors and reading from a brief and superficial script. Blogs and other forms of “citizen” journalism can never replace the breadth and quality of professional journalism but the immediate effect of this torrent reportage has been to destroy the credibility of mainstream journalism.
And a snip here:
Journalists are human beings first, not special creatures that are above the normal loyalties of life. Journalists should be subject to all the normal constraints of ordinary citizens. They should benefit from all the normal freedoms of ordinary citizens. If these freedoms are not enough to support an informed and energetic journalism, then the normal standards for all citizens must be raised. For too long journalists have asked for and received special treatment – notably from government and from their sources. Professional journalism cannot rest on special privileges but rather superior performance. -
To me, it's going to take professional journalists and citizen journalists. Can you give up objectivity as long as you're transparent? Maybe with more 'sources' of news (i.e. the citizen efforts popping up) objectivity won't be a problem?
Thoughts out there?
Being cold and detached is one of the first rules you're told about being a journalist - except when you're old, er, seasoned, and get an ed/op position - isn't it?
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This guy has no idea what he's talking about
When and where and how is the journalist of the ''new ethos'' supposed to do all this -- declare his/her bias and categorically label selected sources as liars (an idea fraught with unnecessary risk) -- in a way that is not already being done?
He has missed the point entirely and, for someone who has been involved in media for as long as he has, it is difficult to believe he can't see what really is going on.
The reader has no reason to give a woolly rat's tail about where you're ''coming from.'' He wants the facts, straight up. He already figures you're biased, and, by the way, that is not a good thing.
He wants to see you get something straight. One thing. Today.
He wants you to stop screwing the news the way you want it screwed. So, bias is the wrong road. That would only make things more of what they already are for a reason that sounds more like an excuse than a mission.
The reader wants a journalist who is man enough to admit when he is wrong -- I think it is an interesting irony to read Zachary say journalists should take responsibility, then advise them to tell readers that this or that source is a liar. The reader already figures he's being lied to, he'd just like, for once, to be told the truth by somebody.
And if a reader -- a nonjournalist -- ever reads Zachary's post, he will have just cause to say, ''See? They're just like the crooks they cover, and now they want to be more like them.''
Yes, I'm pi--ed.
objectivity
in my frequent forays into the field, i've heard over and over from people that they do want "just the facts"... that's why MFP's dry recitation of facts from council meetings have gone over so well with citizens while 'journos' in town laugh at me...