In a nation where the Supreme Court protects campaign donations as "free speech," the notion that any corporation enforces a policy of prior approval (or veto) over an employee's private vs. public participation in political process raises disturbing questions.
For example: Should being a journalist require a form of non-participatory civic celibacy?
The recently suspended Keith Olbermann has said previously that objectivity is impossible, but that one could be fair... Even handed in holding all parties in an argument to the same skeptical standard.
There's no inherent benefit to continuing to give equal credence to an assertion which can be proven wrong; however often repeated by the misinformed, or the deliberately disinforming.
A Breed Apart
A good portion of 21st-century news consumers no longer believe in objectivity. They know it isn't possible. And yet the public expects reporters to always play it down the middle, delivering the facts and only the facts, unencumbered by bias. But to what lengths should reporters go? Can they report fairly on beats that encroach on their personal lives? Should they vote, or does their occupation demand they sit out while others participate?
Rolling Stone contributing editor Matt Taibbi's columns have been a destination for those trying to understand what happened in the aftermath of the financial meltdown. "
Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids and the Long Con That Is Breaking America," makes the subject even clearer in the blunt & colorful language Taibbi's readers know well. He doesn't mince words, dilute with adverbs or couch anything in the veneer of deference more typical of "beat reporters" incestuously keeping "access."
Read An Excerpt
Earthquake, tsunami,
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