Objectivity

With the election of Donald Trump as our president, I have heard some people wrongly say that the truth matters now more than ever. Truth and objectivity always matter, even if it goes against the side of the political spectrum you tend to fall on. I define objectivity in this column as equal treatment of different ideas. I do not wish to give examples of times that CNN or Fox News has had something wrong, rather, I want to discuss the effect of an outlet presenting itself as objective, when it is not.

Not all news or information put out by the government or media is inherently false if it drives a narrative, but if the purpose of newscasts or press conferences is to drive a certain narrative, then all too quickly the outlet becomes completely one-sided and departed from truth.

At this point, the institution goes bankrupt of morality.

In a previous column I argued that [one form of] censorship occurs when a class of ideas opposing an institution are blocked from fair exposure. This goes hand-in-hand with objectivity, as it is one of the many ways outlets use to push a certain narrative.

Also from the censorship column, I defended the right of private institutions to block speakers for any reason, but the result of that action should be the loss of any claim of higher education of the institution. Colleges are notorious for being Left-leaning, but students need exposure from more ideologies, not less, to truly get an education.

Blocking speakers like Ben Shapiro, Milo Yiannopolous, or recently, Ann Coulter, only reduces the ability of people to process ideas they disagree with, while demonizing the people who are blocked. Often these speakers and ideas are blocked because they might offend people with their ideas, and the speakers are demonized because someone being offended is wrongly equated with someone being harmed. Blocking speakers also takes away from the education of those who wish to go, listen, and learn. Failing to be objective prevents discussion of different ideas to occur.

The solution is simple. Allow free flow of all ideas and let people choose from there which ideas are good and which ideas are bad. Narratives can be helpful for the simple, but too often they stray from the truth. Pursuing facts and abstaining from presenting discussion and conjecture as part of the facts will avoid demonizing people who are innocent, while allowing the truth to remain present.