Objectivity Objecshmivity
Not according to David Zurawik and Nick Madigan of the Baltimore Sun, who write that "some American news organizations yesterday covered the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi with marked enthusiasm, verging on inappropriate glee."
MSNBC showed an image of the dead al-Zarqawi under the headline "terminated," with framing that suggested an Old West Wanted poster, according to the Sun. The New York Post's cover today features al-Zarqawi and the word "Gotcha!" There is a speech-bubble shown coming from the deceased man's mouth with the words "Warm up the virgins." Iraqi reporters reportedly broke into applause when Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced al-Zarqawi's death in Baghdad.
"It's not our job in the news business to gloat," David Zeeck, president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, told the Sun. "Our job is to deal with an event like this in a measured way."
Mainstream media journalists continually assert that they can report the news fairly and objectively – a contention that some critics consider untenable. Certainly, gloating and applause are not objective responses to any news. But they are human responses to what seems to be good news from the perspective of anyone who opposes terror. Should journalists suppress their jubilation and strive to keep their reporting objective? Or in a case like this is it all right to let their emotional response into the coverage?
Before you come to a conclusion, remember that this goes both ways: After Hurricane Katrina, many observers applauded reporters for displaying outrage over politicians' handling of the tragedy. If you want journalists doing their best to "feel the news at you," as Stephen Colbert jokingly put it, don't you have to be willing to support them feeling it at you in any situation?