Journalists discuss objectivity, truth at forum

 China.org.cn, January 11, 2012

It may surprise many to learn that journalists and reporters themselves share the general public’s skepticism about the mass media.

A panel of journalists and media professionals including Mark Danner, Susan Meiselas, Jiang Xiaofeng and Cheng Gang, described the often unseen world of those who search for truth and facts at the Sino-US Cultural Forum’s panel discussion on journalism last November. Interestingly, the overriding sentiment of the panel was that absolute objectivity and genuineness are hard to achieve.

"Objectivity doesn't exist at all," said David Fanning, a South-African born journalist and documentary maker who also joined the panel.

Writers and journalists join in the panel discussion in the Sino-US Cultural Forum. [China.org.cn] 

Danner, who has written in-depth pieces on subjects such as war, massacres and the torture of imprisoned Iraqi soldiers, touched on how the concept of unadulterated truth is a falsehood.

"I'm actually creating the story, making it believable," he said. "First and foremost, I think, for myself, "non-fiction" is a very bizarre word. We use the realities to support the probability we run."

Meiselas, an American photographer, whose portfolio includes "Carnival Strippers", "In the Shadow of History and Pandora's Box", agreed with Danner's comments. She added that facts are like fickle colors, subject to a multitude of influences and constantly interacting. She concluded that it is impossible to capture their original essence.

Cheng Gang, a war correspondent with the Global Times newspaper, also highlighted this difficulty, commenting that it stemmed from the fact that, although individuals can engage in a constant search for truth, they can never find the full picture. "Do not only trust a single media source or rely on only a few sources," he advised. "You need to put all the pieces together if you want a comprehensive view."

However, the inability of individuals to find a fully-rounded picture of the truth does not suddenly render journalists unnecessary. Jiang Xiaofeng, a war correspondent with the Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV Station, spelled out his wider view of the media’s role. He concluded that although the truth behind some stories may be obscured for political reasons, it is still essential that journalists seek to fill the void in case of the possible later release of confidential documents. "As media men, we have to work to record events and people that have been lost or forgotten, for whatever reason," he said. "We must be relentless in our search for the truth."