Comments on: Journalists need to be objective and transparent http://savethemedia.com/2009/12/02/journalists-need-to-be-objective-and-transparent/ A veteran journalist blogs about the new media revolution. Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:09:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Ben LaMothe http://savethemedia.com/2009/12/02/journalists-need-to-be-objective-and-transparent/comment-page-1/#comment-28759 Ben LaMothe Sun, 27 Dec 2009 04:40:34 +0000 http://savethemedia.com/?p=2089#comment-28759 Everyone expects objectivity from journalists. The problem is that everyone has a different understanding of what that perceived-objectivity looks like. Journalists will *always* be accused of taking one side over another. And they will always be accused of dishonesty in reporting. Playing Devil's Advocate here... if most people assume you're playing for one side or the other, is the goal of objectivity to make the journalists feel like they're playing the whole field? If the readers don't believe it, and likely won't, no matter what you do, then who exactly is the journalist striving to be objective for?<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('28759','Ben LaMothe'); return false;">Reply</a> - <a href="#" class="quote" onclick="quote('28759','Ben LaMothe','Everyone expects objectivity from journalists. The problem is that everyone has a different understanding of what that perceived-objectivity looks like. Journalists will *always* be accused of taking one side over another. And they will always be accused of dishonesty in reporting.\r\n\r\nPlaying Devil\'s Advocate here... if most people assume you\'re playing for one side or the other, is the goal of objectivity to make the journalists feel like they\'re playing the whole field? If the readers don\'t believe it, and likely won\'t, no matter what you do, then who exactly is the journalist striving to be objective for?'); return false;">Quote</a></div> Everyone expects objectivity from journalists. The problem is that everyone has a different understanding of what that perceived-objectivity looks like. Journalists will *always* be accused of taking one side over another. And they will always be accused of dishonesty in reporting.

Playing Devil’s Advocate here… if most people assume you’re playing for one side or the other, is the goal of objectivity to make the journalists feel like they’re playing the whole field? If the readers don’t believe it, and likely won’t, no matter what you do, then who exactly is the journalist striving to be objective for?

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