Quotes About Objective Journalism

“If the norm of the society is corrupted, then objective journalism is corrupted too, for it must not challenge the norm. It must accept the norm.”

— David Halberstam

“Objectivity is a false god, and the worship of this idol is particularly pernicious in disciplines like journalism and history. It is not possible to be objective
although of course it is possible to be honest. By pretending to attain to objectivity, a writer's fundamental faith commitments are not eliminated, but rather submerged
and they then come out in interesting and intellectually dishonest ways.”

— Douglas Wilson

“I personally think honestly disclosing rather than hiding one's subjective values makes for more honest and trustworthy journalism. But no journalism - from the most stylistically 'objective' to the most brazenly opinionated - has any real value unless it is grounded in facts, evidence, and verifiable data.”

— Glenn Greenwald

“There is a long-standing tradition in the mainstream press of middle-of-the-road journalism that is objective and fair. I would hate to see that fall victim to a panic about the Fox effect.”

— Andrew Heyward

“The whole sort of debate of classic objective journalism versus a new immersion journalism - that can go on forever ... I made no bones about my position: I don't think you can be objective.”

— Shane Smith

“The challenge in fiction is to write a terrific story. The challenge in journalism is to communicate solid, objective information. The challenge in creative non-fiction is to do it both and to do it well.”

— Lee Gutkind

“Objective journalism and an opinion column are about as similar as the Bible and Playboy magazine.”

— Walter Cronkite

“When I was in journalism school, you were taught to be completely objective. But we don't see that anymore.”

— Julie Chen

“Objective journalism is one of the main reasons that American politics has been allowed to be so corrupt for so long.”

— Hunter S. Thompson

“With the possible exception of things like box scores, race results, and stock market tabulations, there is no such thing as Objective Journalism. The phrase itself is a pompous contradiction in terms.”

— Hunter S. Thompson

“The only thing I ever saw that came close to Objective Journalism was a closed-circuit TV setup that watched shoplifters in the General Store at Woody Creek, Colorado.”

— Hunter S. Thompson

“Of course, no matter how hard we try to be objective as reporters, our life experiences and personal circumstances influence our journalism, including the choice of topics we pursue.”

— Sheri Fink

“The first word I would remove from the folklore of journalism is the word objective.”

— W. Eugene Smith

“Some people will say that words like scum and rotten are wrong for Objective Journalism
which is true, but they miss the point. It was the built-in blind spots of the Objective rules and dogma that allowed Nixon to slither into the White House in the first place.”

— Hunter S. Thompson