Dan Conover's Xark blog is among the most interesting on the evolution of media, and his latest writing is on the recent debate about shifting from a journalistic model of objectivity to one of transparency.
In the FAQ-style post, he notes that people don't accept the notion of objectivity and that, besides, it hasn't worked at informing or educating all that well. A transparent model might make smaller claims to credibility, but would be on firmer and more authoritative ground, he argues.
In this new model, he suggests individuals or organizations make accessible information about their influences. They might be political or economic or social, and they might even include attitudes or a personal manifesto.
Which does not mean a writer gets to inject opinion, Conover says. Rather, the transparency about influences helps bolster credibility of the writer to let the audience know about that writer's authority.
He also argues for greater transparency in decision-making overall, including transparency about editorial choices for the public to see. While it might require transitional stress to get to the new model, he concludes it yields a superior result.
What do you think?
In the FAQ-style post, he notes that people don't accept the notion of objectivity and that, besides, it hasn't worked at informing or educating all that well. A transparent model might make smaller claims to credibility, but would be on firmer and more authoritative ground, he argues.
In this new model, he suggests individuals or organizations make accessible information about their influences. They might be political or economic or social, and they might even include attitudes or a personal manifesto.
Which does not mean a writer gets to inject opinion, Conover says. Rather, the transparency about influences helps bolster credibility of the writer to let the audience know about that writer's authority.
He also argues for greater transparency in decision-making overall, including transparency about editorial choices for the public to see. While it might require transitional stress to get to the new model, he concludes it yields a superior result.
What do you think?
