Is_Objectivity_in_the_News_an_Unrealistic_Expectation_

Is objectivity in news an unrealistic expectation' Give reasons and examples. Objectivity and news reporting is something the media strives for and is often criticized for lacking. It is believed that journalism, just like medicine and science is a recognized profession and with that there comes responsibility. “Journalism does provide an essential public service: the reporting and presentation of important news or public knowledge in a disinterested and objective manner” (P.185, The troubles of journalism). In the case of journalism and news reporting there responsibility is to be fair and objective but it is here where the debate lies, how do you define ‘objective’ news' Many media critics flaw the traditional notion of objectivity and the issue stems from the fact that it lacks a widely agreed definition. For the purpose of this essay I wish to tackle these definitions and outline the real role of journalism, examining the potential limitations as to why perhaps objectivity is an unrealistic expectation in the news, and whether or not it is feasible. I believe that it is an unrealistic expectation in the news for several different reasons and these will be explored throughout the body of the essay. Objectivity is clearly a core element in the journalism ethos even if there is no consistency in its meaning and there are many arguments for the preservation of objectivity and the emphasis to strive for it. Conversely from the research conducted I found considerable criticism of objectivity which condemns the ideal and supports my argument that objectivity is an unrealistic expectation in the news but without necessarily constructing an alternative. I gather that the idea that objectivity with more transparent bias should be maintained as the ‘new’ ideal and this I will explore in greater detail having first of all analyzed the traditional notion of objectivity. Academic literature and news codes largely talk about objectivity as “fairness” commonly linking this to the idea of the “truth” and the inclusion of “facts”. The idea is that reporters are objective searchers for truth but in order for it to be defined, as objective, there must simply be no evaluation and judgment and perfectly neutral chronicles of events. Sociologist Brian McNair defines the three main characteristics of objective journalism as “The separation of facts and opinion, a balanced account of a debate and the validation of journalistic statements by reference of authoritative others” (P.177, Key concepts in journalism Studies). Additional to McNairs’ definition, sociologist Michael Schudson defined objectivity in 1978 as "the belief that one can and should separate facts from values." To highlight the extent to which this discussion has taken place, twenty years later, David Mindich, a press critic, posited that objectivity consisted of five components: “detachment, nonpartisanship, the inverted pyramid, naive empiricism (i.e., "reliance on 'facts'"), and balance” (P.154, Journalism Ethics, Meyers). By the middle of the 20th century, most journalists believed that truthful reporting meant getting the facts right and eliminating their own opinions out of what they wrote and there are several arguments supporting that this not possible which I will explore later on in the essay. Questions about the relationship between news and truth aren’t new and today’s reporters would not be surprised that someone would expect them to get the truth about facts and to verify what is said. “Journalism is often seen as a way of helping others understand the world around them, or getting at the truth” (P.177, Key Concepts in journalism studies) .To present the news is a responsibility beyond anything else in the media and more than ever the media are being used to influence the public. The presentation of the news goes hand in hand with the preservance of democracy and the right to form your own opinions without the flaw of manipulation. Today’s journalists have widened their definition of the news and now news of business, health and science and changing lifestyles are important parts within news reports whereas before news was largely dominated by crime and politics. In the complex world that we live in, vital and reliable information is required from journalists in order for us to then make informed decisions in the future. “Journalism as a source of truthful information and as an agent of democracy” (P.' Meyers) Over the years journalism has unmistakably grown more controversial and the definition of truth-telling reporting has became such a judgmental task. It seems that journalism is at point where ethics and standards are at a time of confusion and for that reason; this particular topic is perhaps at its peak of a frenzied debate. The most popularly discussed practice in which news reporting should follow and perhaps the most debated is objectivity but from the definitions above we can see that ‘objectivity’ touches on many attributes and this is why it is seen to be so hard to put into practice. “Journalism is not an exact science” (Journalism-Volume 11-Number 1). Although earlier I referred to journalism as a profession and compared it to the like of medicine, journalism is far more complex in the way that the role is fairly ambiguous and can mean one thing to someone and another to someone else. This notion of objective news is a desirable ethical value and there is a push for journalists to adhere more strictly to professional guidelines for honest and fair reporting. Objective news is a desirable ethical value and seen as way of achieving the means of ‘truth’, but is it possible' There are certain journalistic practices in which journalists must adhere to and if veering away from these, they inevitably veer away from the notion of objectivity. “They need clear principles to guide their activity” (p.' Meyers). Equally there are major factors that influence objectivity in the news and several arguments that bring light to the fact that it is just not possible. First internal