Journalists' objectivity needs balance of truth

[housewolf]

Journalists' objectivity needs balance of truth

Chris Hedges
was a foreign correspondent for nearly two decades and is author of "War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning"


Balance and objectivity, without a strong commitment to the truth, can turn journalism into farce. It was impossible to witness the army massacres in El Salvador or the murder of children by Bosnian Serb snipers in Sarajevo without being revolted. I hated these crimes. I took risks, along with many of my colleagues, to expose and explain them. And I wanted, through my reporting, to get the world to wake up and put an end to the wholesale murder of innocents.

This commitment, however, was effective only when we were rigorous about telling the truth. It is this moral core, this belief that we can contribute to an open society and make the world a better place, that keeps me and other reporters focused on truth as well as balance and objectivity.

<snip>

But real reporters never have many powerful friends. They never forget that their job is to give a voice to those who would not have a voice without them. And they know enough about human nature to be wary of all who hold power.

The failure of the coverage leading up to the invasion of Iraq was the failure to be wary of the powerful, the failure to listen to those who are not our own.

<snip>

Those who defend the prewar coverage argue that reporters are only as good as their sources. They say they reported accurately the falsehoods leaked to them by those who sought to wage war. By making such an argument they are also saying they are morally neutral, ...

<snip>

There is a concerted attempt to destroy this contract. Balance and objectivity have become code words to propagate the insidious and cynical moral disengagement that is destroying American journalism. This moral disengagement gives equal time, and sometimes more than equal time, to those who spread falsehoods and distort information. It tacitly sanctions the dissemination of lies. It absolves us from making moral choice.

<snip>

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/10709238.htm

[Nothing Without Hope]

1. This is an important point made by many about the Swift Boat Liars

The papers and networks kept giving "equal time" to their spokesmen and assertions as if there were equal value and believability to their lies and the factual record they were attacking. It is a hugely misleading practice, amounting for open support for the lies. It's really how the Swift Boat Liars got so far with their obviously false statements, and it has happened again and again since then. I wish I had saved one of the excellent articles written about this point; maybe someone else has and will post it.