Maybe This is Stupid

[forsyth]

But shouldn't "objective journalism" mean not just reporting what someone said, but actually looking into the claims they make and reporting if they're objectively true or not? In science, in politics, in whatever. The first isn't journalism, it's just transcription.

Comments

[andysocial]

You're obviously a [left|right]-wing paranoid nutcase.

Seriously, one of the most amazing things in recent years is the seeming belief among "journalists" that to be objective is to just repeat both "sides" of any story, and offer no comment. Such as, "Copernicus claimed that the earth was the center of the universe. Galileo, on the other hand, claims that the sun is the center of our solar system. Amazing controversy. Back to you, Chet."

[forsythferret.livejournal.com]

That I am.

And they do it as bad in science as in politics. I suspect part of this might come from the growth of specialized journalism degrees, like anything else if you study it closely enough and make it important enough to you, you'll think it's important. And the fact that most journalism degrees don't involve much in the way of science classes, either. I'd think a journalism degree should encourage people to learn as much as possible about as much as possible, if they're going to be reporting on all sorts of different things.