Blatchford: 'Objectivity is journalism's false god'

Print

By Marc Capancioni
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Objectivity and journalism may not be the best mix, says Globe and Mail columnist Christie Blatchford.
 
Whether covering a murder trial, war zone, or anything else, sometimes the best thing a journalist can do is put objectivity aside and just tell it like it is, she said.
 
Blatchford made these comments while speaking to about 150 people - including 35 journalism students - at The University of Western Ontario on Nov. 27.
 
“I never bought into the objectivity thing, even as a young reporter. I believe in accuracy and fairness, instead. Those are more important and always have been. Objectivity is journalism's false god."
 
Blatchford then gave examples of when objective, run-of-the-mill reporting just doesn't work in her opinion.
 
Eight years ago, while covering the trial of a man accused of rape and murder, the accused offered an explanation - other than rape - as to why his DNA was found inside the victim's body.
 
While many of her colleagues wrote serious, play-be-play accounts of the explanation, Blatchford took a different approach.
 
“I wrote a mocking column," she said, adding that her writing showed how ridiculous the man's explanation was.
 
This style of writing - sometimes sarcastic and often controversial - is what Blatchford is famous for.
 
During her speech, titled “From front line to front page," Blatchford also spoke of her time spent embedded with Canadian troops in Afghanistan in 2006.
 
Blatchford said that, here too, she sometimes put objectivity aside. Describing the time she saw a Canadian soldier shot in the throat, and the trail of blood he left behind as he was carried away, Blatchford said: “I saw those things and I am responsible for them. My responsibility" is to write about them as a human being - not objectively.
 
Blatchford wrote a book, Fifteen Days: Stories of Bravery, Friendship, Life and Death from Inside the New Canadian Army, about her experiences in Afghanistan. After the speech, she signed copies of the book, which was released in October.
 
Kelly Foss, a third-year media, information and technoculture student, was in attendance and enjoyed Blatchford's speech.
 
“It was a compelling argument," she said. Foss also said that telling it like it is can be a good thing, but there is always a “danger of going too far."
 
And going too far is something Blatchford has certainly been accused of during her 25-year career - especially as a court reporter.
 
“In Canada, you're innocent until proven guilty. You wouldn't know it from reading Christie Blatchford's columns," writes Mike Drach in the 2002 Ryerson Review of Journalism, referring to her often sarcastic writing that can be anything but impartial.
 
Impartial or not, Blatchford is one of the most-read columnists in the country.
 
Blatchford's speech was part of the Clissold lecture series, presented by Western's faculty of information and media studies. The annual series commemorates the life of Edward Clissold (1833-1915), who spent 33 years as a journalist and editor in London. It is funded by a donation from Clissold's grandson, Robert E. Blount. 

Also from this web page:

About

Hours

Weekdays
8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
(holidays excluded)

Contact

Publisher:
Helen Connell (hconnell@uwo.ca)

Editor:
Jason Winders (newseditor@uwo.ca)

Reporter/Photographer:
Paul Mayne (pmayne@uwo.ca)

Reporter/Photographer:
Heather Travis (htravis2@uwo.ca)

Advertising Coordinator:
Denise Jones (advertise@uwo.ca)

Off-Campus Advertising Sales:
Chris Amyot, Campus Ad (campusad@sympatico.ca)

National Advertising Representative:
Campus Plus

Phone:
519-661-2045

Fax:
519-661-3921

Mail:
Western News, Suite 360
Westminster Hall
The University of Western Ontario, London N6A 3K7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Western provides the best student experience among Canada's leading research-intensive universities.