We talked a little bit about the political spectrum and where journalists should or shouldn't fall on this scale. The whole concept of centralism really struck me as interesting: the idea that objectivity is not obtainable no matter where you identify yourself. If you are a journalist that claims to report right down the middle with no biased-lean to either side then you are inevitably making yourself centrally-biased.
As our professor Jeff Cohen said: "That's not political journalism that is merely more stenography for those in power."
So, how do you stay objective in journalism? David Carr in his article about objectivity in journalism in the NY Times pointed out that sometimes a balancing act in articles can read as if you are dancing around the issue and not making any real headway.
This makes for wish-washy articles with no substance. So, how do you stay relatively neutral on subjects while providing legitimate analysis for your readers?
Maybe you don't. Neutrality is good in hard news stories, sensationalism is obviously problematic but with political journalism a stance sometimes need to be taken. Standing in the middle of the political spectrum gets you no-where. As I've mentioned before maybe a disclaimer could help remedy this problem or perhaps it will merely discredit journalistic work. Regardless I think all news needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Read up on the journalists you get your news from. Try and discover their stance and then take their reporting for what it is.
In my opinion objectivity is never truly possible but there are ways to report without becoming an PR writer for your political ideology.
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