Working on a new journalism glossary. To access journalism we add complicity journalism—willful naïveté—& collaborationist journalism. Today’s term: objectivity theater, in which a reporter hides under cover of objectivity their previous failure to understand the story.
January 31, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Working on a new journalism glossary. To access journalism we add complicity journalism—willful naïveté—& collaborationist journalism. Today’s term: objectivity theater, in which a reporter hides under cover of objectivity their previous failure to understand the story.
Journalism is about objectivity, not neutrality. Neutral "journalism" is a canard.
Neutrality and objectivity are not the same. Objectivity is a slave to facts in pursuit of the truth. Neutrality is the art of presenting fact and fiction as equal.
Neutrality evelates lies. It's de facto bias.
Neutrality and objectivity are not the same. Objectivity is a slave to facts in pursuit of the truth. Neutrality is the art of presenting fact and fiction as equal.
Neutrality evelates lies. It's de facto bias.
March 9, 2025 at 12:45 AM
Journalism is about objectivity, not neutrality. Neutral "journalism" is a canard.
Neutrality and objectivity are not the same. Objectivity is a slave to facts in pursuit of the truth. Neutrality is the art of presenting fact and fiction as equal.
Neutrality evelates lies. It's de facto bias.
Neutrality and objectivity are not the same. Objectivity is a slave to facts in pursuit of the truth. Neutrality is the art of presenting fact and fiction as equal.
Neutrality evelates lies. It's de facto bias.
It’s the problem with modern journalism, in my view. We’ve become so concerned with objectivity, we sometimes remove humanity from the equation.
November 24, 2025 at 12:26 AM
It’s the problem with modern journalism, in my view. We’ve become so concerned with objectivity, we sometimes remove humanity from the equation.
WGA EAST PRESIDENT TOM FONTANA on Bari Weiss and CBS News(max): “CBS brass has engaged in near-constant editorial interference… too thin-skinned to handle honest scrutiny… profound contempt for the journalism profession— and for honesty, integrity, and objectivity…”
June 4, 2026 at 1:53 PM
WGA EAST PRESIDENT TOM FONTANA on Bari Weiss and CBS News(max): “CBS brass has engaged in near-constant editorial interference… too thin-skinned to handle honest scrutiny… profound contempt for the journalism profession— and for honesty, integrity, and objectivity…”
There’s no such thing as objectivity in journalism. Transparency in journalism should be the goal.
The NYT says today’s #NoKings protests had “no shortage of skeptics,” and then quoted exactly one of those skeptics: The chairman of the Ole Miss College Republicans (as of 2025.)
But of course, the Times doesn’t ID him as such. He’s just a Concerned Youth.
But of course, the Times doesn’t ID him as such. He’s just a Concerned Youth.
March 29, 2026 at 3:03 AM
There’s no such thing as objectivity in journalism. Transparency in journalism should be the goal.
Yes, but as I explained to students in my Phil of Science class, “truth” and “objectivity” in Journalism are NOT the same things as “truth” and “objectivity” in the sciences (both of which are Not Good) and the cultural conflation of the two is very dangerous.
I think that’s why the one time Vance panicked was when it seemed like they would fact check him, because their party fact checking is death to a liar. Luckily for him the modern American press no longer really sees establishing truth as their job. It was a whim that passed.
October 2, 2024 at 2:20 PM
Yes, but as I explained to students in my Phil of Science class, “truth” and “objectivity” in Journalism are NOT the same things as “truth” and “objectivity” in the sciences (both of which are Not Good) and the cultural conflation of the two is very dangerous.
Ida Wells did some of the most important journalism in the past two centuries AND openly called for shooting the klan with guns. "Objectivity" is a luxury of the gentry. Grow up.
February 28, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Ida Wells did some of the most important journalism in the past two centuries AND openly called for shooting the klan with guns. "Objectivity" is a luxury of the gentry. Grow up.
This is a profound loss to all lovers of truth and objectivity in journalism. www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
PBS News Weekend signs off
Due to federal budget cuts, PBS News had to make the difficult decision to rework our staffing and programming. This Sunday, our PBS News Weekend team will sign off the air.
www.pbs.org
January 11, 2026 at 1:48 AM
This is a profound loss to all lovers of truth and objectivity in journalism. www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
maybe the lesson on "objectivity" in journalism schools will be finally be scrapped for "how to protect yourself and be prepared while reporting on local ICE raids"
January 21, 2026 at 9:42 PM
maybe the lesson on "objectivity" in journalism schools will be finally be scrapped for "how to protect yourself and be prepared while reporting on local ICE raids"
The longer I've been a journalist, the more I feel disillusioned by the capacity of journalism to mislead through a false pretense at objectivity--effectively platforming unhinged views or whitewashing such views in the name of being "fair and balanced"
July 22, 2025 at 7:20 AM
The longer I've been a journalist, the more I feel disillusioned by the capacity of journalism to mislead through a false pretense at objectivity--effectively platforming unhinged views or whitewashing such views in the name of being "fair and balanced"
are journalists allergic to saying “no that’s not true” or what?
journalism is about truth - i don’t want to heard the words “objectivity” and “journalism” in the same sentence ever again.
journalism is about truth - i don’t want to heard the words “objectivity” and “journalism” in the same sentence ever again.
