COMM 337: Objectivity, fairness and professional ethics

After we talked about objectivity in class Tuesday, I decided I'd better look it up instead of winging like I did in class. Here's what I found. Objective is defined in Dictionary.com as "not influenced by personal feelings, interpretations, or prejudice; based on facts; unbiased: an objective opinion. So objectivity is the noun form. I think it's one of those goals that's impossible for a writer to attain.

I think it's also very important for us to keep trying.

If you've seen the reruns of "Dragnet," the old 1950s TV cop show, you remember Sergeant Friday saying, "Just the facts, ma'am." That's what I think of when I'm thinking about objectivity.

A closely related concept is fairness. Dictionary.com says it is "the state, condition, or quality of being fair, or free from bias or injustice; evenhandedness." And fair is defined as "free from bias, dishonesty, or injustice>"

The Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics doesn't specifically address the issue of objectivity, although it comes close when it says professional writers shoud: "Distinguish between advocacy and news reporting. Analysis and commentary should be labeled and not misrepresent fact or context." It's not limited to politics, either. The next canon of ethics adds, "Distinguish news from advertising and shun hybrids that blur the lines between the two." Note that the SPJ doesn't forbid advocacy. It just says it has to be clearly labeled as such.

The Public Relations Society of America's Code of Ethics is all about advocacy, of course, but it says, "We serve the public interest by acting as responsible advocates for those we represent. We provide a voice in the marketplace of ideas, facts, and viewpoints to aid informed public debate." Accuracy, truth and fairness are part of responsible advocacy. "We deal fairly with clients, employers, competitors, peers, vendors, the media, and the general public. We respect all opinions and support the right of free expression."

I think it keeps getting back to that marketplace of ideas, and treating people fairly is just good business.

So even-handedness and fairness are important things for us to aspire to in the communications industry. Free-lance writers may or may not belong to SPJ or PRSA, but we'll follow the canons if we're professionals.

The best guidelines I could find on line are by Tony Rogers, a working journalist and community college instructor who wrote several About.com guides to newswriting. One is a Code of Conduct for Reporters that says:

Never state your opinions or inject yourself into any event you cover, such as protests, rallies or public comment forums. As a reporter you're there as a professional observer, not a participant.

Again, he's talking about reporters covering an event. Advocates, writing for example on the editorial page or the op-ed columns, state their opinions. But they label them as opinions. They play fair.

A related point. Play fair with your sources, too. Says Rogers, "Always make it clear to people you're interviewing that you're writing an article that could be published." When I'm free-lancing and writing on spec, I tell them it may or may not be published and the decision isn't up to me. That way I'm not promising them any publicity I may not be able to deliver.

Rogers started on the Capital Times in Madison, Wis., one of the better small dailies in the Midwest. And he was a reporter for the New York Daily News, which is in my opinion one of the best of the big-city tabloids. Now he teaches at Bucks County Community College in the suburbs of Philadelphia. He knows what he's talking about. Here are his definitions of objectivty and fairness, in an About.com piece on objectivity:

• Objectivity means that when covering hard news, reporters don’t convey their own feelings, biases or prejudices in their stories. They accomplish this by writing stories using a language that is neutral and avoids characterizing people or institutions in ways good or bad.
  
• Fairness means that reporters covering a story must remember there are usually two sides – and often more – to most issues, and that those differing viewpoints should be given roughly equal space in any news story.

Demonstrating the fairness he's writing about, Rogers adds a couple of caveats [warnings]:

There are a few caveats to remember when considering objectivity and fairness. First, such rules apply to reporters covering so-called hard news, or straight news stories, for the main news section of the newspaper or website. Obviously they don’t apply to the political columnist writing for the op-ed page, or to the movie critic working for the arts section, both of whom make a living giving their opinions on a daily basis.

Second, remember that ultimately, reporters are in search of the truth. And while objectivity and fairness are important, a reporter shouldn’t let them get in the way of finding the truth.

Copied below is some more wisdom. The first two are from one of those webpages that collect lots of quotes The first is from Dave Berry, who wrote a very popular humor column for the Miami Herald:

We journalists make it a point to know very little about an extremely wide variety of topics; this is how we stay objective. ~ Dave Barry.

And the second is from P.J. O'Rourke, who writes very opinionated - and very funny - commentary with a conservative slant:

I am a journalist and, under the modern journalist's code of Olympian objectivity (and total purity of motive), I am absolved of responsibility. We journalists don't have to step on roaches. All we have to do is turn on the kitchen light and watch the critters scurry. ~ P.J. O'Rourke.

My all-time favorite is from Stanley Walker, longtime city editor of the New York Herald Tribune. (He was from Texas, and there's a good bio called "What Stanley Walker Saw" in TexasEscapes.com magazine.) In 1924 Walker said

What makes a good newspaperman? The answer is easy. He knows everything. He is aware not only of what goes on in the world today, but his brain is a repository of the wisdom of the ages. He is not only handsome, but he has the physical strength which enables him to perform great feats of energy. He can go for nights on end without sleep. He dresses well and talks with charm. Men admire him; women adore him; tycoons and statesmen are willing to share their secrets with him. He hates lies and meanness and sham, but he keeps his temper. He is loyal to his paper and to what he looks upon as the profession; whether it is a profession, or merely a craft, he resents attempts to debase it. When he dies, a lot of people are sorry, and some of them remember him for several days.

I want that quote on my tombstone.