Objectivity is Dead
By Alondra Jimenez
For many years, journalists at times have been forced to follow this unspoken rule of neutrality. For instance, they are told to register as independent voters, to not engage in marches and protests and to not endorse political candidates. Today, journalism is in a different state, in which journalists have become more open with sharing their views. In a Trump-era, when not only is the country divided by politics, but also the media, the idea of objectivity becomes a challenge.
There is an ongoing battle between conservatives and liberals within the media. This has created a division between journalists and their audiences. Therefore, people seek information from the media outlets that represent their views. Fox news being considered to be a right-leaning news organization is the place, where many conservatives seek news and the same goes for CNN and most liberals. In the “Understanding U.S. Journalism II: Right-Wing Criticism and Political Coverage,” Robert McChesney argues that conservatives seem to believe that the media is overpowered by liberals. Therefore, Conservative media outlets do not feel the need to be “fair to Democrats” in order to create a “balance” (109). Some may argue that when journalists begin to express subjective views surrounding a topic, this idea of “alternative facts” begin to take place.
It is the idea that the biases of a journalist at times can cloud their judgment and force them to promote lies in the disguise of the truth. For instance, Boris Epshteyn, who is a Republican, political analyst at the Sinclair Broadcast Group promotes ideas like Barack Obama encouraging illegal voting in the 2008 election. This idea of fraud voting which is proven to be false is an example of the “alternative facts” that takes place when objectivity is removed from journalism.
In a Trump-era, is the idea of objectivity realistic? The answer is no. Despite that objectivity at times helps to prevent inaccurate information from spreading, in times of controversy, objectivity can be a threat. Michelle Garcia, a senior editor at Vox argues “to be fully neutral is to do a disservice to the reader”. There is a difference between having a rational opinion and having bias. In this case, opinions do matter, when they are solely based on facts. It is important that journalists express their political and social views within the media because the media must be a reflection of the different views that are found within our society.
The only issue within today’s media is that readers tend to pick and choose what they want to believe or consider facts. If a journalist presents a strong argument with accurate information, but the journalist’s argument does not match the views of the reader, the reader will choose to discredit that information. It is important that readers seek information from all media outlets and that journalists express reasonable thoughts and ideas. In this case, through open dialogue, liberals, conservatives and those in between are able to find a common ground.
