Subjective Journalism

When it comes to journalism, every viewer, listener, or reader has the belief that each reporter should be completely objective. While this should be what all journalists strive for, most of the time it is not the case. It’s not because the journalist is particularly bad. I think it is because it is fairly difficult if not impossible. Every writer, reporter or photographer has his or her own beliefs and values. Whether intentional or not, these reports are often leaning one way of another. Most of the time the leaning is so slight that many don’t notice. It is important to consider a few different ways that reporters can combat this. One way is rather simple, the writer could have a profile accessible by viewers that would share some of his or her beliefs and experiences. This would allow the follower to understand more about the scope that this journalist is looking through. This could also be done at the beginning of a speech or article. It could be considered a sort of disclaimer. It is a way to let the audience know where the journalist is coming from James Nachtwey’s speech on Ted talks can be taken for example. In the intro of his speech he describes that he was a child of the sixties. This lets the audience know that he is opposed to war. This gives the audience a frame to look through. They can see as he sees when they understand his perspective. For the most part nowadays, viewers, readers and followers know the tendencies of the publications they are looking at. Many viewers know which way certain publications lean in their reporting, especially when it comes to politics. When a viewer turns on MSNBC he or she knows that they will have a more liberal perspective. When a viewer turns of FOX he or she knows that they will be getting a more conservative perspective.