Should Reporters Share Their Opinion in News Coverage?

[by Bruce Hennes]

Used to be, reporters reported facts, without inserting opinion, priding themselves on objectivity and not revealing their personal stance regarding the object of their reporting.  Nowadays, many reporters purposefully insert their opinion into otherwise straightforward news stories, blurring, if not obliterating the line between objective news reporting and outright editorializing.  At best, readers and viewers come away with confused messages. At worst, they’re being subtly exposed to agendas and points of view that used to be reserved for the editorial page.  Some argue that true objectivity is impossible to achieve and attempts to do so might be better expended on more important matters. Others see journalistic integrity on a slippery slope that should raise loud alarms.   As the lines of traditional journalism shift, and when editors encourage reporters to insert their opinion into news stories, we have two strong suggestions:  1. It’s never out of style to hold reporter’s feet to the fire and demand that stories be fair;  2. Don’t rely on the media to speak to the public (i.e. make certain you’re using social media and other methods to get your side of the story out to your key stakeholders).  Here, a short case study on this issue from the New York Times.

Should reporters insert their personal opinions into news stories? We don’t think so, but it’s now a fact of life.