Monday, April 2, 2012

Transparcey Trumps False Objectivity

The David Weinberger piece made several very good points.  His basic point is that where bloggers lack in objectivity, they more than make up for with transparency.  That is true, but I would go one step further and argue that there is no such thing as objectivity.

Everyone has biases.  One of the great facades of journalism is that reporters supposedly have none.  It may not be overt, or even visible, but they have opinions, and it affects their perspective.  Everyone has different life experiences, and those experiences have a huge influence on how you view the world and different situations.

Those views exist.  They don't merely turn off because you become a journalist.  Most are good at masking it, but it can affect things like word selection, shaping a particular opinion or picture in the reader's mind.

What makes up for that bias is being open about it so readers know what the context of your work is.  The internet, and specifically blogs, makes that possible.  In fact, it demands it, because otherwise the readers will turn on you.

It reminds me a lot of the trailer for a new show coming out on HBO called The Newsroom, written by Aaron Sorkin.  Looks like a news anchor has a breakdown in the pilot when giving his ACTUAL opinion, something he had always hidden for the integrity of his career.  Should be a good one!



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