Is Objectivity Still Worth Pursuing?

Objectivity hasn’t always been a cornerstone of journalism. American publishers first turned to objectivity in the early twentieth century, in response to the freewheeling “yellow journalism” common at the time. Readers embraced it, grateful for a withdrawal from sensationalism and opinionated coverage.

American journalist Walter Lippmann, one of the early champions of objectivity, saw the dangers posed by propaganda masquerading as news and argued in 1920 that the “sensible procedure in matters affecting the liberty of opinion would be to ensure as impartial an investigation of the facts as is humanly possible.”