Objectify-ing Verification in Journalism

It is engrained in every student not only of journalism but also other academic disciplines never to plagiarize someone else’s work.  However, this week’s lesson was enlightening as it focused upon the importance of verification and how it ties into objectivity, both of which are at the heart of journalism.  Many people confuse objectivity with its traditional meaning which connotes a complete absence of bias in one’s reporting and writing.  Objectivity, as Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel aptly point out in “Journalism of Verification” in their book The Elements of Journalism, is better thought of as a “unity of method rather than aim.” Perhaps people are striving towards the impossible neutral voice and not providing a generally uniform way in which one gathers, interprets, and writes about events or issues.  While journalists certainly have diverse ideologies through which they view the world, they all can certainly adopt some common practices into their reporting.  In particular, they should never add information; they should disclose everything so that so that they never deceive; they should be transparent and be clear about what they know and do not know; they should rely on original reporting; and they should exercise humility by being honest and open-minded.  David Protess and his students at Northwestern University are prime examples of being open-minded and diligent.  Through their meticulous hard work and dedication, they were able to find and prove six prisoners wrongfully convicted of murder.  At the same time, it is important to note an interesting exception to these principles of verification: national security.  In fact, there was recently a high profile conviction regarding someone who told a journalist the name of C.I.A counterterrorism officer who was a leader in the team that located and captured Abu Zubaydah: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/us/former-cia-officer-pleads-guilty-in-leak-case.html?ref=us.  As a result, although anonymous sources are often frowned upon for being potentially misleading or not having enough direct knowledge about the matter being discussed, sometimes they are necessary to ensure safety.  Despite these exceptions, incorporating verification more into the commonly lauded term objectivity could very likely improve the depth and quality of journalistic writing.