Reassessing Opinion for Journalists

For years journalists have wrestled with the idea of not voicing their own opinion in their stories.

Technically, journalists are giving up their freedom of speech.

If journalists are involved in the stories that they are writing about why are they not allowed to voice their opinion in what they are talking about?

The example given was Occupy Wall Street and all the writers involved must not include their lives in the stories.

Also, if a journalist “likes” a politician on Facebook, must they like all other candidates?

Is it not time to admit that we live in an age where it’s appropriate for journalists to also have an opinion? We as people also need to recognize that these people are not drones who report the news on a daily basis.

Journalists have been fired for voicing opinions and one example is CNN Senior Editor and Middle East expertOctavia Nasr was fired for having posted a sympathetic remark about an alleged terrorist on her Twitter account. Regardless of the fact that this man was a terrorist, why was this grounds for firing Nasr?

If we are to keep assuming that journalists do not have an opinion, does this not prevent our culture from moving forward intellectually?

http://gigaom.com/2011/10/26/its-time-to-admit-that-journalists-are-human-beings/

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