factor to consider hindering objectivity are news selection procedures and gate keeping. Kurt Lewin who is an American social scientist came up with the news selection model “gatekeeping” as a way by which editors judge the newsworthiness or validity of stories as news. . “Editing choices inevitably reflect the values of those doing the choosing and that what ever passes through a value-laden filter is itself value-laden” (P.158, Journalism Ethics, Meyer) .The standards that so-call make up the definition of objectivity are in some sense not objective as the standards themselves must be interpreted. Economic realities are changing how and maybe even whether, mainstream news media practice their craft and there is no formula to help one decide. Journalists can’t express opinion in a transparent and forthright manner but can twist news coverage by choosing what stories to cover and the sources that they then quote. With the news environment that we are currently in along with the logic of commerce overwhelming the requirements of reporting, there are no principles. Instead we see non-arbitrary judgments from news networks being made facing both internal and external factors that influence their decisions on news materials and as a result of this perhaps an imbalance in bias is represented. Objectivity is a central value by which journalists construct meanings out of events and the impact or influence of culture will certainly have an effect on the achievement of objectivity in the news. Various cultures will have an impact on its application to the degree that a journalist becomes biased towards the subject. An example of this would be a journalist who was bought up in India would have dissimilar judgments towards news of the death of an Indian Prime Minister than a journalist who grew up in America. The American journalist would categorize this story under hard news, while putting the burning of the body under human interest features .The death of the prime minister would be classified as hard news for all journalists and the most remarkable part of it would be that the Hindu culture does not allow burial, instead it does allow burning of the dead body. For the Hindu faithful, the burning of the body does not make news. It is clear that for both objectivity and newsworthiness this is affected by the Hindu culture in which the Indian journalist grew up. This just shows that although journalists may share the same perspectives when it is regarding journalism principles, their cultural differences cause them to have opposing judgments regarding news. Journalists like everyone else are shaped by their background and social experiences, and in terms of gatekeeping what one may decide to be newsworthy, their culture, beliefs and social custom play a considerable role, this is evident from the example just given. “Few people anymore accept the idea of a journalist as an opinionless, emotionless entity that passes news from its sources to the public.” (P.77, Grouping for Ethics in Journalism, Ron.F.Smith). Media critics claim that objectivity is essentially impossible as reporters are not neutral observers. “We can only observe the world from our own subjective perspectives; therefore, objective news is not possible” (P.156, Meyers). Arguments opposing the possibility of objectivity in the news embrace the fact that human cognitive restrictions prevent us from parting all values out of news reports and the expectation of detachment from all values and perspectives is an impossible and unrealistic demand on humans. Although people accept this idea, several would argue that objectivity should remain a fundamental part of journalism but taking into consideration the notion of agenda setting and gatekeeping it is clear that objective news is not possible as our values inescapably infiltrate either the statements which are apparent in news reports or simply the process by which these statements pass. “ Many conceive of objectivity as an ideal that is unattainable by its very essence” (P.298, Journalism-Volume 11-Number 1). “Journalism does not pursue the truth in an absolute or philosophical sense, but it can-and must-pursue it in a practical sense.” (P.77, Grouping for Ethics in Journalism, Ron.F.Smith) Reproducing reality is too strong an obligation and a more realistic view is that journalism and news reporting gives us incomplete yet significant and vital information. News is seen not to be a copy of reality but it is seen to be the representation of an event from a perspective. “Even if we assume that persons are capable of empirically verifying a real world, does the business of journalism promote such reporting, or even allow it'” (P.'Meyers). This brings me onto the second major factor that hinders objectivity in the news. There is a structural change going on the market for information and scientific and technological advances are quickly changing the way people live and consume news. New technology is letting hundreds of people to publish their views for the first time and distribute them widely leading to the undermining of official channels of communication. “This “new media” values immediacy, interactivity, sharing and networking, limited editorial checks, and the expression of bias or opinion in an “edgy” manner”. (P.' Meyers). News outlets in a present crowded market have to differentiate themselves from others and to do so many are choosing to leave out the idea of neutrality in order to stand out in the competitive market they are in. News stories must be interesting enough to attract the audience’s attention and in order to do so the news report needs to have variety and attraction. Variety in this sense may mean the use of descriptions that are encumbered with positive or negative connotations or reports that somehow provoke an emotional response. Journalists create and if we were given the option of just the facts, objectively presented to us in hindsight it would be very unappealing. “Whether such narrative style veered into sensationalism, and in doing so, abandoned the tenets