One of the things Donald Trump has accomplished is to get the media to drop all pretense of objectivity.
It isn't as though it was an ancient tradition, but it was rather nice while it lasted.
There was no pretense when newspapers began, during colonial times.
It was relatively cheap to put out a newspaper, so there were a number of them, taking different positions on policy and politicians. People could read them all and form their own opinions.
It continued that way until after World War II. In between, papers assailed politicians and started wars in their attempts to gain circulation.
In the 1940s, a number of “reformers” got the idea that newspapers had become too powerful.
The Hutchins Commission was established and it examined the perceived problem. The commission concluded somberly that too few people controlled too many newspapers and thus too much public opinion.
They recommended that newspapers practice objectivity in the news and keep opinion separate in editorials and columns.
As is often the case, by the time “progressives” had detected a problem and decided to help, American culture and the marketplace already had it solved.
At mid-century, television was beginning to ramp up and compete on news coverage, and the domination of newspapers was over.
Still, maintaining objectivity was the prevailing view when I got into the newspaper business. It was drummed into my head and I did my best, (although I'm certain I did not always succeed).
At it happens, separating fact and opinion isn't as easy as one might assume.
Years later, when I was teaching a college course on editorial writing, I wanted to spend a short time at the beginning of the term explaining the difference between fact and opinion and then move into how to write opinion pieces, but was rather surprised how difficult it was for the students to grasp the difference.
In recent years, efforts to report the news objectively have become noticeably weaker as newsrooms have become lopsided with leftists. Reporters reportedly jumped with joy and cheered upon the signing of the latest “global warming” pact, for example.
But it took Trump to finish the job.
The things that make Trump popular are that he is speaking to things people care about, such as massive illegal immigration, that he never has held office – and that he doesn't care what the media says about him.
This last point is the main reason the media has gone absolutely hysterical over his candidacy.
Candidates are supposed to cower when chastised, apologize when chastened, and act as if they are honored to be given air time or headline space.
Not Trump.
So reporters freely refer to him as a “mendacious racist” and worse. When challenged, they simply claim that their opinions about Trump are “facts.”
It appears that we have gone full circle. Everyone today can have a blog and publish facts and opinion. The result may be cacophonous but perhaps that is better than a one-sided media unconcerned about objectivity.
Lloyd Brown was in the newspaper business nearly 50 years, beginning as a copy boy and retiring as editorial page editor of the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville. After retirement he served as a policy analyst for Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
