IMBO Magazine Nov. 2014 | Page 24

No oath to take. In fact, when broken down, news reporting is merely about absorbing and communicating what is happening around you. In this day and age, we should realize that objectivity is futile and unconvincing. News is a matter of perception. Yet despite this, in pursuit of the unbiased, journalists such as Leonard Downie (Execute Editor for the Washington Post) still refuse to vote in order to maintain “impartial status”. But what effect does this have on his actual work? Life experiences have an impact on our perception and interpretation of everything happening around us. It should be absurd to believe a person’s point of view won’t ooze its way into whatever they're expressing. In 2009 the Pew Research Center for People & Press discovered that 60% of readers think news organizations have political bias. This is obviously from a widespread understanding that people are people. They write what they feel or what they’re paid to. The big issue grasping for recognition is how words coated in cynicism along with overly subjective reporting yields revenues higher IMBO/ ISSUE 31/ '14 24