@KNOWITALL: “I’m not sure I believe that, after three years of journalism. Can you give me an example?(not fake news please.)”
I’m going to have to even further, as I have above. I do not believe that “objective reporting” is possible (even theoretically), nor is it desirable. It’s a myth that is useful to power.
@KNOWITALL: “Fact:
The U.S. labor market was firing on all cylinders in May: the unemployment rate fell to an 18-year low, employers added jobs at a faster pace and wages modestly improved”
There are some major issues with seeing this as “objective reporting”....
- “Firing on all cylinders” is a value statement, stating that the way to measure a labor market is by employment rate. It’s ignoring arguably the most important measures, such as wages. If wages didn’t keep pace, then certainly some of the cylinders are not firing.
– How did you decide to report this vs something else?
– This “fact” doesn’t describe what employment/unemployment rates even mean. Context isn’t superfluous here – it’s necessary.
And most importantly, facts are not things that just trickle into your field of view. They are placed there or sought out. These actions, by an individual, require that a whole host of beliefs about the world, values, ,etc come into play. To make things worse, when you include the way media works (corporate control, etc), the reporting of simple “facts” removes anything we can consider “objective”.
The larger effect of concentrated power of media and what is considered news-worthy, and what are “facts” means that we should be wary of claims of objectivity. It’s impossible.