The College Perspective by Lindsey

Objectivity is a word that is tossed around a lot when talking about writing and especially in the media. Those who aren’t involved in writing for the public don’t often have to think about being objective, or simply stating the facts, as their opinions are their own and others expect them to express how they feel about certain topics. This concept, however, should not typically apply to news reporters whose job descriptions are to report the news objectively. While in a perfect world this would remain true, this has not been the case in news media almost since its beginning. People use the news sources to show how they feel instead of presenting the facts of the situation and for good reason. Every human has a different reaction and to not express that is to cut off creative expression in a way. Objectivity applies to me specifically because if I want to structure a sound argument about a topic I have to take into consideration that the more biased I sound, the less likely people are to take me seriously because I haven’t shown them all the pros and cons of my position as well as the opposing side. I don’t believe it’s possible to create a “norm” for journalists or the public in general when they write about these topics that require impartiality, as I believe many journalists need some bias to feel like they’re staying true to themselves. Every story has several different angles, it’s up to the writer to capture the full story to the best of their abilities. The article did make a valid point when saying that Trump tests reporter’s ability to stay objective when he pushes the boundaries of what is considered normal and sane. The job of news media is to report the interesting, alarming, and important. When that leads to a potentially biased article, it may become the reporter’s job to be the bias just to put the thought that something could be wrong into people’s heads. Ultimately, in an ideal world, the media would strive for objectivity in all aspects and people would believe that the world is a place full of sunshine and rainbows, but the reality is the world can be a cold place and without some cynicism we lose the motivation to fix the world’s problems and become complacent.