Dear editors of traditional news outlets:
I'm a Professor of Communication and Head of Journalism at the University of Washington. I write as a supporter, not a critic.
For almost 100 years, "mainstream journalism" in America has strived for a practice of objectivity. That is, journalists at newspapers like the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times; the TV networks of ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN; and the newsmagazines of Time and Newsweek have sought to publicly convey their best assessments of reality, regardless of a reporter’s own values and political leanings. Opinions are left to sources, not reporters.
It’s not the chosen model of today's generation of bloggers, yet it's still a noble approach, one that has produced important news coverage. But a journalism of objectivity now faces a crisis -- and as a result, so does the nation.
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