Fuck Objectivity
I have a confession. I’ve never been objective. From the earliest days of my journalistic work I’ve always been clear that it was impossible. My worldview, as flawed and raw as it was back then, did one thing right. It valued kindness, justice and truth over everything else. And I let those approaches guide me and my work. If people are being oppressed, we don’t need to provide equity to the oppressor. We don’t need their unbiased side of the story. We don’t even need to provide them a platform. Perpetrators should definitely be identified and revealed to the world for the ill deeds they do. But very few of them need to be treated on par with the survivors of those deeds. This mindset has influenced my forays into visual and journalistic ethics. Not the kind that covers your ass but the kind that ensures you aren’t using anyone to get what you need. That you aren’t exploiting with a camera or a notepad. So many of the most strident supporters of this idea of journalistic objectivity are those worst offenders when it comes to working in an extractive or self serving way. I take this very seriously, to the point that I have consciously avoided practicing mainstream journalism that seeks to serve the old institutions. It’s the main reason I’m here in New York City enrolled in an Engagement Journalism program.
All biases need to be examined, especially the ones that are closest to us. In our first Community Engagement class in 3 weeks, our professor Carrie asked us to check our own biases, good or bad. So here goes.
- All people matter, every single individual
- Do not exploit or use human beings, do no harm
- Feel the weight of responsibility before writing a single word or taking a single photo or video.
- Center love/kindness and care for all people but especially those around you
- Capitalism is a flawed reality
- Colonialism is responsible for many of the majority world’s struggles
- Corporate entities are not to be trusted
- Natural medicine over allopathy
- Zero tolerance for sexual or physical abuse or harassment
- Feel more comfort with people of color
- Nothing is a monolith, almost nothing is a binary, every individual is unique (have to keep reminding myself)
- Low tolerance for journalists especially photojournalists who exploit others for personal gain
- Against dominant caste Indians who seek to oppress others or consolidate their institutions
- Travellers over tourists, travel over tourism
- Bias for and against certain foods
- Leisure time and activities
- Family vacations
- Commercial films
- Ritualistic religion
This list could go on for a much too long time but it shows how a little reflection can start to teach you so much about yourself. And if there’s one thing we can examine before judging the world, it’s ourselves. Not with judgement but with curiosity. As Carrie said in class, “Is there anything about objectivity we want to keep?” All I can think about is the ability to be a curious observer but even this should have its limits.
Reimagine Journalism Pedagogy
We’ve been pushed to do a LOT of assignments in our various journalism “craft” classes many at odds with the philosophies that we are imbibing and discussing in our engagement journalism class. Our cohort takes steps every single day towards closer friendships and a sense of community. It feels like we have each others backs. In our reporting class this week many spoke up about this conflict in approaches between our subjects.
I have a question for our engagement professors Jeff Jarvis and Carrie Brown. If we are to change journalism shouldn’t the way journalism is taught also change? Can we be taught and have to practice the same old traditional methods in all our classes, barring one, and still emerge miraculously iconoclastic, ready to change our field forever? I know change is often incremental but sometimes the increments seem much too tiny for me.
Community Update
In the last few weeks I have attended a couple of events organized by the Bronx Music Heritage Center, the community with whom I hope to collaborate. The first was a workshop for military veterans using art as a therapeutic tool, and the second was a walk across High Bridge with Little Amal, the giant puppet of a Syrian child that has taken New York by storm the last few weeks. Pleneros, an ensemble playing traditional music from Puerto Rico, welcomed Amal with a lot of fanfare and even had “her” dancing to their grooves and songs.
More importantly I was able to sit down with the founder of the BMHC and conduct a detailed interview about their information needs and gaps. I feel this interview was like the block taken out of the prism to allow the full spectrum to shine through. I am now much more clear about how this organization works and where I could possibly fit in to serve them. I can’t wait to work more closely with them.
Learning from others
As some of you dear readers may know by now I like sharing quotes from things I’ve read or heard to remind myself that there is a wealth of knowledge and wisdom all around me.
“We all come from somewhere, a perspective, an ideological lens that’s influenced by power and oppression.” — Lewis Raven Wallace
If we really want to change journalism these points by Heather Bryant should be on your list of things to ponder. Also check out one of her projects, Tiny News Collective.
//What would journalism be if we actually changed all the things we say we want to change?
What if we stopped valuing the men who abuse their power, both in and outside of our organizations, more than all the people they harm?
What if we hired fairly and paid and promoted equally? If we actually pursued diversity in newsrooms not just in conference panel titles?
What if we reported for all audiences not just the ones that make good consumers for the advertisers or paid subscribers and donors?
What if we stopped acting like two is the only number of always equally valid sides and instead we sought reported the complicated truth in all it’s messy and nuanced reality?
What if we stopped using the language of war to report on our institutions and the political process? (visual journalists, please note)
What if we carefully considered the harm that we can unintentionally inflict on our sources and communities?
What would we be if we evolved beyond commercial-driven competition and into service-driven collaboration?
What could journalism be, on the other side of our worst tendencies? What are we afraid of giving up to get there? Who is afraid of giving up their power?
We could be different, if we could be brave enough, if we could be wise enough. We could be better.
The greatest demand for being good is always placed on the shoulders of those with the least amount of power. It is our society’s most effective way of ensuring those with power not only keep it but accumulate more while holding those without responsible for their lack. This isn’t news to anyone who moves through a world that won’t let them forget their class or race or gender or any other descriptor or identity that results in being held to a standard whose burden only benefits more powerful people. Journalism plays a required role in enabling or exposing these structures.
The future of journalism is and always will be people. The thing that will save journalism is people. The ones in our newsrooms and the ones outside our newsrooms. People from all kind of backgrounds and perspectives. People who seek to use their voice to empower others. People who work together. Our future depends on how we treat them, how we include or exclude them, how we represent and serve them and how we invest in them.
What we say and what we do has to align.//