Objectivity and Reporting on the Mideast. Lee Smith is the author of The Strong Horse: Power, Politics, and the Clash of Arab Civilizations.
Even after Octavia Nasr apologized for her ill-advised "tweet" over the July 4 holiday expressing her "respect" for the recently deceased Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, CNN fired its senior editor for Middle East affairs. And now bloggers and journalists are up in arms. Some are blaming the job action on "neoconservatives," which presumably includes THE WEEKLY STANDARD's Daniel Halper who commented on Nasr's "tweet" here. Israel Lobby author Stephen Walt writes that CNN's "spineless response" is "one more reason why mainstream journalism is increasingly seen as morally bankrupt. " Walt and some of the others have half a point--why is Nasr being singled out for openly expressing the U.S. media's default position on Hezbollah, Fadlallah's one-time colleagues? This is the political milieu in which Nasr worked--and there's no upside to being a Lebanese Christian, as she is. Syracuse Abuse Case Stirs Media Ethics Debate.
Caryl Rivers: A Counterpoint to the View From Everywhere. Should we abandon the tradition of journalism that calls for the nearest approach possible to balance and fairness?
That's the argument made by NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen, who found some areas on which he and conservative critics could agree. He argues that transparency is the new objectivity, and that mainstream journalists ought to stop pretending they have no biases and are simply holding a mirror up to reality. It's journalistic arrogance that often upsets the right wing, he said, because "If you're dissatisfied with their portrait [journalists say] the likely reason is that you refuse to face reality as it is, because that's what news reports from mainstream journalists do: they depict reality, not the way you see it or I see it but simply "the way it is.
" On that point I'd agree with him. There is no such thing as "objectivity," outside of the double-blind study. The problem is that today in journalism we have the opposite of The View from Nowhere. SPJ Code of Ethics. SPJ Code of Ethics Revised September 6, 2014 at 4:49 p.m.
CT at SPJ’s National Convention in Nashville, Tenn. Download a printable copy [PDF]:8.5x11 flyer | 11x17 poster | Two-sided bookmark Preamble Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. The Society declares these four principles as the foundation of ethical journalism and encourages their use in its practice by all people in all media. The SPJ Code of Ethics is a statement of abiding principles supported by explanations and position papers that address changing journalistic practices. For an expanded explanation, please follow this link.
Supporting documents Click or tap the arrow icon anywhere it appears in the code to explore additional resources the Society’s ethics committee compiled to help people with day-to-day ethics decisions. Additional applications – Case Studies – Committee Position Papers Translations Seek Truth andReport It.