OPINIONS.

Need to vent? Contact the editor at opinions @theotherpress.ca

 

War of Words: Objectivity versus transparency

 

Reporters aren t robots

Elliot
Chan
Opinions Editor

 

 

M3: media has an
enormous cultural
responsibility. It can influence
everything from the food we eat
to the politicians we vote for,

so it’s critical that all the news
presented is informative and
accurate.

All that is good, but society
has been so focused on the
“truth” that journalists have
become all tight-lipped when
giving their opinions on the
topics they cover. Fearful of
losing their job, being ridiculed,
or getting sued, most reporters
and journalists choose the “no
comment” method of relaying
news in order to appeal to the
collective and avoid backlash.
But with reporters hiding behind
a veil of ingenuousness, it’s the
readers and viewers who don’t
really get the full story. After all,
credibility is an illusion.

Understand this: all
media is biased, whether it’s a
conglomerate like MSNBC or
Fox News, or an independently
run news source like the Other
Press. There’s always your story,
my story, and the truth—so
wouldn't it be better to know

vhat everyone’s opinion is right
rom the start? From there we
‘an select who to listen to and
vho to avoid, who to share

deas with and who to challenge.
Understanding is gained from
open dialogue, not bottled up
suspicion and mistrust.

Criticizing media bias is like
criticizing the way we learn from
our instructors, our parents,
and our friends. You would
never condemn any of them
for giving their points of view;
why shouldn’t the same go for
media professionals? The public
demands ethical journalism, but
individual opinions are just as
viable, as long as they’re shared
ethically and honestly.

In the annual State of the
News Media report done by Pew
Research Center, MSNBC was
touted as the most opinionated
news network, with 85 per cent
of their content being opinions
and commentary, versus 15
per cent factual news. Other
news media outlets aim for a
50/50-split, and I believe that is
a fair balance.

In a world with so many
options for news sources, bias
is not a negative. In the same
ways that we all think and speak
differently, news sources should
present their differences as well.
It would open the playing field
for readers and viewers to think

a —— g BREAKING Si =a)

ra ee

aT “Tied

critically and build upon their
own individual opinions.

News and current
events aren't supposed to be
comforting. News is not a
television sitcom or a romantic
comedy you can cuddle up
to. It’s informative, itll spark
conversations, and only through
discussion can we heighten
social standards and awareness.
Media bias isn’t the problem.

 

News robot is programmed to inform | Photo illustration by Joel McCarthy

The issue is a refusal to see from
another’s point of view. That
leads to prejudice, stereotyping,
and inaccurate assumptions.

I understand the thin line
between subjective opinion and
propaganda, so don’t get me
wrong: what I’m preaching is
hard-hitting free speech, not
bullshit. As long as an idea is
based around facts, there is no
problem with voicing harmless

thoughts. If you don’t want

to hear it then find something
else, but in a chaotic world, it
would be nice to know what
those influencers from television,
radio, newspaper, and the
Internet are really thinking. In
the end, the truth will always
surface, regardless of what was
reported.

 

Journalism isn't punditry

Patrick
Vaillancourt
Mews Editor

Di ‘somcipptewtenres.ce

 

he only truly individual

thing about each of us stems
from our ability to formulate our
own opinions on any number of
issues we deem worthy of our
attention. It’s fortunate that we
here in Canada have the right
to express our thoughts and
participate in a lively exchange
of ideas. This is evidenced by
this very article and that of Mr.
Chan, who has taken a contrary
position to the one I’m about to
express.

It is, however, an objective
reporting of facts and events
that makes it possible for one
to formulate an opinion that

16

mhances the level of discourse
na society. Journalism, at its
inest, presents someone with
he facts and allows them to
_ormulate their own conclusions
and opinions. Opinion passed
off as news isn’t journalism at
all—it’s punditry.

Allow me to illustrate
my point with a well-known
example.

Barack Obama was elected
in 2008 to be the 44th President
of the United States. Prior to
and immediately following
his election, American talk
personalities, such as Rush
Limbaugh, took to the airwaves
making irresponsible and
untrue claims about Obama’s
birthplace—despite the widely
reported fact that Obama is an
American-born citizen. The
place of Obama’s birth had been

objectively determined when the
media began publishing copies
of his Hawaiian birth certificate.
The pundits, however, fuelled
by partisan political purposes
and the promise of media
attention, continued to impress
upon Americans that their
opinion (that Obama was not
constitutionally eligible for the
presidency) could be passed off
as news.

News at its purest is the
quest for truth, no matter where
it leads. Ordinary people rely
on this information for a variety
of purposes, including the
formulation of an opinion on
any given subject. It’s for this
reason that stories passed off as
news must be factual and up to
date.

In the example above,
the opinions of right-wing

ideologues were delivered to

media consumers as news items,

sparking a nationwide debate in
America about their president's
legitimacy.

No doubt, my friend and
colleague will argue that news
stories cannot be truly objective;
that humankind doesn’t
have the ability to present an
unbiased version of events; and
that news is only as objective as
the source telling of the story.

Alex Jones, a Pulitzer
Prize-winning journalist,
distinguished between
objectivity and bias, saying that
“objectivity does not require
that journalists be blank slates
free of bias. In fact, objectivity
is necessary because they are
biased.”

I’m as biased as they come.
I’m a card-carrying member of

the Liberal Party of Canada.
As a citizen, I’m entitled to
my own opinion, no matter
how partisan it may be. As a
journalist, however, my role is to
present the public with facts, not
speculation or conjecture.

Journalists contribute to
raising the level and quality
of public discourse in a
community, but can only do so
by presenting the public with a
truthful account of facts.

The pure journalist
neither panders to political
ideology nor to a group. The
journalist must be prepared
to ruffle some feathers for a
story, understanding that their
constituency isn’t a readership,
a viewership, or sources—their
constituency is the truth.