Fit to Barf

In this rotten business of freelance magazine writing there’s almost no assignment in which the issue of objectivity fails to rise up like the miasma it is. Any writer who puts his mind on the matter knows that no human being is objective, which is the reason writers sit down at the page in the first place. The writer, an inherently subjective force, will not be divorced from the writing, though God knows there are quacks in the news business who are trying. Computers might achieve this end. Also, certain types of house cats are objective: They know exactly what the truth is, and it is them.

So whence the delusional obsession with “objectivity” in the journalism schools and the pages of the Gray Lady et al.? The pretense and veneer of objectivity is the goal. This renders idiot mistakes and outright falsities so much easier to sell to the public. After all, the marketer of the junk is presented as the all-seeing eye, an authority no less unerring than the babblers at Delphi, no less the product of superstition. Whether we like it or not — whether we recognize it or not — the culture credits “objectivity” in the journalistic establishment as the product of powers greater than known. The news-clown jabbers on screen, says this or that is so...and, lo, it is so. More likely it’s “All the News That’s Shit to Print.”

Let’s not forget that this sleight of hand gets innocent people killed and maimed — see The New York Times’ “objective coverage” of the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. If there’s a lesson here, it’s that whenever you hear of governments and organizations fomenting, preparing for or making war, be prejudiced on the side of peace; this is un-American, I know. Whenever you hear a government spokesman speak, your objective assessment should be that he’s lying — this is only logical consistency. Be prejudiced, in fact, against persons associated with organizations large or small, be they members of government, private industry or a block association. Be biased in favor of the lone man against whatever or whoever colludes against men acting alone. For my part, I’ll take the word of the skankiest street hustler over the police commissioner, the buzzing of the gnat over the scream of the 10 gorillas...
~ from Intellectual Prostitution and the Myth of Objectivity by Christopher Ketcham ~

It should surprise no one that I would feature a quote of this nature since I have written many a post before about my belief in the myth of objectivity! I also agree with his point that there is great value in playing the skeptic.

For those of us who grew up in my generation, we were taught to believe whatever the talking heads said because...well...why would they lie? And so, being good little boys and girls, we tended to believe the crap they spoon-fed us. We might still believe today, if not for the wondrous gift of one Richard Milhous Nixon.

Nixon -- in his own maniacal and ego-driven way -- blew the lid off of the belief that our leaders had the interests of the vast majority at heart. His presidency keenly exposed the rampant hypocrisy of power that we had been shielded from. For the first time, many of us had the veil of acquiescence ripped from our eyes.

So, I dedicate this snippet to Nixon and his many minions.