Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Glenn Greenwald FTW

In a well-publicized online exchange with New York Times columnist and former editor Bill Keller, Glenn had this to say.
A journalist who is petrified of appearing to express any opinions will often steer clear of declarative sentences about what is true, opting instead for a cowardly and unhelpful 'here's-what-both-sides-say-and-I-won't-resolve-the-conflicts' formulation. 
That rewards dishonesty on the part of political and corporate officials who know they can rely on 'objective' reporters to amplify their falsehoods without challenge 
Worse still, this suffocating constraint on how reporters are permitted to express themselves produces a self-neutering form of journalism that becomes as ineffectual as it is boring 
... 
Worst of all, this model rests on a false conceit. Human beings are not objectivity-driven machines. We all intrinsically perceive and process the world through subjective prisms. What is the value in pretending otherwise?
...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.

Well said, Mr. Greenwald.

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