ABSTRACT
The inability of mainstream journalists to report objectively in an era when objectivity itself is in question is of a piece with the decline of traditional media, which in turn is part of the larger picture of political realignment. In practice, if news is a social construct it is impossible for objectivity to exist in any meaningful form, as the rules journalists apply to distance their work from personal opinion are themselves socially constructed. Reliance on balance as a means to achieve objectivity is a product of choices made by journalists and, as such, is fraught with subjectivity. Transparency is also a value choice, and there is no obvious reason to believe it is any more or less suited to serve as the guiding principle for journalism. The cost of transparency is using the partisan or philosophical bent of the writer as a point of departure for deciding if his or her claims make sense.