March 4, 2025 at 3:37 PM
are journalists allergic to saying “no that’s not true” or what?
journalism is about truth - i don’t want to heard the words “objectivity” and “journalism” in the same sentence ever again.
journalism is about truth - i don’t want to heard the words “objectivity” and “journalism” in the same sentence ever again.
the myth of objectivity in journalism upholds transphobia. nyt and more newsrooms not hiring trans writers is about bigotry, not “integrity.”
I was told explicitly by a top nyt exec, Carolyn Ryan, that the nyt would never hire a trans journo who’d ever covered trans issues. By her account, a trans journo versed in the issues is by definition biased. That is not ofc a standard the nyt applies to any other group or issue. (Nor should it)
I’ve been saying for years that sports newsrooms are wholly unprepared for this political moment. imo it’s journalistic malpractice not to have a writer on staff who can cover trans sports stories well. But I can’t even place freelance coverage at this point. It’s so bleak.
December 10, 2024 at 10:18 PM
the myth of objectivity in journalism upholds transphobia. nyt and more newsrooms not hiring trans writers is about bigotry, not “integrity.”
Outcry is spreading against Northwestern University’s decision to cancel the fall classes of professor Steven Thrasher, who was hired as its first ever endowed chair for social justice in reporting.
Journalism Professor’s Suspension Shows the Hypocrisy of “Objectivity”
Steven Thrasher’s suspension from teaching journalism at Northwestern shows “the Palestine exception” at work.
truthout.org
September 21, 2024 at 12:39 AM
Outcry is spreading against Northwestern University’s decision to cancel the fall classes of professor Steven Thrasher, who was hired as its first ever endowed chair for social justice in reporting.
this is what the pretense of “objectivity” in journalism gets us
It’s hard right now watching the “trans kids flee their states” stories proliferate in publications that didn’t give the same space just three years ago to the right wing planning openly to make this happen
October 13, 2023 at 5:50 PM
this is what the pretense of “objectivity” in journalism gets us
Anyway I'm just so sad we still need to have this conversation in 2026: academic.oup.com/edited-volum...
Objectivity, False Balance, and Advocacy in News Coverage of Climate Change
Abstract. Objectivity and advocacy have been contentious topics within environmental journalism since the specialism was formed in the 1960s. Objectivity i
academic.oup.com
May 26, 2026 at 3:10 PM
Anyway I'm just so sad we still need to have this conversation in 2026: academic.oup.com/edited-volum...
I actually called myself a centrist and proudly bought in to the concept of objectivity in journalism before my border and LA crime beat work lol
May 16, 2024 at 6:21 PM
I actually called myself a centrist and proudly bought in to the concept of objectivity in journalism before my border and LA crime beat work lol
mom can you come get me, they’re doing objectivity in journalism discourse on twitter again
May 22, 2023 at 6:18 PM
mom can you come get me, they’re doing objectivity in journalism discourse on twitter again
it's weird to see this and recount all those debates about objectivity in journalism
June 25, 2025 at 9:48 PM
it's weird to see this and recount all those debates about objectivity in journalism
Establishment journalism, fake "objectivity" and all, played a major role in the return of fascism. It still does.
It deserves to burn. Smug dismissals of the overdue resurgence of radical journalism — because we're unafraid to call a lie a lie and oppression evil — remain rancid gentry nonsense.
It deserves to burn. Smug dismissals of the overdue resurgence of radical journalism — because we're unafraid to call a lie a lie and oppression evil — remain rancid gentry nonsense.
July 14, 2026 at 6:46 PM
Establishment journalism, fake "objectivity" and all, played a major role in the return of fascism. It still does.
It deserves to burn. Smug dismissals of the overdue resurgence of radical journalism — because we're unafraid to call a lie a lie and oppression evil — remain rancid gentry nonsense.
It deserves to burn. Smug dismissals of the overdue resurgence of radical journalism — because we're unafraid to call a lie a lie and oppression evil — remain rancid gentry nonsense.
