Journos’ duty is to stay objective
I HATE it when journalists try to make themselves part of the story.
I,I, I – the I word was drilled out of me pretty quickly at university, where any decent lecturer will tell you reporting shouldn’t be a first-person exercise.
The “I” adds nothing, it can be jarring for reader immersion, and I cringe when I see it crop up in news stories.
And yeah, I get the hypocrisy of someone who feels this way writing the Take Two column, (this wasn’t my idea). But reporters need to realise we’re not celebrities, we’re not “personalities” or commentators — or at least we shouldn’t try to be.
And at a time when people constantly question the legitimacy of the media, objectivity is something that should be championed more than ever.
When ABC political reporter Chris Uhlmann went viral (ugh) recently for his take-down of US President Donald Trump, plenty of people applauded him for saying what they believe the American media is too timid to say. But what did that speech really achieve, other than furthering the Trumpian narrative that “media elites” have it in for the billionaire? Not only that, but it complicates any future reporting Uhlmann might do on the issue. How can you claim to be objective when you’re out there laying sick burns on your subjects for cheap clicks? When journalists blur the line between reporting and commentary, nobody wins. Objectivity is the strongest tool we have to protect an industry under siege from accusations of bias. By turning what was once a civic responsibility — staying informed and educating yourself on local issues and world events — into a partisan exercise, you limit your audience to those bubbledwellers who only want to read something that reinforces their values.
Of course we all bring our inherent biases and life experiences to our work, but part of the job is a responsibility to not let those biases affect your work.
Commentators don’t belong on the front page, and reporters don’t belong in the opinion section.
As a political reporter, I’ve gotten hate mail from alt-Right MRA trolls who call me a social justice warrior, and from rabid Leftists who accuse me of being a right wing fascist.
If they can’t pin me down, that means I’m doing my job.