Career advice?

[white_wolf]

Hey, everyone. I was just curious do we have any Journalists here at DU? The reason I'm asking is Journalism is my major and I like it, I like to write and talk about important issues, but I have a flaw. I have a very hard time being objective when it comes to writing stories, I always try to write them with the mindset of "how can I help promote social justice" how can I help workers, poor,oppressed minorities, etc. I know this is a problem since Journalists are supposed to be objective and unbiased, indeed I think they should be, because the right-wing media has really hurt our country and the world. I know this isn't really DU's problem, but you all have good advice so I thought I'd ask, if this isn't the right place the mods can move or delete this thread if they need.-Thanks.

[qb]

1. You could be a freelance columnist and rant to your heart's content.

As for objective reporting, you just need to go over your articles rigorously and evaluate each statement for objectivity.

[mike_c]

2. wasn't it HST that said something like "the only objective journalism..."

"...is the security camera down at Woolworths." There usually ARE multiple perspectives from which to view any events. I think it is important for journalists to present those multiple perspectives, but that doesn't mean that they're all equally useful or true. When there are conflicting perspectives it's often true that they cannot all be correct, so journalism's role becomes that of helping to clarify the issues so that the truth can be determined. To some extent that process REQUIRES bias-- one has to choose which perspective is closest to the truth before presenting it. So I don't think there's anything intrinsically wrong with journalism-as-advocacy as long as the journalist's bias is apparent and honest. Then it becomes incumbent upon readers to be informed and discerning. "Objective journalism" is not a substitute for an informed, discerning, and critical readership.