Journalists are told to be objective, that news should only be the cold, hard facts.
Politicians and citizens alike claim journalists with a bias produce “fake news” and spin stories to benefit themselves. I would argue that having a bias in journalism is normal and it is something that should be embraced.
As the role of a journalist is changing along with how the news is being told, the old concept of being objective is hindering journalists. Objectivity can hinder writing the news and what is the “truth”, stated by Columbia Journalism Review Managing Editor Brent Cunningham in his article “Rethinking Objectivity.”
It can create lazy writing and not push enough to what the truth is because of wanting to balance both sides.
A journalist not giving an outlook for a white supremacist group in their story could be seen as biased, but that belief can be very harmful to a whole group and lead further away from the truth. Being biased can help show the audience the harm of different perspectives and why they shouldn’t be in the spotlight.
Our fellow writer, Walter Lippmann would argue (and maybe roll in his grave) that being biased as a journalist is a harm to democracy and the profession. Lippmann wanted journalists to aspire “a common intellectual method and a common area of valid fact.”
He is correct in that journalists should go find the truth and be involved in the verification process. Displaying biases can create distrust with the audience, what is the truth or what is just propaganda? A journalist could have ulterior motives if they involve their personal beliefs in reporting, which could result in spreading misinformation.
I would argue though in this day of age journalists need to be biased with misinformation spreading and political leaders doubting the press. Because journalists were so complicit in balancing all truths as equal, the Trump era has completely changed whose truth is real.
Objectivity was flipped on journalists, they were only objective when they reported positive stories about the president. Journalists shouldn’t feel shame because they have a bias, it helps show the truth to the people.
Objectivity is meant for journalists to unite under one truth that everyone can agree on. You can’t do that but claim the news is neutral when newsrooms are struggling to be diverse.
According to Pew Research Center, 77 percent of newsroom employees are non-Hispanic white and 61 percent of employees are male. Combining the demographics of being white and male in the newsroom, they make up 48 percent or almost half of the workforce.
So, a white male is more than likely claiming how the news is objective, but as said earlier everyone has a bias.
BIPOC, women and LGBTQ+ need to be better represented in the newsroom. They can offer their perspective, challenge traditional white bias in newsrooms and pitch story ideas that wouldn’t have been explored. News can’t be objective if there is only one viewpoint being heard.
There is no right way to do journalism and there will be differences in covering the news or telling the truth to the people. Objectivity was an idea to better journalists in providing the news to the people, to only tell the facts and not be associated with political influence. With distrust in the media over the years and a government repeatedly attacking them, journalists must be transparent. The audience should know about a journalist’s bias and understand where it is coming from.
The times are changing of how journalists go about the news. They are changing their techniques and medium of reporting news, such as through a website or an app. But journalists need to start changing how they go about reporting the news to their audience.
The need to be objective is slowly dying, it doesn’t meet the needs of the current climate of news. With rises in right wing media, conspiracy theorists, and attacks on the media, journalists need to start fronting their bias more. It enables them to tell the actual truth and not give in to those who are harming journalistic practices.