of objectivity.” (Abstract- Sensationalism, narrativity and objectivity-modeling ongoing news story, by J.Patrick McGrail). Ultimately, the issue with objectivity in the news is that in practice it can be fairly uninteresting to the consumer, costly and dissatisfying to the reporter’s ego. Like I said earlier, news networks more so than ever are trying hard to differentiate themselves against the increasing competition. For example two of the main cable news channels Fox News and MSNBC have discovered that opinion based talk shows get them high ratings, which means increased revenue for these networks, there upmost priority is profit leaving little incentive for either to change their formats and therefore staying well away from objectivity as a result. Someone's view of a reporter’s objectivity is inherently going to be subjective. Clearly, many of the people who watch Fox News think they are getting everything unfiltered and clear of bias, but it's anything of the sort. In retrospect its not even so much the case that objective news is unattainable, but relatively speaking how much do news networks wish to pursue it and is it enough to compensate their other goals. News networks have to adapt to the changing current news environment one of which requires them to adjust to the shortening deadlines and timings in which they must produce a story. Not only do reporters’ egos push them to be first with the news but editors and news directors pressure them. “They watch the competition closely, and reporters who get beat on stories may have some explaining to do”. (P.74, grouping for Ethics in journalism, Ron.F.Smith). Objectivity can be affected because journalists strive so much to meet deadlines that they have less or no time to verify the information and facts they have gathered. As objective news is defined as verifiable facts that can be separated from subjective values this limited time schedule that journalists are now faced with forces reporters to take the ‘easy option’, seeking information from familiar and few sources rather than carrying out in-depth research and investigations. Relying on sources such as press releases and maybe even perhaps as little as exhausting only one source has a real negative effect in the delivery of objective news as there is not enough time to verify and confirm the facts which is essentially what objectivity entails. “So when journalists claim to be objective, or hold objectivity up as the professional Holy Grail, the extent to which it is achievable or desirable is at least questionable. (Sanders 2003:45)” (P.177, Key Concepts in Journalism Studies”. Now having touched on all the reasons as to why objectivity in the news is an unrealistic expectation I wish to look into the alternative that has been a common premise in many of the literature and academic readings. Objectivity as we are aware is seen as an ideal for journalistic practices and one of which that is unattainable. An alternative or aid into getting closer to achieving this ideal is the concept of transparency. Transparency offers the idea that readers, listeners and viewers should be able to see how the news is produced, where the information comes from, and how it works. “It is the same principle as governs scientific method: explain how you learned something and why you believe it-so the audience can do that same.” (P.162, Meyers). In the analysis and contextualization that journalists nowadays present, the want and the need for transparency is ever growing and seen as an expectation in journalistic practices. Transparency allows us the ability to see through the published draft and will often give us more reason to believe a report than the claim of objectivity did. It plays on the fact the emergence of the news is as important, as the delivery of the news itself and this integral for the trust of the news medium. Overall I believe that transparency is an alternative and an important element for reaching that ideal but I don’t think by itself equates to objectivity. Many would argue that objectivity is and should remain a fundamental part of journalism and that it is still wanted. A news reporter’s role is to provide and present the public with objective, accurate news and information. This serves the public in the notion that it provides a foundation for rational debate. Objectivity is crucial in providing news that people can trust. There is so much information bombarding us that individuals feel so powerless in the face of it all so information needs to be well sourced, include evidence and fairly presented. Throughout the body of this essay I have re-iterated the point that objectivity lacks a precise empirical definition and while understanding objectivity in broad terms I am unable to conclusively agree on its presence or absence in the media. Journalists are aware to remain as observers and not to become active and objectivity is something to strive for and is still highly valuable. It might require journalists to partake in more thorough training and others argue that reporting can be objective as long as reporters concentrate on gathering facts. “It is a professional obligation that can be practiced” (P.77, Grouping for ethics in Journalism, Ron.F.Smith). I however very much hold the view that it doesn’t make sense for journalists to research topics with increasing care and expertise and then hold back on their conclusions. In theory we can see journalism ethics in the twentieth century as demonstrating both the rise and decline of objectivity, the latter exemplified in the new forms of interpretative journalism. New forms of journalism, new technology and new social conditions requires the need for a new model; one that is achievable and realistic as solely objective news is unattainable. BIBLIOGRAPHY “Sensationalism, Narrativity and Objectivity” Modeling an on going story-By J.Patrick.McGrail. Syracuse University Graduate School. “Key Concepts In Journalism Studies” ''''' “Grouping for Ethics in Journalism”-By Ron.F.Smith. 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