There's an interesting piece in Slate that raises interesting questions about the future of journalism, and observes that objectivity "is less an ideal than a conceit."
Longtime readers of this blog won't be surprised to hear that I agree with Slate's Michael Kinsley on this. I've been talking about post-objectivity ethics and urging folks to read the work of Dan Gillmor for quite some time.
Kinsley goes on to say that "No one seriously doubts anymore that the Internet will fundamentally change the news business. The uncertainty is whether it will only change the method of delivering the product, or whether it will change the nature of the product as well."
And although I agree that there is uncertainty among many of the journalists I know, I would argue that this uncertainty is misplaced. To me it seems obvious that online media -- particularly blogs -- will change the way journalism is practiced. Certainly objectivity is growing less important. But I'm far more interested in the other changes that new media brings.
Hang on to your objective style as long as you like. It won't bother me. But please -- please -- accept that you must adopt the core practices of blogging-- external, agnostic links; feedback functions and conversation; and multimedia storytelling -- if you want to continue to keep working in this industry.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, conversational media, business media
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