Journalism

The other night I had the opportunity to attend an open panel discussion on the role of the media in an election. Assembled on the panel were some of the men and women who have been directing coverage of campaigns for major networks since the sixties. I found the discussion fascinating as it was on a topic I had never contemplated in any sort of depth, yet had observed all my life.

The main aspect of their discussion that stood out to me is how much these men saw the role of journalism was in the accurate portrayal of information that they could authoritatively prove to be true. In essence they believed journalism is a truth telling profession, and that the measure of a how good a journalist is just how accurate your statements are.

Their definition went even further than saying political journalism had to tell the truth, it had to say things which were relevant to the discussion and important for people to understand. The journalism the panel described was not one that delved into the details of misspoken words, rather it attempted to deal with the substantive issues that would more directly pertain to the nature and personality of the candidate or official.

Finally, they drew a line between news and opinion which I found to be surprising even though it fell perfectly in line with ideas they had already expressed. Coming from a post-modern viewpoint, one assumes that all statements of fact -- other than some purely mathematical ones -- are actually statements of opinion and power plays as you are enforcing an interpretation (this idea comes from Nietzsche). Therefore, it is impossible to be un-opinionated in any fact you give and is better to simply state your biases and then your opinions. However, the men in the panel were certain that it is not only possible but better to give truly objective news.

Bringing this all together, their pursuit of journalism actually excited me. It is an attempt to convey the truth in such a way that it will be correctly interpreted by their audience so as to appropriately inform the public for proper and good decision-making regardless of bias. Now that is something I can get behind.

I wonder though, would a truly unbiased show ever make it on the air today? Would they get swamped by all the other companies, or could they do it? Would their work be recognized as truly great or would it be decried as being opinionated as a means of attempting to dismiss the facts of a situation. Whatever happened it would be challenging, but I'd love to see someone really try.