Dan Gillmor has a post on his new site, Dan Gillmor on Grassroots Journalism, Etc., titled “The End of Objectivityâ€â€“ it’s the beginnings of an essay on the changing nature of journalism in the face of the growth of the ‘net. A very provocative topic in this time of media concentration, a shift in the political viewpoint of the mainstream media, and the explosive growth of blogging.
Dan has attracted a lot of trackbacks and comments on this post – it really is worth reading. I’ve also left a comment there but it’s in a very long list – it’s reproduced below:
I’ve been wondering about this for a while now, and I am beginning to wonder whether ostensible objectivity is a quaint relic of a different time. This is not an original idea (indeed Jon Garfunkel alludes to this in a comment above), but perhaps the point is that now, with so many more voices, competition truly makes objectivity (and the proxies you mention) moot.
I am beginning to believe that as long as there are voices that allow me to inform myself with the range of ideas I need to function in society, I can decide for myself just how ‘objective’ I need those voices to be. And that is the true power of the network.
I know Fox is not objective, and I know the Village Voice isn’t either. That’s OK. I’m a grownup now, and I can consume their information and take what I need from it. In fact, their lack of objectivity may help me to view the world rationally – if Fox is beating a particular drum, knowing their bias I can draw conclusions about that particular drum.
There will always be a market for what the NYT brings to the table, ditto Fox, (hopefully) ditto the Village Voice. There will always be a market for accuracy and for a point of view. The internet has exploded the monolithic power of a few voices and will ensure that where there were few, there will now be many. And through the bump and grind and din of that marketplace, I will be informed. That to my mind is the power of grassroots journalism ….