Facts, facts, pure facts and nothing else

Journalism is governed by three main values that ensure its reliability for the public; these are being fast, being fair and being accurate. While the debate of deciding between being fast or accurate is still on, the absolute necessity of fairness cannot be argued.

Being fair and objective in term of journalism means that you separate the “facts” from the “opinion” to preserve the accuracy, and that, in case of a disagreement or a debate, all sides must be presented, and they must all be in the same proportion. Indeed, the only opinion that you can put in an article is the one from the people who are written about, and their ideas must be quoted, so that they are not misunderstood for the writer’s thought.

But then you can ask why? Why can’t we put our opinion in anewspaper? I think that being a journalist means that you share what you know, you spread information; you make sure that the public is aware of what is happening around him and, at a bigger scale, worldwide. However, even if he has the power to influence people’s mind, that is not his aim. In my opinion, a journalist must not give its thoughts because he should let the public make their own mind, and choose which part of an argument they are on. The journalist’s goal is not to lead the reader to think in a particular way; because that would mean that what we call journalism is in fact propaganda.

However, as easy as it seems, it is far more complicated. Indeed, complete objectivity is believed by many to be unachievable, for example Professor Ivor Gaber said, “Objectivity is, and has always been a meaningless concept. That is because all journalist – subject to official confirmation – are human beings”. I believe that what Pf Gaber meant is that because we are all humans, we are all influenced by the events and the experiences of our lives, and even if one does not write his thoughts, by reading between the lines, some opinions can be found. These thoughts are a part of each one of us, and we cannot separate them from us because they are what make every person’s individuality.

Finally, I think that, because there will always be a small part of us in everything we write, the public has to understand and accept that a journalist is a human being as them, and that he also has its range of view. And at the same time, the journalist has to deliver the news and the facts in the most objective way possible. And if we argue that objectivity is unattainable, then they might want to aim towards transparency, meaning that they don’t hide any facts, they don’t hide any side of the story, so that the reader knows everything on a particular case and then make his mind on his own, without being influenced.

To learn more :

The example of Fox News. The report « 4 years of hope and change » on Barack Obama, clearly shows that the TV channel is against the act of this president by only showing the negative point of his presidency, when they are supposed, as journalist, to only show the fact, and the numbers, which means they should be showing both positive and negative point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHxZ6akGJpQ

#ethics