UNT talk-Objectivity in Journalism

The Myth of Objectivity in Journalism by This page has been accessed since 29 May 1996. The oft-stated and highly desired goal of modern journalism is objectivity, the detached and unprejudiced gathering and dissemination of news and information. It's a pity that such a goal is impossible to achieve. Perhaps a good place to begin would be with a definition of terms. Let's begin with an examination of how people gather information about the world around them in order to arrive at what they consider an objective view of it. The brain has no actual, physical contact with the world. People, like all other sensate beings on Earth, gather their information through their senses. However, when one notices the limits on each sense, one cannot fail to realize that it is impossible for any person to perceive all there is to perceive. Humans, however, do not have to rely only upon their personal senses to gather information about the world. There are other extrasomatic senses. The answer is no. Return to Taflinger's Home Page

Journalism Ethics: Objectivity In the chapter for last week, Merrill discussed all the ways that journalists can, inadvertently or deliberately, become propagandists -- the opposite of objective observers and reporters. In this week's chapter on general semantics, he says that close attention to the use of language is one way journalists (and everyone else, too) can come as close as humanly possible to truthful communication. General semantics is a way of looking at how people use language and how the words they choose affect human behavior. Probably its best-known idea is that "the map is not the territory." That is, the word we use to define or describe something is just that -- a word. From that idea, we get a variety of other useful things to remember about words and how we can use them to convey meaning that corresponds as well as possible to reality. What does all this have to do with objectivity?

WikiEducator The objectivity norm in American journalism* Why did the occupational norm of ‘objectivity’ arise in American journalism? This question has attracted the interest of many journalism historians but it has not previously been examined as an instance of a more general social phenomenon, the emergence of new cultural norms and ideals. Four conditions for the emergence of new norms are identified – two having to do with the self-conscious pursuit of internal group solidarity; and two having to do with the need to articulate the ideals of social practice in a group in order to exercise control over subordinates and to pass on group culture to the next generation. Reviewing the history of the professionalization of American journalism, this essay identifies the late 19th and early 20th century as the period when these conditions crystallized.

CNN = Contains No News CNN = “Contains No News” 1 Hour of CNN Yields Less Than 5 Minutes of NewsA Detailed Analysis by TvNewsLies.org08-September-2003 What on earth is happening in this country? The most recent polls reveal that 69% of Americans still believe that Saddam Hussein and Iraq were involved in the terror attacks of 9/11! How could this totally erroneous idea be shared by a majority of the public? Any informed individual would have known that this is absolutely untrue – that no connection between Iraq and 9/11 has ever been substantiated. The television news networks are the primary sources of information about domestic and international events for most Americans. There are three American television networks that purport to be national news networks. After months of observation, TVNL has discovered that after 6 minutes into any news broadcast on these networks, no more news is reported for the hour. We categorized the content of the broadcast based on expected coverage by a “national” newscast.

importance of objectivity  Ann Opotowsky, a freelance writer and director of the TV documentary Burning Questions: The Poisoning of America, led a discussion at Comm Week Thursday on maintaining balance and objectivity in the craft of journalism. She explained to students that as journalists, they must be aware of what they experience as they report in the field. The questions journalists ask should be objective in order to generate unbiased stories. Reporters must also have a clear and well-rounded story and simplify technical jargon and complex issues into language everyone can understand. “The journalistic principles that have been around 200 to 300 years in the Western civilization have always laid out a foundation of balance and objectivity,” said Opotowsky. Opotowsky’s talk was interactive in order to get students involved. “I consider conversations with the class to be more constructive,” Opotowsky said. “I found this to be much more interesting as a way of getting your point across on a topic.”

Objectivity vs. Obligation Photo by Chris Johnson.© Last year, while covering the U.S. presidential election, I definitely entered territory that was unfamiliar to me as a journalist. As a worker in the news business, I am accustomed to asking questions, to seeking information, and to making stories out of what happens to others. Recently, however, I’ve seen some of my colleagues in the Spanish-language media become the story. Why have we become a story? Journalists are not supposed to be activists. As an immigrant from Venezuela and a journalist working for La Opinión, a Spanish-language newspaper, I confront very different dilemmas than those of my Latino counterparts who work in mainstream media. Back when this “awakening of the sleeping giant” started a few years ago in California, I was covering the immigration beat. Instead of feeling conflicted by this role, I often felt great satisfaction at being able to serve people in a way that was a lot more tangible than just writing a story and going home.

Journalism the third most untrustworthy profession, according to poll A poll of 3,000 UK adults put journalists behind only politicians and bankers on trusted professions Journalists are the third most distrusted professionals in the UK, according to a new survey by the Co-operative Bank. The poll of 3,000 UK adults put journalists behind politicians and bankers, but ahead of electricians and estate agents. More than half of those polled (57 per cent) said politicians were the most untrustworthy profession, followed by 43 per cent for bankers. Plumbers, builders, car mechanics and footballers made up the rest of the top 10. On the other side, doctors, teachers and police were cited amongst the most trusted professions.