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Journalistic Objectivity
Abstract
The traditional conception of journalistic objectivity holds that the reporter's task is to be seemingly invisible in the process of acquiring and disseminating news; if she does her job well, she is like a “mirror,” merely reflecting – absent distortion – the world to readers and viewers. This article, first, provides the historical origins of the traditional standard of objectivity; second, it argues that society is best served when its news media at least reach for the core elements of that traditional version, namely, accurate and thorough information; third, it looks at four of the more telling critiques of the traditional model; and, fourth, it concludes with a recommended systems-based alternative that captures those core elements and thereby the moral import of objectivity, while also avoiding the critiques.
Journalists, journalism scholars and philosophers have long noted a dearth of engagement between journalism and philosophy, particularly in the Anglophone world. Yet, they have much to gain from each other as professional communities and as disciplines of thought and practice. This paper attempts to initiate the long-overdue conversation between journalism and philosophy by proposing that they are both forms of power in society. They arise from the same dimension of the human condition and they address complementary needs that arise from that dimension, which is why journalism and philosophy are so tantalizingly similar and yet frustratingly different.
Objective reporting was once among the foundational norms of U.S. journalism. The emergence of alternative and economically successful partisan models exemplified by Fox News, talk radio, and a range of online sources has forced reconsideration of this norm. In this paper I argue that responsible reporting can also be partisan; the proper standard is not (putative) objectivity, but a commitment to fulfill the public’s right to know through accurate and comprehensive reporting. I further argue, however, that the embrace of partisanship fulfills the public good only if, first, it meets the accurate and comprehensive standards and, second, there is a wide range of sources so that committed news consumers can gain an appropriately broad perspective.
The structure of this chapter is as follows. It briefly explains the nature of objective news and of the debate regarding its possibility. It then assesses the main arguments for the unattainability of objective news. A close examination of these arguments shows that, contrary to widespread belief, journalists who try to provide objective news are not striving in vain. The chapter discusses the effect of competing journalistic aims and other limitations on our efforts to generate objective news. It suggests that the unwarranted skepticism regarding the possibility of objective news is an artifact of the changing priorities of journalists and inadequate journalistic methods, and that the only real issue is how we can better train those journalists who want to generate objective news.
The newspapermen studied believe they may mitigate such continual pressures as deadlines, possible libel suits, and anticipated reprimands of superiors by being able to claim that their work is "objective." This article examines three factors which help a newsman to define an "objective fact": form, content, and interorganizational relationships. It shows that in discussing content and interorganizational relationships, the newsman can only invoke his news judgment; however, he can claim objectivity by citing procedures he has followed which exemplify the formal attributes of a news history or a newspaper. For instance, the newsman can suggest that he quoted other people instead of offering his own opinions. The article suggests that "objectivity" may be seen as a strategic ritual protecting newspapermen from the risks of their trade. It asks whether other professions might not also use the term "objectivity" in the same way.
Required reading at more than 100 colleges and universities throughout North America.
“In a way reminiscent of Einstein, Goodman leads us to the very edge of relativism, only then to step back and to suggest certain criteria of fairness and rightness. More so than any other commentator, he has provided a workable notion of the kinds of skills and capacities that are central for anyone who works in the arts.”
—Howard Gardner, Harvard University
Since the introduction of radio and television news, journalism has gone through multiple transformations, but each time it has been sustained by a commitment to basic values and best practices. Journalism Ethics is a reminder, a defence, and an elucidation of core journalistic values, with particular emphasis on the interplay of theory, conceptual analysis and practice. This unified text on journalism ethics begins with a sophisticated model for ethical decision making, devised by two of the nation's leading ethicists, which connects classical theories with the central purposes of journalism. Top scholars from philosophy, journalism and communications offer essays on such topics as objectivity, privacy, confidentiality, conflict of interest, the history of journalism, online journalism, and the definition of a journalist. Theoretical essays are paired with practical essays in order to better inform the discussion. The result is a guide to ethically sound and socially justified journalism, in whatever form that practice emerges.
Does objectivity in the news media exist? In The Invention of Journalism Ethics Stephen Ward argues that, given the current emphasis on interpretation, analysis, and perspective, journalists and the public need a new theory of objectivity. He explores the varied ethical assertions of journalists over the past few centuries, focusing on the changing relationship between journalist and audience. This historical analysis leads to an innovative theory of pragmatic objectivity that enables journalists and the public to recognize and avoid biased and unbalanced reporting. Ward convincingly demonstrates that journalistic objectivity is not a set of absolute standards but the same fallible but reasonable objectivity used for making decisions in other professions and public institutions.
Today, journalists face the prospect of another ethical invention. They need a new model that responds to a revolution in media communication of global proportions. The rise of an interactive online journalism that emphasizes immediacy, interpretation, and transparency challenges an older professional model of journalism that stresses careful editorial controls and verification. This chapter studies the invention of news objectivity, philosophically and historically. After distinguishing three senses of objectivity, it outlines how news objectivity was the result of a four-hundred-year-old interaction between the shifting nature of journalism and the shifting notions of objective knowledge and practice. The chapter then explains the doctrine of news objectivity and notes its decline, then concludes with its own attempt at ethical invention. It outlines an alternate understanding of objectivity, called "pragmatic objectivity," to replace the traditional notion of news objectivity.
This book's ethics theory chapter (Chapter 1) claims that journalism and the public should have a collaborative relationship: "The ideal relationship of journalist and audience is to see them as partners in the project of judging what information is needed, what information responds to common social desires, what enhances autonomy, and what builds community." This chapter - and most of this book - focuses on the journalist's role in the collaborative relationship. It fleshes out the citizen's side of the partnership: the obligations that audiences have to journalism.
Since the introduction of radio and television news, journalism has gone through multiple transformations, but each time it has been sustained by a commitment to basic values and best practices. Journalism Ethics is a reminder, a defence, and an elucidation of core journalistic values, with particular emphasis on the interplay of theory, conceptual analysis and practice. This unified text on journalism ethics begins with a sophisticated model for ethical decision making, devised by two of the nation's leading ethicists, which connects classical theories with the central purposes of journalism. Top scholars from philosophy, journalism and communications offer essays on such topics as objectivity, privacy, confidentiality, conflict of interest, the history of journalism, online journalism, and the definition of a journalist. Theoretical essays are paired with practical essays in order to better inform the discussion. The result is a guide to ethically sound and socially justified journalism, in whatever form that practice emerges.
I hope that some people see some connection between the two topics in the title. If not, anyway, such connections will be developed in the course of these talks. Furthermore, because of the use of tools involving reference and necessity in analytic philosophy today, our views on these topics really have wide-ranging implications for other problems in philosophy that traditionally might be thought far-removed, like arguments over the mind-body problem or the so-called ‘identity thesis’. Materialism, in this form, often now gets involved in very intricate ways in questions about what is necessary or contingent in identity of properties — questions like that. So, it is really very important to philosophers who may want to work in many domains to get clear about these concepts. Maybe I will say something about the mind-body problem in the course of these talks. I want to talk also at some point (I don’t know if I can get it in) about substances and natural kinds.
The Ideal of Objectivity The Revolution in American Journalism in the Age of Egalitarianism: The Penny Press Telling Stories: Journalism as a Vocation After 1880 Stories and Information: Two Journalisms in the 1890s Objectivity Becomes Ideology: Journalism After World War I Objectivity, News Management, and the Critical Culture
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