More on objectivity…
Chris Hedges demonstrates the damage that objectivity as stance (see also disinterest) does to the practice of journalism:
Balance and objectivity have become code words to propagate the insidious and cynical moral disengagement that is destroying American journalism. This moral disengagement gives equal time, and sometimes more than equal time, to those who spread falsehoods and distort information. It tacitly sanctions the dissemination of lies. It absolves us from making moral choice. It obscures and often shuts out the truth.
Hedges is not talking about objectivity as process. The target of his ire is objectivity as stance plus a third use of “objective” that I have not dealt with very much here, i.e. objectivity as a synonym for “fairness.” Using the term this way further confuses an already terribly confused debate. (via Sisyphean Musings)
Hunh. OK, I’ll link it here, too.
Comparing Hedges and Cline
Oooops. I forgot to link back to you from the entry. Just an oversight. Sorry. Taking care of it now.
No problemo. I just figured our posts crossed on the wires.
I did want to confirm, since I see you let the comment through, that it was OK to link back to our blogs on the class blogs.
“… i.e. objectivity as a synonym for ‘fairness.’ Using the term this way further confuses an already terribly confused debate.”
I had a hard time navigating it as well. Probably too much indoctrination by Dr. Cline.
Hedges: “Balance and objectivity, without a strong commitment to the truth …”
OK, so we have truth, balance and objectivity. I’m not sure I know what he means by truth.
“… this belief that we can contribute to an open society and make the world a better place, that keeps me and other reporters focused on truth as well as balance and objectivity.”
Ah, OK, belief, truth, balance and objectivity. I’m starting to feel like Steve Martin in The Jerk. I see his definition of this lofty journalistic belief system, but I’m still don’t see how he defines, or recognizes, or follows a process to “truth”.
Bad definitions:
- balance = equal time
- objectivity = detachment, moral disengagement, disinterest
“… we cannot create the world in our own image.” is a constraint on the belief system. The reality principle in play.
“Their failure was not one of balance or objectivity. Their failure was the believing that moral engagement justified promoting or defending a cause.”
Don’t pick sides, except the side of “truth” … blah, blah, … I think Hedges feels that unwavering, Orwellian, moral scrutiny (moral compass pointing to the truth) is gained through decades of experience, or perhaps innate. I don’t think he’s a transactionalist.
“But real reporters never have many powerful friends. They never forget that their job is to give a voice to those who would not have a voice without them. And they know enough about human nature to be wary of all who hold power.” Speak truth to power! Be the David. Or at least be David’s sling.
“There were voices, important voices, that questioned the assertions, but they were largely unheard because the media ignored them. This failure was also, and perhaps more important, a failure to honor the moral contract that journalists have with viewers and readers to be truthful, even when it means challenging conventional wisdom and ferreting out unpleasant facts.” Truthful? Isn’t this the clarion call for the necessity of balance. You never know when conventional wisdom will let you down? As Stephen Waters likes to say, “you think you are right not because you ARE right, but simply because you THINK you are right.”
Here’s what I came away with: Moral disengagement is bad. Participatory moral engagement is bad.
Here’s what I wish he had included: Many times the truth is, we don’t know the truth. We’ve come to a consensus, but we can’t guarantee we won’t be wrong. And sometimes, in a dilemma, we made a moral choice, but not the only moral choice.
re: I’m not sure I know what he means by truth.
He probably isn’t sure either. Truth is a fuzzy term. It would be much better for civic discourse if j-schools insisted that students take classes in rhetoric, linguistics, and philosophy.
Re: “… we cannot create the world in our own image.”
Actually, I would argue this is exactly what all of us do everyday–perhaps the thing that makes us human