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March 31, 2006
Duelling O-words...
Michael Kinsley has some interesting things to say about the cult of objectivity. And I, naturally, have a few quibbles. Let's consider this:
Abandoning the pretense of objectivity does not mean abandoning the journalist's most important obligation, which is factual accuracy. In fact, the practice of opinion journalism brings additional ethical obligations. These can be summarized in two words: intellectual honesty. Are you writing or saying what you really think? Have you tested it against the available counterarguments? Will you stand by an expressed principle in different situations, when it leads to an unpleasing conclusion? Are you open to new evidence or argument that might change your mind? Do you retain at least a tiny, healthy sliver of a doubt about the argument you choose to make?
I agree with that. Here's the problem: Kinsley creates an either-or fallacy between objective journalism and opinion journalism--with the caveat that opinion journalism should still be journalism (and it should). He does this because he understands objectivity for what it has come to mean--a stance--instead of what it was originally meant to be--a process. So this leads him into fallacious thinking. He apparently cannot conceive of a journalism that neither promotes an overt opinion nor attempts to do the blatantly impossible (i.e. see the world "as it is"). So he gives us a false choice.
Discussion of objectivity in journalism has become deeply strange. You see it in statements such as this: "Yes, it's impossible, but it's still an ideal worth trying for." That's like saying: "Yes, it's impossible to turn lead into gold, but the payoff will really be worth the effort."
Objectivity, properly understood, has nothing to do with stance, opinion, bias, or the avoiding of these. Properly understood, objectivity has everything to do with practicing a discipline of verification as a custodian of facts.
Here's the Rhetorica canon regarding objectivity:
Disturbing news...
Onward rhetorical soldiers...
Reporting the facts...
Interest and objectivity...
Interest and disinterest...
Tell (something like) the truth...
More on objectivity...
The facts-values dichotomy...
The O-word again...
Posted by acline at March 31, 2006 4:58 PM | | Spotlight