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And now an ethics question

In conversation with a nonjournalist friend last week, the topic of bias in the newsroom came up. My friend stated that all media is bias in some way and I stoutly defended my profession in its news objectivity.
But then!
I was reading a book by one of my favorite authors, Hunter S. Thompson, and came across a statement* saying that he's not unbiased, and is not pretending to be unbiased in any of his writing.**

And I got to thinking... media are the gatekeepers of information. In deciding what's news and what isn't, we're essentially biased. Our bias is cultivated by those who teach us news judgement. It's a certain preference for stories that fit a criterion we then pass on to our readers.
Then, when we write a story, all the information and words that go into an article are filtered through our minds and onto the page, then through an editor's mind and back to the page. And each reader takes that information with the knowledge of their own experiences, to agree or disagree with the facts as the reporter sees them.
And throughout that whole process I don't think it's possible to be 100% unbiased and objective in reporting.
I will continue to strive toward objectivity as the highest standard, but with the realization that everything I say and do is colored by my own history, memories, and experiences. And I think it would be lying to say that anyone can avoid that.

My next long post will be on bias and objectivity in reporting. Please share your thoughts on the matter.

Do you agree with me? Why or why not? Is it possible to be objective? Do you know any objective journalists? At what point does one's own history hinder one's work?

*When I have the book with me I'll update to the exact words.
**Another great quote I found is: "If I'd written all the truth I knew for the past ten years, about 600 people - including me - would be rotting in prison cells from Rio to Seattle today. Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism." -HST
Published Thursday, September 13, 2007 9:49 PM by ElysseJames
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Comments

# re: And now an ethics question

Friday, September 14, 2007 2:53 AM by SonyaSmith
Nice post!
I agree that no one can be objective and completely un-biased. Therefore, I take three steps:
1. I understand internally what my bias could be and think about how to make sure all points of a story are well thought out and articulated.
2. I still, however, try to not think for a second about my beat and what I think about it. When sources asked me "off the record" what I really thought about something - I said that I had not thought about it and that I really do not care to begin forming or offering an opinion - on or off the record. Many reporters who I know do tell many people "off the record" what they think about something. It's not that I'm hiding what I think - I'm really trying to not begin forming an opinion, even in discussions with loved ones, friends or my editors.
3. On smaller stories, I usually go through stories with my line editor and then a copy editor or two will read the stories prior to them being printed in the newspaper. But, if I'm working on a large story, as my beat often warrants, I'm usually discussing the story with at least two editors - more likely I'm dealing with about five editors. This, I believe, does make the process of deciding what the story is and why and how we should tell it is difficult, but I believe a process that allows various people - each with different histories and mindsets - to work together to find one best and least-biased version of a story.
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