Does Objectivity In Journalism Matter?

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President Obama in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House. / White House

It's fair to say that we haven't ever seen a presidential race quite like this one. While Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are under plenty of scrutiny, so is the media. A question that's come up in coverage of the Trump-Clinton face-off is whether traditional standards of journalism apply.  Are reporters expected to show objectivity? We posed that question to four longtime journalists: Emory University professor Hank Klibanoff, Kennesaw State University professor Carolyn Carlson, Creative Loafing reporter Rodney Carmichael, and Decaturish.com editor Dan Whisenhunt.

@OSTtalk All NPR all the time. It's as balanced and as in-depth as you can get.— Michael Ruffin (@ruffinmichael) October 18, 2016

@OSTtalk News consumers are confused by what are REAL vs bogus articles and credible vs unreliable sources. Big problem!— Kathy Lohr (@KathyALohr) October 18, 2016

@OSTtalk @CelesteHeadlee I hate the way lay ppl speak so confidently abt what professional journos do w/o thinking abt the hard work they do— PhiloMath (@CHEEJOEKAY) October 18, 2016

@OSTtalk Part of problem is the general media doesn't always publicize things ie Dakota Pipeline leaving random "news" sites to gain credit— Justin Vining (@hydrolojust) October 18, 2016

@OSTtalk Not much analysis or investigative reporting - mostly parroting talking points from both sides.— Bryan McGovern (@bmcgover) October 18, 2016

@OSTtalk I've spent way more time on @snopes this election cycle than ever before! #factcheck— Amanda Respess (@ajrespess) October 18, 2016

A lot of journalists are bloggers, but very few bloggers are journalists, right? Yes, consumers need to vet their news sources! @OSTtalk— Amanda Respess (@ajrespess) October 18, 2016

@OSTtalk citizen journalists and bloggers are very unreliable and what they report shouod be taken with a grain of salt— PhiloMath (@CHEEJOEKAY) October 18, 2016

Really great for @OSTtalk to bring up @CokieRoberts in this #journalism convo. Love her! But she's an important example of "labeling" well.— Amanda Respess (@ajrespess) October 18, 2016

@OSTtalk the roles are NOT clear! Just look at the confusion behind newspaper EDITORIAL board endorsements— Robert Jimison (@robertjimi) October 18, 2016

@OSTtalk I agree. Commentary and reporting need to be clearly labeled because the line between the two has become blurred on some news sites— PhiloMath (@CHEEJOEKAY) October 18, 2016

@CelesteHeadlee @OSTtalk are these guys trying to say you can't be fair and accurate if you're objective?— Roy Lee (@roylee1) October 18, 2016

@OSTtalk I stand by this. There is and always will be various biases in media. Candidates have to get past them. https://t.co/nLyIwoqmpn— Sam Burnham (@C_SamBurnham) October 18, 2016

@OSTtalk Why do we think there should be such a thing? I want truthful journalism, not “balance” for the sake of it.— Robbie Medwed (@rjmedwed) October 18, 2016

@OSTtalk the media hasn't handled Trump well, the helped fuel his rise by showcasing his horrible comments. He should have been ignored.— Mark Vanderhoek (@MarkVanderhoek) October 18, 2016

@OSTtalk if a referee never calls fouls they see, they're not very good referees. Esp if one team is whining there shouldn't be refs.— Rabbit (@caudelac) October 18, 2016