What's the Object of Objectivity?

We understand -- and generally support -- the conventions behind the idea of objective reporting; but given the complexities of certain kinds of reporting, that doesn't mean that sticking to this method is always the best way to tell a story.

We've recently documented some problems in the coverage of the upcoming mid-term Congressional elections, where in a replay of the 2000 and 2004 elections, reporters blithely allowed warring partisans to spin the story into a conflicted, contradictory -- and often misleading -- mess. In its own way, war reporting presents a similar problem when reporters allow government or military officials to offer assessments of a situation which don't jibe with the reality they're witnessing on the ground.

An AP piece that came over the wire this morning illustrates just how this blind adherence to balancing "both sides" can at times stoop to the level of black comedy, when the spin is directly contradicted by what the reporter had detailed just paragraphs before.

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