The Benefits and Drawbacks of Objectivity versus Engagement in Journalism: a Call for Compromise?
Key Points
- Essential function of journalism: communication (Schudson 11)
- "[O]bjectivity connects to the expert-professional orator and non-partisan gatekeeper speaking the truth in the name of reality and facts, and avoiding polyphony and the expression of personal values or explicit interpretations. Participation instead connects to journalists who listen to and reflect a variety of voices, avoid monology and stimulate discussion and engagement" (Hujanen 2013)
Benefits of objectivity:
- Newsmakers act as cultural actors (Schudson 24)
- Objectivity helps to ward off potential biases
- Offers legitimacy and access to wider public for potential discourse (Schudson 29)
- Solidify wider culture
- Establishes credibility and "truth" (Hujanen 2013)
- Let the evidence speak for itself (Keller 2013)
- Reporter subverts opinions to allow the public to form their own opinions and ideas
- Help maintain balance in perspectives
- An important ethical value that became the "supreme deity" of American journalism (Reavy 2013)
Downfalls of objectivity:
- Model of corporate journalism: "faux" objectivity over truth (Greenwald 2016)
- Ex) The rise of Donald Trump
- NPR: against policy to project political stance
- Members of the media yield autonomy and authority to depict the world "according to their own ideals" via agenda setting (Schudson 18)
- Roles as gatekeepers
- Framing of news and events
- Come from dominant, political point of view (wealthy, white, male?) (Schudson 45)
- Deep-seeded institutional biases go unnoticed by mainstream
- Ex) America media and use of the word "torture" (Keller 2013)
- Selective choices of experts, interviewees, stories, and events (Schudson 38; 52)
- International reporting reverts to "getting the tapes" or "cleaning up a lot of BBC packages" (Hujanen 2013)
- Challenge of participation
Benefits of engagement
- Objectivity model based on "false conceit" (Keller 2013)
- "Humans are not objectivity-driven machines. We all intrinsically perceive and process the world through subjective prisms. What is the value in pretending otherwise?" - Greenwald
- Opportunity to present the elusive "truth"
- Incorporate alternative points of views (Hujanen 2013)
- History of American journos: "journalism began in earnest as a rebellion against the state" - Jack Schafer (Greenwald 2016)
- Ability to express, condemn, denounce, and praise critical
- Drive to distinguish "good guys" from "bad guys" demonstrates same passion and "interventionist impulse" as public journalists (Reavy 2013)
- Promotes social change; advocacy a "progressive counterweight to the intrinsically conservative nature of objectivity" (Reavy 2013)
- Social media and increased participation
- Utilization of citizens as co-producers (Hujanen 2013)
- Online journalists: potential for writing to and with a public (Hujanen 2013)
- Citizen/submitted material can act as resources for journalists (Hujanen 2013)
Downfalls of engagement
- Dominance of (often evolving) emotions can render judgement too quickly
- Lack of institutional guidelines/practices and resources
- Incompatible with prevailing business structures and norms of traditional press
- Potentially reflect dominant leftist media perspective (Reavy 2013)
- Potential prioritization of opinions over discernable facts
- Can increase public perceptions of media bias
- Double-edged sword of social media
Outside References
Reavy, Matthew H. 2013. "Objectivity and Advocacy in Journalism." Media Ethics 25, (1). Accessed March 28, 2016. http://www.mediaethicsmagazine.com/index.php/browse-back-issues/179-fall-2013-vol-25-no-1/3999003-objectivity-and-advocacy-in-journalism.
Hujanen, Jaana. 2013. "At the crossroads of participation and objectivity: Reinventing citizen engagement in the SBS newsroom." New Media & Society 15 (6): 947-62. Accessed March 28, 2016. http://0-nms.sagepub.com.bianca.penlib.du.edu/content/15/6/947.full.
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Discussion Questions
1) What should journalists strive for: objectivity? advocacy? a mix? neither?
2) Given the fundamental issues in American journalism (i.e. corporate interests, unacknowledged biases, selective stories), how can journalists best report the "truth" ?
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