Is Journalistic Objectivity Beneficial?

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Choosing what news station to watch can be a big deal. Maybe one person identifies with Fox News more and maybe one person identifies with CNN more. Whatever news station one chooses there might be some biases with how news stories are reported. These biases may be harmful to the facts that need to be reported on, or it could just be a part of being human. All people have opinions, and that includes reporters. However, it is a reporter’s job to share the facts and not the opinions. In this paper I will first define what journalistic objectivity, and then address the following questions, Can or should a journalist be objective, under what circumstances can objective journalism be beneficial, and under what circumstances can objective journalism be harmful? “A definition of journalistic objectivity…” offered by Sandrine Boudana of New York University says that “Objectivity is a standard that promotes truth, defined as correspondence, grounded in correctness, between thought and reality.” This definition offers guidance for what objectivity in which some scholars fail to define. The dictionary defines objectivity as a lack of bias, judgment or prejudice. These definitions have helped me understand what objectivity is, and what it means for a journalist to be objective, with these two definitions this is how I will approach a journalist being objective. A journalist should be objective; they should strive to report on what is the truth, and what is correct. From the “Handbook of Journalism: Freedom from Bias,” it says that “As…Journalists, we never identify with any side in an issue, a conflict or a dispute.” The paragraph also continues on to say that journalists should ask themselves when gathering news, “What do I know,” and “w... ... middle of paper ... ... Objectivity is fading within news media. It is becoming more apparent that news media is more about reporting on the issues that will keep viewers tuned in rather than what is truthful and maybe boring. Without the facts from both sides of a story it can play up stereotypes and play into the mean world syndrome. In communication studies we are taught that mean world syndrome is the news media only reporting on what is negative or repeatedly spinning a story in a way that shows the world in a negative light. Ultimately, media is where people go to get there information and if the news media is creating stereotypes and making the world seem worse than it is then people will have a false understanding of multiple things. I think that it is important for journalists to remain objective so that people are able to have the right understanding of the world they live in.

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