The difficulty in objectivity
I try to be objective--when I'm serious. Obviously, when I joke around I betray a bias I have towards Republicans, conservatism, America, and President Bush; conversely I am biased against liberals, Democrats, and John Kerry in particular. However, I can enjoy a good joke on anyone, even if I happen to like the person; I think the JibJab "This Land is My Land" song is absolutely hilarious. I also crack up at the video of Will Ferrell impersonating President Bush. It's completely mean, unfair, and untrue, but it is still hilarious! Now on to my big idea.....
I hear a joke about Clinton and I laugh. I hear a joke about Bush, and I can appreciate it. Regardless of how objective I try to be, I am still more offended by a Bush joke than a Clinton joke, or a Republican joke over a Democrat joke. My political science prof was off on a bunny trail story today about President Johnson. It was funny. I laughed. I can't tell you a single thing about Johnson. I don't know what party he was from, what kind of man he was, or even when he was president. Thus, I had absolutely no bias at all about him. I laughed because the story was funny, and because I HAD NO EMOTIONAL OR HISTORICAL ATTACHMENT TO THE EVENT OR PERSON.
Sitting in class, I wasn't even doing anything important, like covering the beat of a campaign for a reputable news organization, and I still struggled with my biases. I bias does not originate just from an opinion, but from a worldview, an ideology. The most objective person in the world will still betray some form of his or her worldview. A reporter that describes a murder as despicable hints at the worldview that recognizes murder as wrong and despicable. But he won't be denounced as being biased, because everybody believes that murder is wrong and despicable. Nobody would even think to contest that.<>
All that to say, objectivity is hard. I won't give journalists any more slack, but I will acknowledge that their job is harder than I once thought.
I hear a joke about Clinton and I laugh. I hear a joke about Bush, and I can appreciate it. Regardless of how objective I try to be, I am still more offended by a Bush joke than a Clinton joke, or a Republican joke over a Democrat joke. My political science prof was off on a bunny trail story today about President Johnson. It was funny. I laughed. I can't tell you a single thing about Johnson. I don't know what party he was from, what kind of man he was, or even when he was president. Thus, I had absolutely no bias at all about him. I laughed because the story was funny, and because I HAD NO EMOTIONAL OR HISTORICAL ATTACHMENT TO THE EVENT OR PERSON.
Sitting in class, I wasn't even doing anything important, like covering the beat of a campaign for a reputable news organization, and I still struggled with my biases. I bias does not originate just from an opinion, but from a worldview, an ideology. The most objective person in the world will still betray some form of his or her worldview. A reporter that describes a murder as despicable hints at the worldview that recognizes murder as wrong and despicable. But he won't be denounced as being biased, because everybody believes that murder is wrong and despicable. Nobody would even think to contest that.<>
All that to say, objectivity is hard. I won't give journalists any more slack, but I will acknowledge that their job is harder than I once thought.
posted by Seth at 4:37 PM
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