Truth & Journalism

"Journalism's first obligation is to the truth," says Bill Kovach and Tom Rosentiel in their book Elements of Journalism. However, even in my short life, I have seen truth being interpreted differently. What does truth even mean? Patty Calhoun, the editor of the alternative weekly paper Westword, says, "you cannot be objective because you're going in with certain biases." I see the world differently than Adolf Hitler would or Saddam Hussein. What I see as fundamental truths, others may not. I believe the underlying problem is how liberally we use the word truth. Truth should not be subjective. Lynn A. Mickelson, a LDS religious leader, said in an address to the world-wide church, "Truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come." Truth should be unchanging. For example, the law of gravity is a truth. No matter how or when you test this truth, the result is the same. What goes up, must come down unless acted on by another force.

Some may use news and truth interchangeably. Even Walter Lippmann did so at one point. However, later he wrote in his book Public Opinion, "News and truth are not the same thing.... The function of news is to signalize an event, or make people aware of it. The function of truth is to bring to light the hidden facts, to set them into relation with each other, and make a picture of reality upon which men can act." We must not forget this distinction. To obtain truth, we must strive to throw out all preconceived notions. We must compensate for our subjectively in our writing. We must explore all points of view. Only then may we obtain the facts and find the truth that lies beneath it.