Students of UMT, Lahore presented a topic Objectivity to Mr.M.Ahmad Sheikh in News Techniques

2. PRESENTATION ON “OBJECTIVITY
 Submitted by:
 M.USAMA MANSOOR 110603010
M.ABDULLAH 110603004
SYED ALI HASAN 110603002
SUBMITTED TO : MR. AHMAD SHEIKH
 COURSE: NEWS TECHNIQUES

4. GROUP MEMBERS
 M.USAMA MANSOOR 110603010
 M.ABDULLAH CHAUDHRY 110603004
 SYED ALI HASAN 110603002

5. OBJECTIVITY

6.  "Last year, handguns killed 48 people in Japan, 8
in Great Britain, 34 in Switzerland, 52 in
Canada, 58 in Israel, 21 in Sweden, 42 in West
Germany and 10,728 in the United States." (A
face book post)

7.  You hear it all the time – reporters should be objective and fair.
 Some news organizations even use these terms in their slogans,
claimed that they are more “fair and balanced” than their
competitors.
 But what is objectivity, and what does it mean to be fair and
balanced?

8. WHAT IS OBJECTIVITY AND WHAT
DOES IT MEAN?

9. OBJECTIVITY

10.  Objectivity means that when covering hard
news, reporters don’t convey their own
feelings, biases or prejudices in their stories.
 They accomplish this by writing stories using a
language that is neutral and avoids characterizing
people or institutions in ways good or bad.

11.  But for the beginning reporter accustomed to writing
personal essays or journal entries, it can be hard to keep
one’s own feelings out of one’s stories because all of us
are from different backgrounds, cultural and religious.
 Reporters sometimes have no choice left to use
adjectives. Adjectives can easily convey one’s feelings
about a subject, subconsciously or otherwise.

12. EXAMPLE
 The intrepid (fearless) protesters demonstrated
against the unjust government policies.
 Just by using the words “intrepid” and “unjust” the
writer has quickly conveyed his feelings on the story
– the protesters are brave and just in their cause, the
government policies are wrong.
 For this reason, hard-news reporters usually
avoid using adjectives in their stories.

13. FAIRNESS

14.  Fairness means that reporters covering a story must
remember there are usually two sides – and often
more.
 To most issues, and that those differing viewpoints
should be given roughly equal space in any news
story.

15.  Let’s say the local school board is holding a
public forum examining whether to ban certain
books from the school libraries.
 Many people from the community are in
attendance, and there are citizens representing
both sides of the issue.

16.  The reporter covering that event may have
strong feelings about the subject.
 But regardless of his feelings, he should
interview both those citizens who support the
ban, and those who oppose it.
 And when he writes his story, he should
convey both arguments in a neutral language,
giving both sides roughly equal space in his
story.

17. A REPORTER’S CONDUCT

18.  Objectivity and fairness apply not only to how a
reporter writes about an issue, but also to how he
conducts himself in public.
 That means a reporter must not only be objective
and fair but also convey an image of being
objective and fair.

19.  Let’s go back to that school board forum. The
reporter may do his level best to interview
people from both sides of the argument, but
if, in the middle of the meeting, he stands up
and starts spouting his own opinions on the
book ban then his credibility is shattered.
 No one will believe he can be fair and objective
once they know where he stands on the issue. So
keep your opinions to yourself. Don’t
editorialize.

20. A CODE OF CONDUCT FOR REPORTERS.

21.  Always clearly identify yourself as a reporter
whenever you're interviewing someone. Never try
to deceive or mislead anyone.
 Always make it clear to people you're interviewing
that you're writing an article that could be
published.
 Always be polite and courteous with people you're
interviewing, even if they are not.

22.  Never get into verbal or physical confrontations with
people you're interviewing. If someone you're
interviewing becomes agitated or threatening, leave
immediately.
 Never state your opinions or inject yourself into any
event you cover, such as protests, rallies or public
comment forums. As a reporter you're there as a
professional observer, not a participant.
 If someone tries to offer you a bribe or incentive in
exchange for writing a favorable article about them,
refuse. Let your editor know what has happened.

