Keeping Your Distance: Objectivity

objectivity n : judgment based on observation and uninfluenced by emotions or personal prejudices

subjectivity n : judgment based on individual personal impressions and feelings and opinions rather than external facts

    One of the principles of journalism is to present an impartial and objective story. That means, leaving one's personal feelings out of the story. You are reporting, not responding. It may be impossible to be completely unbiased, but all journalists try to keep their opinions to themselves and focus on the facts, leaving readers to arrive at their own conclusions.
 

Below are several statements from student first drafts of the Frederick Conrad story.
As you read them over, ask yourself the following questions:

1) Are the statements below objective statements? Why/why not?
2) Do they contain opinion or are they based on fact? What is the opinion and what is the fact?
3) How could you alter these sentences to make them objective? What specific words are subjective?
 
 

Go ahead and change the sentences to make them objective. Remove all words that contain opinion. In some cases, you may need to completely rewrite the statements.
 
 

1) "Conrad is believed to be guilty, due to the fact that he shot too soon, which he shouldn't have done."

2) "Trigger-happy Conrad has been in trouble before, also with a black Bushwick youth."

3) "Yet one more case of a white cop killing a black child. We must do something about the police force taking out our children!"

4) "Many feel that racial discrimination motivated Conrad to shoot Chris Carns."

5) "Will justice do Chris Carns right? Only time will tell."

6) "An innocent young boy is left dead in what can only be described as a case of mistaken identity."

7) "Many are left to wonder if this incident was racially motivated since Conrad was white and the victim black."

8) "Since Conrad was such a skilled cop, he must have good aim and firing skills, so why shoot at the head to kill?"

9) "Conrad gave the utterly dumb answer of 'I don't know.' "

10) "The mother of Chris Carns replied, 'To me, Conrad is the enemy.' "