Chapter 14

Objectivity in Chapter 14 All the News, requires journalists to stick to observable facts and avoid injecting their opinions into news reports.

Thoroughness requires time to track down and talk with the best sources, find the best documentary evidence, and so on. The goal is to give the audience as much information as possible so they can understand what is happening and make informed decisions based on that information.

Accuracy is a vital factor in journalism. If something is not accurate is has no value. People base plans on the information they are given, so the information must be accurate.

Fairness in the simplest form, means make sure all the bases are covered. Fairness means listening to different view points and incorporating them into journalism. Fairness is about letting people respond when they think you are wrong. Fairness emerges from a state of mind. Sometimes reporters can trample the fairness aspect when they are in a rush to exposed a wrongdoing.

The idea of transparency is to gain and retain people's trust. Journalists must be as open as possible about whatever biases they bring to the job, how they get their information, and how they make decisions on choosing and reporting stories.

In my opinion I think the most important aspect is transparency. I think thoroughness, accuracy, fairness, and objectivity all fall into transparency. They must be accurate, so we are able to see where the information is coming from and if their sources are credible. With objectivity, there shouldn't be any bias, and with transparency you can see if there is. With thoroughness, we can also see where the journalist was collecting his information from and if he actually collected all the information he could. With fairness, you can allow people to respond when you are wrong, and in turn gain their trust. All of these aspects sort of fall into one.