23. A FEW CAVEATS (CAUTIONS)

24.  There are a few caveats to remember when
considering objectivity and fairness.
 First, such rules apply to reporters covering so-
called hard news, or straight news stories, for the
main news section of the newspaper or website.
Obviously they don’t apply to the political
columnist writing for the op-ed page, or to the
movie critic working for the arts section, both of
whom make a living giving their opinions on a
daily basis.

25.  Second, remember that ultimately, reporters are in
search of the truth.
 And while objectivity and fairness are important, a
reporter shouldn’t let them get in the way of finding
the truth.

26.  Here’s an extreme example: Let’s say you’re a
reporter covering war conflict zone in Afghanistan
following the Allied forces attack to librates their
allies or capture high sensitive area.
 You enter one such hideout and witness hundreds
of , emaciated (thin) people and piles of dead
bodies everywhere.

27.  Do you, in an effort to be objective, interview an
American soldier to talk about how horrific this
is, and then interview a opponent commander to
get the other side of the story? Of course not.
 Clearly, this is a place where evil acts have been
committed, and it’s your job as a reporter to
convey that truth.

28.  In other words, use objectivity and fairness as
tools to find the truth. That’s your goal as a
reporter.

29. STAGES OF OBJECTIVITY
 There are four Stages of Objectivity
 Negative capacity
 Modesty
 The ability to process data
 To betray friends

30. NEGATIVE CAPACITY

31.  The ability to suspend judgment while you're
looking at the facts.
 Sometimes when we look at a set of facts, we like to
choose the facts that make us feel good because it
confirms our worldview.
 But if you're going to be objective-and this is for
journalists or anybody else-surely the first stage is
the ability to look at all the facts, whether they make
you feel good or not.

32. MODESTY

33.  And here I think one of the great models of
journalism is someone we just saw at a Senate
confirmation hearing-Chief Justice John Roberts.
 He was asked by the Senators to emote.
 Senator Dianne Feinstein, for instance, asked him
how he would react as a father to a certain case.
 It was as if she and other Senators wanted him to
weep on camera.

34.  They wanted him to do the sentimental thing, in order
to make them feel that he was one of them.
 But he absolutely refused, because his ethos as a
lawyer and as a judge is not about self-exposure. It's
about self-control.
 It's about playing a role in society-a socially useful
role. Roberts kept explaining that judges wear black
robes because it's not about them; it's not about
narcissism. It's about doing a job for society.

35.  Judges have to suppress some of themselves in order
to read the law fairly and not prejudge cases.
 The same thing has to happen for journalists. We live
in an age of self-exposure.
 But journalists have to suppress their egos so that
they can see the whole truth, whether they like it or
not.

36. THE ABILITY TO PROCESS DATA

37.  To take all the facts that you've accumulated and
honestly process them into a pattern.
 This is a mysterious activity called judgment.
 How do you take all the facts that are in front of
you and fit them into one pattern? If you pick up a
cup of coffee, one part of your brain senses how
heavy it is.

38.  Another part of your brain senses how hot it is.
 Another part of your brain senses the shape of
the cup.
 Another part of your brain knows that you're
shaking, which creates ripples across the surface
of the coffee.

39.  All these parts are disconnected and we have no idea
how the human brain processes that information.
 But some people are really good at connecting the
dots and seeing the patterns and other people are not.
 And surely that's the third stage of objectivity-the
ability to take all the data, not just the data you
like, and form it into a generalizable whole.

40. TO BETRAY FRIENDS

41.  Loyalty to the truth
 Loyalty to your team

42.  In government, loyalty to your team is sometimes more important
than loyalty to the truth.
 If you're a U.S. Senator, you can't tell the truth all the time.
 If you work for an administration, you can't tell the truth all the
time, because government is a team sport.

43.  The only way you can get something done is
collectively-as a group.
 It takes a majority to pass a piece of legislation. It
takes an administration working together to
promulgate a policy.
 And that's fine.

44.  Politicians betray the truth all the time in favor of
loyalty to a higher good for them.
 But for journalists and for most citizens, loyalty to
the truth should supplant loyalty to the team.

45. A JOURNALIST EXAMPLE
 when I came to the New York Times, there was a
guy at the Times named Paul Krugman writing
against President Bush twice a week. I had to
decide whether I wanted to be the anti-Krugman
and write pro-Bush columns every week. It would
have been good for the team. But I decided it
wouldn't be good for the truth. So I decided not to
do that.