Thinking a lot about this today, and the malice of the lie of objectivity in journalism, a way for producers to absolve themselves of blame or responsibility for the very thing they advocate.
journalism is taught as a craft of deference. we must always “defer” to other sources because journalists are trained to have the “perspective from nowhere.” there’s no safeguard when the institutions are questionable, and the deference continues.
i don’t blame anyone for not trusting us.
i don’t blame anyone for not trusting us.
At this point, the media is in on the troll right? I mean at the very least it pays to keep the “controversy” going.
February 5, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Thinking a lot about this today, and the malice of the lie of objectivity in journalism, a way for producers to absolve themselves of blame or responsibility for the very thing they advocate.
Right wingers like to paint this as "objectivity" in journalism, but that's of course a scam because if you're not allowed to mention that these people are erratic morons then you are being biased in favor of them
Joe Davidson, longtime Washpost columnist, quit due to editing restrictions. He couldn't call a pay raise for fed'l employees "well deserved" or say that a hallmark of Trump’s "turbulent months in office is his widespread, ominous attack on thought, belief & speech”
www.facebook.com/story.php?st...
www.facebook.com/story.php?st...
![Blocking my column because it was too opinionated was a shock. I’ve authored many pieces over my 17 years writing the Federal Diary (renamed the Federal Insider in 2016), that were at least if not more opinionated as the now dead one. In that piece, I argued that “one hallmark of President Donald Trump’s first three, turbulent months in office is his widespread, ominous attack on thought, belief and speech.”
The piece contained specific examples, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s alarming memo supporting deportation of Columbia University pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil. Rubio said Khalil could be expelled for “expected beliefs…that are otherwise lawful.” What immigrants might believe in the future now can make them federal law enforcement targets.
Another far-reaching example I cited is Trump’s aggressive attack on speech promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). His executive order commanded federal agencies to “excise references to DEI and DEIA [“A” for accessibility] principles, under whatever name they may appear.” Also, Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk, of Turkey, was abducted off the street by masked officers because she co-wrote an op-ed critical of Israel. It was a terrifying sight, caught on video, which previously would have seemed more applicable to George Orwell’s dystopian and cautionary tale against totalitarianism and thought police in is novel “1984.” This is America in 2025.
Killing that column was a death blow to my life as a Washington Post columnist. But I wrote two more articles to see if I could cope with the restrictions. That’s when I learned just how severe the policy is. In my next piece, I was not allowed to describe a potential pay raise for federal employees as “well-deserved” because of Post policy.
As a columnist, I can’t live with that level of constraint. A column without commentary made me a columnist without a column. I also was troubled by significant inconsistencies in the implementation of the p…](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:svawqo4jxobyyuqmixplvcux/bafkreigga3daorc7wtonshgnmnm7dtfyjrvu2einlc4myhiynml6luvlz4)
July 10, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Right wingers like to paint this as "objectivity" in journalism, but that's of course a scam because if you're not allowed to mention that these people are erratic morons then you are being biased in favor of them
The funny thing about Cross Country Check-Up both-sidesing annexation is that they did not do anything wrong, the problem is that they followed their journalistic standards too well
When journalism is not rooted in any moral values beyond “objectivity” and “balance,” this is the natural outcome
When journalism is not rooted in any moral values beyond “objectivity” and “balance,” this is the natural outcome
February 23, 2025 at 3:07 PM
The funny thing about Cross Country Check-Up both-sidesing annexation is that they did not do anything wrong, the problem is that they followed their journalistic standards too well
When journalism is not rooted in any moral values beyond “objectivity” and “balance,” this is the natural outcome
When journalism is not rooted in any moral values beyond “objectivity” and “balance,” this is the natural outcome
Objectivity.
It's a contested word in journalism.
There are those who think, correctly, that human's can't be truly objective. We all come with our own biases and perspectives baked in.
And there are those who think (also correctly, imo), that trying for objectivity is essential for what we do.
It's a contested word in journalism.
There are those who think, correctly, that human's can't be truly objective. We all come with our own biases and perspectives baked in.
And there are those who think (also correctly, imo), that trying for objectivity is essential for what we do.
February 28, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Objectivity.
It's a contested word in journalism.
There are those who think, correctly, that human's can't be truly objective. We all come with our own biases and perspectives baked in.
And there are those who think (also correctly, imo), that trying for objectivity is essential for what we do.
It's a contested word in journalism.
There are those who think, correctly, that human's can't be truly objective. We all come with our own biases and perspectives baked in.
And there are those who think (also correctly, imo), that trying for objectivity is essential for what we do.