The Illusion of Objectivity
Look, I’ve been in this game for 22 years. Started at a tiny paper in Cedar Rapids, moved up to the Des Moines Register, and now I’m here, writing for a site that’s actually read by people. And let me tell you, the news is broken. It’s not just Fox or MSNBC, it’s all of us. We’re all complicit.
Remember when we used to talk about the good ol’ days of objective journalism? Yeah, those days are gone. And honestly? I’m not sure they were ever really here. I mean, let’s call him Marcus, my old editor at the Register, he used to say, “Objectivity is a myth. What we have is fair-mindedness.” And he was right. We’re all human. We all have biases. And pretending otherwise is just… well, it’s dishonest.
Take last Tuesday, for example. I was at a conference in Austin, and this reporter from the Texas Tribune gets up and says, “We need to stop pretending we can be neutral.” The room erupted. Some cheered, some booed. But the thing is, she was right. We can’t be neutral. And we shouldn’t be. Because neutrality in the face of injustice is just complicity.
But What About the Facts?
Oh, don’t get me wrong. Facts matter. They’re the foundation of our work. But facts don’t exist in a vacuum. They’re interpreted. They’re contextualized. And that’s where our biases come in. It’s not about making stuff up, it’s about what we choose to focus on, what we choose to ignore.
I had this argument with a colleague named Dave about three months ago. We were at a coffee shop on 5th, and he’s going on about how we need to “just report the facts.” I told him, “Dave, that’s not how it works. You can’t just throw facts at a story and walk away.” He looked at me like I’d grown a second head. But it’s true. We have to engage with the facts. We have to make sense of them. And that’s where our biases come in.
The Algorithm Problem
And then there’s the algorithm. Oh, you think I’m being dramatic? Look, I get it. Algorithms help us sort through the noise. They help us find what’s important. But they also reinforce our biases. They show us what we want to see. They hide what we don’t. And that’s a problem.
I was talking to a friend last night—let’s call her Sarah—about this. She’s a data journalist, works for ProPublica. She told me about this study they did. They looked at how algorithms shape our news feeds. And it’s bad. Really bad. The algorithm is basically creating echo chambers. It’s showing us what it thinks we want to see. And that’s not journalism. That’s propaganda.
Which… yeah. Fair enough. But what are we gonna do about it? We can’t just ignore the algorithm. It’s a part of our lives now. But we can be aware of it. We can push back against it. We can seek out diverse voices. We can engage with ideas that challenge our own.
Science Research News Latest
Speaking of challenging ideas, have you checked out science research news latest? No, seriously. It’s fascinating stuff. They’ve got this article about how algorithms are being used to predict political outcomes. It’s kinda scary, honestly. But it’s also really interesting. And it’s the kind of thing we should be talking about more. We can’t just stick our heads in the sand and pretend the algorithm doesn’t exist. We have to engage with it. We have to understand it. And we have to hold it accountable.
A Tangent: The Decline of Local News
But enough about algorithms. Let’s talk about the decline of local news. I mean, it’s a disaster. Physicaly, I can’t even. I started out in local news. I loved it. I loved being able to cover my community. I loved being able to hold local officials accountable. But now? It’s a ghost town. Papers are closing. Reporters are being laid off. And who’s suffering? The community. They’re the ones losing out. They’re the ones who are being left in the dark.
I was at a panel discussion about this last month. Some big-shot media consultant was talking about how “local news is dead.” And I about lost it. I stood up and said, “No, it’s not. It’s just… yeah. It’s struggling. But it’s not dead.” And you know what he said? He said, “Maybe you’re right. But it’s not looking good.” Which, thanks for the pep talk, buddy.
So What Do We Do?
I don’t have all the answers. Honestly, I’m not sure anyone does. But I know this: we can’t keep doing things the way we’ve always done them. We can’t keep pretending we’re objective. We can’t keep ignoring the algorithm. And we can’t keep letting local news die.
We need to be better. We need to be more honest. We need to be more engaged. We need to be more diverse. And we need to be more committed to our communities. It’s not gonna be easy. But it’s necessary. Because the news is broken. And it’s up to us to fix it.
About the Author: Jane Doe has been a journalist for over two decades, working for various publications across Iowa. She’s a staunch advocate for honest, community-focused journalism and isn’t afraid to ruffle a few feathers in the process. When she’s not writing, you can find her drinking too much coffee and complaining about the state of the news industry.
