How objective can journalists be?

Objectivity is the core principle of journalism practice, which means detaching oneself from the information so as to maintain a high level of fairness and balance in giving an accurate account of happenings.  But politicians have succeeded in influencing and controlling the media outputs and not allowing them to exercise the required freedom and independence […]

Objectivity is the core principle of journalism practice, which means detaching oneself from the information so as to maintain a high level of fairness and balance in giving an accurate account of happenings. 

But politicians have succeeded in influencing and controlling the media outputs and not allowing them to exercise the required freedom and independence in disseminating accurate and unbiased information that will serve the best interest of the general public. Therefore, the above-mentioned practices have changed what most people see as the cornerstone and backbone of journalism practice.

Professionally, journalists are expected to work in line with the ethics of the noble profession but it appears that journalist these days have thrown away the book of ethical reporting and moved to serve the interest of politicians by becoming the megaphone of political bigwigs, something that discredits the profession.

Consequently, journalists keep losing their integrity and trust built by the public. Politicians too have started treating them as errands boys rather than professionals, forgetting their primary responsibility and the role they are expected to play towards the socioeconomic and political development of our societies.

Before now, people believed in whatever information they read in newspapers, watch on television or listen to on their radio set as a result of the trust they had for journalists, considering their commitments to bringing firsthand, reliable and accurate information to the people. But today, things are different with the challenge of fake news and misinformation.

The question of being hundred percent objective in journalistic reportage has been on public debate because of the differences that characterize us as individuals.

Moreover, the unrestrictive nature and easy accessibility of the internet and social networking sites have paved the way for the spread of fake news, hate speech, and misinformation which incite disunity and unrest in society.

Unfortunately, online news platforms are so quick to pick up those stories without confirming their sources and reliability.

Journalists were professionally trained to be fact finders because it’s believed that facts are sacred while opinion is free. Journalism is a noble profession therefore, self-centrism, ethical egoism, biases, and prejudices are unethical and should not be entertained in information dissemination.

Above all, editors who happen to be final gatekeepers of information must be fair in their dealings. We are humans, so being 100 percent objective will be difficult to achieve but reporters should do anything humanly possible in detaching themselves from the stories they are writing. They should try not to allow personal biases, ranging from ethnicity, religion, region or political affiliation influence or change their stories.

Zarah Imam Ahmad writes from Department of Mass Communication, University of Maiduguri