What is objectivity in journalism? What does it do?
Host: Nate Stevens
As practiced:
—Gives credence to people who deny facts or assert factual inaccuracies
—Generates distrust in media
What should it be?
—“I want to change the world” is not objective
—Does wanting to have impact make you not objective?
— Fairness and accuracy are the standards
—Objectivity is a product of historical market forces
Who’s in the newsroom affects what is considered objective
—“Objectivity” as concept that reinforces white supremacy-African American journalists have challenged that
— Selections of the facts – framing– context are subjective choices that have major impact
— “”Black reporters cannot be objective about black lives matter”
— Straight CIS white dudes have not lived lives of others– Are not neutral
What can objectivity mean? What should it mean?
Not
Stenography of bullshit
Middle of the road
Two sides to the issue
In reality clouded by subjectivity
A baseball bat for control especially among political partisans
Should
Fact checking
Accuracy
The Universal process to vet stories
Find out the facts of what happened to inform community response
Multiple sources
Pay attention to words and their meaning to other people
Example issue: undocumented immigration
Fact: undocumented immigration generates a net economic benefit
Part of the story is the ”build a wall people”– but giving them equal coverage creates false equivalency >> Proportionality
Representation of community
Representation of people by issue
Diversity of perspectives– opinions– the experiences
Editor as well as reporters
Spanish language programming– Spanish-speaking reporters—“Complicate the issue”
Participatory media project requires safety, time but who is the audience?
System at hand: the newsroom >> goals and strategies
Who is our audience now?
Who do we speak to?
What do we want to present to them?
“Mission to enlighten an advanced conversation”– huh?
Impact is not objectivity
