Modern Journalism, by John Leo

[steevo]

I really enjoyed this. More examples of the growing journo mindset, with real stories. John Leo is an oldtime stalworth and one of my favorites.

The final paragraph:

We now live in a docudrama world in which techniques of fiction and nonfiction are starting to blur. Many reporters think objectivity is a myth. They see journalism as inherently a subjective exercise in which the feelings and the will of the journalist function to reveal the truth of what has occurred. Two results are the emotional commitment to powerful but untrue story lines, and a further loss of credibility for the press.

[Teddy Bear]

A thought provoking paragraph.

The dictionary defines objectivity as "judgment based on observable phenomena and uninfluenced by emotions or personal prejudices ", and I don't see how that is really attainable, and wonder too if it's really desirable.

An example that can be used is the earlier post you made Steevo about the rape and brutal murder of those students by an illegal immigrant who had been freed from earlier accusations.
We would hope and expect any civilised being in our society to be horrified by the crime and appalled at the ineptitude of the authorities. If there were other mitigating circumstances we would want to be informed of those too. The journalist is also a member of our society, probably with a family of their own, and is therefore also personally affected by these events.

Do we want 'objectivity', or rather do we want to recognize the higher values attained by our society embodied in the reporting of news?