For years, I’ve been among a chorus of mainstream journalists who have called for our industry to abandon the appearance of objectivity as the aspirational journalistic standard, and for reporters instead to focus on being fair and telling the truth, as best as one can, based on the given context and available facts."

.......................................

"Perhaps the most recent controversy to erupt because of such thoughtlessness and lack of inclusion was provided by The New York Times Opinion section, when it published an essay by Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas, calling for, among other things, an “overwhelming show of force” by the American military in order to quell civil unrest at protests that, while at times violent, have largely been made up of peaceful demonstrations.

A method of moral clarity would have required that leadership think very hard before providing the section’s deeply influential platform to any elected official — allowing him or her to opine, without the buffer of a reporter’s follow-up questions, using inflammatory rhetoric. It would require, at the very least, that such an article not contain several overstatements and unsubstantiated assertions."

.........................................

As I stood on that street corner in Roxbury as a cub reporter all those years ago, the man I’d approached told me that years earlier a family member had been wrongfully arrested. He said the paper printed his relative’s full criminal history, as well as a mug shot from an unrelated incident. There had been no follow-up when his loved one was later cleared of the crime.

I told him that I understood why he was still upset and that it did sound pretty messed up, before tucking my notebook into my back pocket and turning to leave.

“Hey, kid! What was it you wanted to know about?” he asked. “The stabbing?”

For years, he’d waited for the chance to tell off a Globe reporter. And now that he had, and had been heard, he wanted to help me tell the story, and get it right.

https://web.archive.org/web/20200702034536/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/23/opinion/objectivity-black-journalists-coronavirus.html

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4585425&forum_id=2#40611114)

The media now clearly feels like they are no longer just a medium for conveying factual statements to the people, allowing them to come to their own conclusions based upon their own experiences. They now view themselves as the great filter through which people receive information. The Wesley Lowerys (Wesleys Lowery?) are there to ensure that the plebs aren’t inadvertently fed Wrongthink or dangerous ideas.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4585425&forum_id=2#40611193)

Linda

June 23

Times Pick

I so agree with everything Mr. Lowery wrote. It especially infuriates me when the opposite view is presented, without any qualifiying statement, as though it were truth, when often, it isn't. Over the past 3 1/2 years, this has occurred almost daily with Mr. Trump's outrageous boldfaced lies. If you want to call yourself a reporter, then REPORT the facts. Both sides are rarely equal and that would and should be obvious. Just the facts, mam. Just the facts, sir.

Kelly

June 23

Times Pick

Thank you Mr Lowery, the last two paragraphs made my husband cry.

Pat

June 23

Thank you for saying this so clearly. I've been reading the NY Times, the Washington Post, the LA Times, and the New Yorker for 60 or more years, and while the establishment press is my go-to place for news, the problems you point out are totally obvious and have been so for a long time. Thank you for your work and your clear description of the situation. So much hope in my heart reading this article. May you be editor in chief shortly.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4585425&forum_id=2#40611124)

I’m sure but it might not be for the reason you think

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4585425&forum_id=2#40611262)

Linda

June 23

I have been called a "news junkie" for years and I am a socially progressive older white woman. I formed my views by listening to and reading the news from many sources. I truly thought that race relations were getting better, especially after Barak Obama was elected. My family is a multi ethnic, multi racial family. Even so, I was wrong about race relations was getting better. Why? I get my information from the news media and I read a lot but still, I was wrong. I feel like I've had my head in the sand and for the life of me I didn't know how this happened. Today it makes much more sense. If there had been more minorities making decisions on how the news was presented maybe many like me would have had our eyes opened sooner. I feel in a hurry to make up for lost time. I don't have a lot of money but now I give to Stacy Abrams to fight against voter suppression. I give to Jaime Harrison to fight against Lindsey Graham. I give to food banks throughout the country. The news media needs to do a much better job. I heard last night that 95% of polling places have been closed on Kentucky, mostly in black neighborhoods. Why isn't this story headline news? Where's the outrage? If there were more black reporters in charge maybe it would be a bigger story. Suppressing the black vote suppresses democracy. We need to stop obsessing about Trumps tweets and report on real stories that are affecting our friends in black and minority communities. We need to wake up and do better.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4585425&forum_id=2#40611125)

Celia

June 23

Thank you for your thoughtful essay! The debate in my own (and now former) newsroom over the firing of the Times executive editor got so heated that I resigned. I was appalled that the dismissal of one Times editor should have so unsettled some of my white male colleagues, that the racial injustice and shootings of unarmed Black men and women somehow seemed less important or pressing. Journalism must be about bearing witness. It is not about giving equal time to truth and untruth, fairness and unfairness. It does not excuse incitements to violence even when they come from DC's corridors of power.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4585425&forum_id=2#40611127)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4585425&forum_id=2#40614370)