Is that your final answer?

Here are my answers and thoughts from questions posed by the Final.

1. Objectivity is one of the defining qualities of news stories. Without objectivity, how would news stories be any different than other written genre? Objectivity is presenting every side of the story in an unbiased way to the public. It is presenting the facts in a non-deceptive way. Journalists have abused the method of objectivity. According to the Elements of Journalism, “Journalists who select sources to express what is really their own point of view, and then use a neutral voice to make it seem objective, are in engaged in a form of deception” (Kovach and Rosenstiel e15).
With that being said, is journalism then the lack of opinion? No. I agree with the girl in class that said, “opinion is journalism as long as it is not presented as fact.” It is impossible not to have an opinion. However, a person does have control on how the information is presented even if it conflicts with their point of view.
In a sense, a person can not be born with out personal bias. Our background, hometown, school, religious life, etc all shape our reality and perceptions on life. It contributes to our uniqueness as a person. Deciding what questions to ask, selecting what quotations to use, what information to include, what pictures to take, what pictures to use can be considered bias. The only way to determine if it the story is really biased or as objective as it can be is the intent of the person writing it which will manifest itself in the content of the article.
As long as journalists are constantly striving to include all views, obtain all facts, verify all sources, and present information to the best of their ability, I would consider them objective.