Integrity is the new objectivity

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition of "objectivity" is: based on facts rather than feelings or opinions : not influenced by feelings.

Okay... But what does that mean? My mother has always told me that I am a walking emotion; that it is impossible for me to go through life without feeling emotionally effected by what is around me.

My journalism professors, since my first day of journalism school, informed me that objectivity is the most important ingredient for a great journalist. Am I in the wrong field? Should I quit now and resign myself to life of science fiction novel writing? If I care too much about the stories that I write, does that make what I am writing about wrong?

I talked to my father about it of course. He's always the person to go to for advice about writing, reading, or just anything that doesn't involve too many tears. He replied to me with a question:

"Well, why is objectivity so important to you anyway?" 

I thought about this. I thought long and hard. Why was it so important to me? Why would I want to spend my life writing about topics that I am emotionally detached from? I believe that the issues in life are more that just facts and numbers, and need to be captured and represented as such. 


"I think you can approach things with passion without being involved", Aaron Edwards, who currently works at Buzzfeed, answered the same question for me. "It depends on what type of journalist you want to be." he said.

So it all came back to me. What I wanted. How I felt about it. 

After reading the blog post "Transparency is the New Objectivity", it really made me think about this whole dilemma a different way. This idea of transparency allowing us as journalists to be objective through fact made me feel completely different. If I provide links and facts for all of my data, claims and ideas, that will show the integrity of my writing. The readers and audiences will be able to verify for themselves that my articles are based in fact, separate from my own feelings - even though I do have plenty of feelings about the topic.

"So it's important to remain loyal to that factual platform" my dad said. "That way your readers won't need to worry about your objectivity because you have established your integrity."

So I believe, that after all, transparency allows us to establish our integrity as journalists, which then allows the readers to objectively read our articles.

So after all, is integrity not a kind of objectivity?