Topic > Objectivity in journalism essay - 1119

“The news tells us what is important…. News represents events in specific ways” (Thwaites et al., 2002: 102). “While the formula and conventions journalists follow are designed to make the news as factual and fair as possible, we know that language can never be completely neutral” (O'Shaughnessy & Stadler, 2008: 87). Some call it information dissemination; some call it the exploration of truth. But again, news itself is a very subjective term. Often in our life, media is one of the most sophisticated yet useful mediums provided to all of us today in the modern world of the technological age. Indeed, what is more, we always ask ourselves: what is objectivity in journalism? In simple terms, focus can be defined as attention to objects external to the mind (Macquarie Dictionary, n.d.). Seeking truth, neutrality, fairness, impartiality are all adjectives that allow people to associate with the words "objectivity". The origin of objectivity can be defined as the development of journalism as a commercial industry. From the beginning of the 17th century until the mid-19th century, in the fourth estate there were always complaints of inaccuracy, misinformation and sensationalism in news articles. However, the general public has not understood that there are many restrictions on newspaper production through which newspapers have already become one of the tools of political advocacy and partisanship. What adds to the interest in the concept of journalism are issues of democracy and economics, as well as social sciences and technology. It may be added that we may not identify the ideological powers inherent in some aspects of the media texts we encounter. In the middle of the term, journalists themselves are human beings, which means that the way they describe certain stories may not exactly be impartial. As human beings, we all have different ideologies and there are also different discourses in disseminating news. Simply put, there is always a debate between objectivity and bias in the field of journalism. In this real society, sometimes it is really difficult to balance the intermediate value of some particular issue. Last but not least, we should consider the issue from many different angles instead of limiting ourselves to a very narrow view of the issue. Consequently, it is quite obvious to say that reality always works through the naturalization of certain ideological beliefs. In an effort to be objective, there is always something called truth and being a professional journalist; it is your duty or task to convey the transparency of facts.