Walter Cronkite School of Journalism Thinks Objectivity in Journalism Has to Go

[Lynn]

"It's objective by whose standards? And that standard seems to be white, educated, fairly wealthy guys. And when people don't feel like they find themselves in news coverage, it's because they don't meet that definition." - Kathleen Carroll, Former executive editor, The Associated Press

Apparently some guilt ridden old salts of journalism and their activist flunkies have decided that objectivity is outmoded and racist. Seemingly the way to fix societal distrust of journalists is to -- get rid of objectivity in reporting.

https://cronkitenewslab.com/digital/2023/01/26/beyond-objectivity/

There's a PDF (about 50 pages) from which that quote above came. I think Walter Cronkite would be ashamed to have his name associated with this.

Another favorite quote: "The consensus among younger journalists is that we got it all wrong. We are the problem. Objectivity has got to go." - Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, Editor-in-chief, San Francisco Chronicle

[Grognard GM]

Utterly fucking chilling.

Living in the modern West is analogous to being strapped to a serial killer's gurney, and he's telling you how virtuous and moral he is as he revs the bonesaw.

[oggsmash]

LMAO that the editor in chief for the San fran chronicle pretends to have any objectivity to lose.  The absolute horror with which "media" regards non gate kept information sources tells me a whole lot about how they feel regarding social engineering and desire to control same at all costs.

[Wisithir]

Dialogue form V: The Final Battle (1984) seems on point here.

[At the Los Angeles Medical Center, Kristine Walsh chances upon a well-known doctor, Dr. Corley Walker, while preparing news coverage of John's announcement]
Kristine Walsh: Dr. Walker! Excuse me. Dr. Walker. [offers hand for handshake] Kristine Walsh. We met in Palm Springs, Gerald Ford's? I've been such an admirer of yours, I wanted to -
Walker: I remember you, Ms. Walsh. You were a newswoman.
Walsh: [taken aback Well, I'm still a newswoman.
Walker: [shaking his head] No, Ms. Walsh, I know what you are, but you're certainly not a newswoman. At best, a press secretary; at worst, a collaborator.
Walsh: [stunned at reaction] I don't know what you've been told, Dr. Walker, but I'm just doing my job.
Walker: [contemptuous] Familiar words. I wonder how many times that phrase was used at the Nuremberg Trials.
Walsh: [offended] That is insulting and untrue-
Walker: No, Ms. Walsh, I'll tell you what is untrue. It is untrue that you're working for a benevolent regime. It is untrue that you're an impartial journalist. What is true is that fascists have taken over our planet, and you're their minister of propaganda. You're a discredit to your profession. You've allowed personal ambition to corrupt your integrity, and you no longer have credibility. Good day. [Dr. Walker turns on his heel and walks away, passing Steven and Diana nearby, implying they witnessed the exchange.]

[Grognard GM]

Dialogue form V: The Final Battle (1984) seems on point here.

[At the Los Angeles Medical Center, Kristine Walsh chances upon a well-known doctor, Dr. Corley Walker, while preparing news coverage of John's announcement]
Kristine Walsh: Dr. Walker! Excuse me. Dr. Walker. [offers hand for handshake] Kristine Walsh. We met in Palm Springs, Gerald Ford's? I've been such an admirer of yours, I wanted to -
Walker: I remember you, Ms. Walsh. You were a newswoman.
Walsh: [taken aback Well, I'm still a newswoman.
Walker: [shaking his head] No, Ms. Walsh, I know what you are, but you're certainly not a newswoman. At best, a press secretary; at worst, a collaborator.
Walsh: [stunned at reaction] I don't know what you've been told, Dr. Walker, but I'm just doing my job.
Walker: [contemptuous] Familiar words. I wonder how many times that phrase was used at the Nuremberg Trials.
Walsh: [offended] That is insulting and untrue-
Walker: No, Ms. Walsh, I'll tell you what is untrue. It is untrue that you're working for a benevolent regime. It is untrue that you're an impartial journalist. What is true is that fascists have taken over our planet, and you're their minister of propaganda. You're a discredit to your profession. You've allowed personal ambition to corrupt your integrity, and you no longer have credibility. Good day. [Dr. Walker turns on his heel and walks away, passing Steven and Diana nearby, implying they witnessed the exchange.]

Hey, if you can't beat em, eat em!

[Stephen Tannhauser]

If what they mean is they're going to dispense with the pretense of objectivity, I say go for it. If you can't eliminate bias, at least admit it and let people hear from both sides.

Thing is, though, when people say "objectivity has to go", what most of them really mean is, "Your superficial understanding of 'objectivity' has been forcing us to give equal time to obvious lies and B.S., which we're no longer willing to do, so if that's 'objectivity', then yes, it has to go." So the irony is that "objectivity" is being invoked as an excuse to silence alternative interpretations of data, rather than to broaden the scope of examining them.

[Trond]

Saying the quiet part out loud. Objectivity in journalism died probably over a decade ago. The way journalists handled Gamergate showed that they were incapable of even peeking at the other side by 2014, among other things.

[Trond]

Holy smokes, it just keeps going on and on about "white male" views, "objectivity has failed", include more LGBTQ+ views, and so on.

Then on p.10 "Now, it has to be about changing the culture".

[Ghostmaker]

Holy smokes, it just keeps going on and on about "white male" views, "objectivity has failed", include more LGBTQ+ views, and so on.

Then on p.10 "Now, it has to be about changing the culture".

Of course. They have to get away from reporting facts, because those are stubborn things. No, the new direction has to be shaping the narrative and the public viewpoint -- even if it's on false pretenses. It's for the common good, after all.

[Trond]

Holy smokes, it just keeps going on and on about "white male" views, "objectivity has failed", include more LGBTQ+ views, and so on.

Then on p.10 "Now, it has to be about changing the culture".

Of course. They have to get away from reporting facts, because those are stubborn things. ....

"Clearly, these facts have not been reading our newspaper!"

[oggsmash]

  At least the newspapers have now purged themselves of the hyper racist Dilbert cartoons

[Thor's Nads]

Saying the quiet part out loud. Objectivity in journalism died probably over a decade ago. The way journalists handled Gamergate showed that they were incapable of even peeking at the other side by 2014, among other things.

You mean decades ago, if it ever even existed. Walter Cronkite was a far lefty pretending to be objective.

I think this is fine. These 'journalists' should all just admit they are Radical Leftwing Marxists and want to turn America into a Communist utopia. I'd prefer that to all this pretense that they are somehow objective.

[oggsmash]

Saying the quiet part out loud. Objectivity in journalism died probably over a decade ago. The way journalists handled Gamergate showed that they were incapable of even peeking at the other side by 2014, among other things.

You mean decades ago, if it ever even existed. Walter Cronkite was a far lefty pretending to be objective.

I think this is fine. These 'journalists' should all just admit they are Radical Leftwing Marxists and want to turn America into a Communist utopia. I'd prefer that to all this pretense that they are somehow objective.

  Hard to be honest as a group when they all largely want to be loved unconditionally by people they hate.   

[Mordred Pendragon]

Walter Cronkite is rolling in his grave

[KindaMeh]

This kind of thing is quite honestly frightening, and not an isolated trend. Look at the ACLU and how its advocacy has changed, with many voices within it even pushing against the idea that they should represent the free speech of, say, groups with firearms. Organizations that were once at least somewhat neutral and objective in terms of what they defended are broadly drifting away, one way or another, or altogether ceasing to be.