"Objectivity"

https://portside.org/2017-12-18/objectivity
Portside Date:
Author: Columnist Matt Taibbi
Date of source:
Rolling Stone

'All journalism is advocacy journalism. No matter how it's presented, every report by every reporter advances someone's point of view. The advocacy can be hidden, as it is in the monotone narration of a news anchor for a big network like CBS or NBC (where the biases of advertisers and corporate backers like GE are disguised in a thousand subtle ways), or it can be out in the open, as it proudly is with [Glenn] Greenwald, or graspingly with [New York Times Dealbook writer Andrew Ross] Sorkin, or institutionally with a company like Fox.

'But to pretend there's such a thing as journalism without advocacy is just silly; nobody in this business really takes that concept seriously. "Objectivity" is a fairy tale invented purely for the consumption of the credulous public, sort of like the Santa Claus myth. Obviously, journalists can strive to be balanced and objective, but that's all it is, striving.'


Source URL: https://portside.org/2017-12-18/objectivity