Objectivity: Only in the US?

Introduction

Objectivity is one of the main focal points of the journalism curriculum at the Missouri School of Journalism.  Students are constantly reminded of how important it is to remain unbiased and impartial when practicing any form of journalism. The question of whether American journalists are actually objective is debatable, but in traveling through Europe, I found that journalism is much more subjective than it is in the United States. Two of the cities I visited – Prague and Rome – displayed a great amount of influence on journalism and the media. In Prague, there was a great amount of political influence, and in Rome, there was a definite amount of religious influence. Through this post, I will illustrate my findings.

PRAGUE, Czech Republic

 

Before 1989, much of Eastern Europe was under Communist rule. This includes what is now known as the Czech Republic. During this time, media outlets were used to communicate Communist ideals to the public, mainly through propaganda. Journalists were expected to be activists for communism, and objectivity was never a component of journalistic ideals. After the Czech Republic began operating under a democratic model, all the previous, pro-Communist journalists had to leave.

The Czech Republic has experienced a powerful shift in the voice of its media. Now, all of the journalists in the country are fairly new or from other countries due to the political change. Nonetheless, the country’s media still experiences political influences.

During our first visit in Prague, we spoke with media studies professor Jan Jirák about the current state of Czech media; he mentioned that media outlets are still having a hard time adjusting to an objective voice, and the media portrayed is still greatly affected my political forces. He spoke specifically on broadcast media. While much of the controlling mechanisms have been relaxed over the years, political forces are still placing supporters in key positions in various media outlets. Broadcasts are still being censored in accordance to the preferences of those with political power, but with much less control that there was in the Communist era. Jirák mentioned that he has seen progression over the years, but there is still much change that is needed if the Czech media is ever to be seen as objective. 

ROME, Italy

Before arriving in Rome, I did not fully anticipate the amount of Catholic presence in the life and culture of the city. Hundreds of basilicas can be seen across the city’s skyline, and Vatican City lies on Rome’s doorstep. As a student in the School of Journalism, I learned that when reporting, you should simply report the facts and you are not to allow any biases to ring through (such as political or religious views).  In Rome, it is a different story all together.

Throughout our time in Rome, we met with many reporters from various types of media outlets, including Vatican Radio and RomeReports TV News Agency. Both representatives mentioned that the Catholic Church was always present in the minds of their fellow reporters, and their responsibility and allegiance always resided with the Church. When asked on how they reported on negative stories regarding the Church or Catholicism itself, they would simply reply that their job was to uphold the people and ideals of the Church.

This idea of loyalty to the Church was a hard one for me to grasp. After being taught so vigorously on the importance of objectivity, it was hard to view these outlets as nothing more than public relations outlets for the Vatican and the Catholic Church. If these particular outlets portrayed themselves as advocates for the Church, it may make a little more sense, but that did not seem to be the case. While one could assume that people are smart enough to know that these media outlets have a strong connection to the Church, it still does not seem fair that these media outlets do not report on all sides of a story regarding the Church or the Vatican itself. 

Conclusion 

After taking this trip, I have realized how extremely lucky I am to live in the United States. I think it would be difficult to live in a country that didn’t provide a media with multiple views and voices that allow the viewer to develop their own opinion. American journalists serve as watchdogs, and provide the people with the most complete story possible. While complete objective journalism is impossible to achieve, I am proud that American journalists strive to be as objective and unbiased as possible.

Megan Higgins 
University of Missouri-Columbia