When you go looking for a news story to read or a news program to watch on television do you prefer to read or watch those types of organizations that are 100% impartial and only report the facts and nothing else? Or do you enjoy catching some of those that share a little of their point-of-view on the story while also sharing all sides fairly?
The most recent MOOC I have begun studying is part of a specialization on CourseRA called Report the News! in conjunction with Michigan State University.
The course is titled What Is News?
One of the recent lessons that I have been looking at talks about the difference between Impartiality and Point-Of-View journalism.
Most of us understand that impartiality in journalism is when a reporter writes or covers a story without sharing their own opinion. Reporting the facts and giving all sides their fair share of coverage.
With point-of-view coverage it is a little bit different. It is NOT an opinion piece. What happens is the reporter makes known their position or stance on a particular subject and then reports on it.
For example I am believer in God. I practice Christianity. I can state that openly, but also report on other religions both fairly and accurately.
I also love books and to read. Say a library is being shut down for one reason or another. I could actively pursue that story and make sure that the story is told as to why it this library should stay. I also should make sure though that I give fair reporting on those who are trying to have the library removed. That sort of thing.
One thing that Tom Kent pointed out in a piece that I read was that you must be careful about how you share your point-of-view because we don’t as journalists want to look as if we have given an endorsement to a certain side.
In the lecture series Joe Grimm shared these five principles of POV journalism.
Five Principles of Point-Of-View Journalism – from Joe Grimm
- Declare your point of view
- Be accurate
- Stay fair
- Be accountable
- Credibility builds trust
The best part about this section of the course was that it challenged me to think about the type of journalist that I want to be. As have some of the lectures since this one. More to come on that subject.
Impartiality or Point-of-View? Which do you prefer?
If anyone is interested in learning some of the most valuable information about the journalism craft from a leading journalist with a lot of experience I would highly consider checking this out. The insight and knowledge that Rather gives throughout this video series is something that I would love to hear more of from some other top names in journalism. Especially when it comes to television news.
The issue today is that there is a major decline in unbiased reporting and ethics. We have different entities that express different points of view instead of straight facts. Opinion shows are not news shows. They are points of view based on the host’s opinion of something that a journalist reported on in the news.