Absurdity: Reporters Should Be Disqualified Because They Care

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Leslie Stahl on Lou Dobbs during the latest episode of CBS 60 Minutes:

Dobbs scoffs at suggestions that his advocacy tarnishes his credentials as a journalist.

Dobbs’ pre-recorded statement that prompted Stall’s declaration:

The idea that a reporter should be disqualified because he or she actually cares, actually isn’t neutral about the wellbeing of a country and its people…that’s absurd.

I don’t understand Lou Dobbs’ politics, but his statement is on the mark. For news people to believe they’re above the common man, to assume that a “fair-and-balanced” ideology is somehow immune from the flaws and impartiality of human nature and perspective, is a preposterous conviction.

Listen up, all you “journalists”: Credential and credibility come from trust, transparency and discourse, not some artificial oath to a robotic selection and interpretation of facts – otherwise known as objective, fair or balanced. Dobbs’ implicit concession that news is human is critical; that acknowledgment is the first step toward truth, if there even is “one.”

Published by Max Kalehoff

Father, sailor and marketing executive.

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