By Patrick Robinson

Most people are not journalists and don’t really understand what that designation means or what straight ahead news journalism requires. I’m distinguishing it from advocacy journalism, opinion journalism, and any writing that takes a politically driven side. To be a journalist in the long held and widely understood definition, is to learn about facts, events, policies, studies, and more in as unbiased a way as possible then using objectivity as the guiding principle, relate those facts in a story so as to communicate them clearly.

It’s obvious to nearly everyone that there have always been and will always be people who have a more liberal stance and those that are more conservative in nature. This is true due to many reasons from upbringing, peer pressure, life experience, and it’s been shown even genetics plays a role. So, it’s not likely people who carry long held beliefs will change them or be persuaded by a simple argument. 

But what we should expect, and in fact, aside from overt threats, or political promises made in back rooms, the only thing that works to make progress happen, is truly walking away from anger, emotionalism, and the kind of total partisanship that has divided the United States (and many other places). It requires being an adult. It requires empathy. And it often requires negotiation and compromise.

But coming back to the foundational concept of objectivity, it’s good to understand what that means. The right way to conduct journalism is to get at the facts of a matter and make certain you are not relying on assertions, opinions, and have questioned your sources. If possible get more than one source and sometimes, to pit sources against one another to verify.

Sadly however, people are habitually quick to judge and out of ego driven arrogance, point fingers, make accusations, and assume many things that are not proven.

The net effect of this, often driven by social media (and social media has been shown repeatedly to be a tool used to manipulate public opinion), is to make people so uncomfortable, so angry that we fall back into our comfort zones. The echo chambers of things we already agree with.

But that’s a mistake.

The American experience is one of challenging those in power to do what’s right. It’s about questioning your own beliefs and confirming what you only think is true until you are sure.

It’s a lot of work. Most people won’t do it. Many people prefer to shout. And many people, also comfortable in their cocoons, only pay attention to the loudest voices. 

So I’m offering a softer voice. A voice of reason and thoughtful weighing of what’s sensible and what is not.

We all need you to think clearly and speak honestly. 

I’m suggesting that you yourself need to be a better journalist. 

You can follow Patrick Robinson via his podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or other platforms under Patrick Robinson: Points of View