The Opinion Journalists
Lesson 5:3
This gentleman, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, was a former ambassador to the UN, and a four-term U.S. Senator from New York. His famous quote frames a large part of our discussion around journalism and opinion.
"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts"
It's a great quote to use but, in today's world, it seems somewhat of a quaint belief, doesn't it?
Remembering this, it's important to know that Opinion Journalism is a part of the news, but a special subset of it. Using our VIA prism that we shown at the top of this lesson, we set out where Opinion Journalism stands as a product of news.
but then... there are some sets of information that set themselves up to look like opinion journalism, but really fall into the a grey category of things you should be wary of.
The Opinion Journalist (also known as a columnist or commentator) is given permission to go beyond gathering factual information.
An Opinion Journalist’s job is to select key facts and assemble an argument…to brandish an opinion. In responsible news organizations, a select few journalists are permitted to do the unthinkable: Arrange and select the facts and evidence in order to support one side or the other.
but...
Less than 1% of professional journalists are given that license to express opinions.
They are usually chosen from the cream of the corps of reporters.
They are supervised from the highest levels of their news organization.
While they are loyal to journalism’s mission, to inform, they take sides and try to convince readers of one argument.
You should also keep in mind that not every piece of opinion that graces the opinion section of a publication comes from an Opinion Journalist. Publications have opened their pages to others in order to represent a wide range of opinions from those who have an interest or am connected to a particular subject, such as a brazilian comedian's opinion of his president, Jair Bolsonaro in the NYTimes, or that of an academic librarian at John Jay college.
That said however, there are still editors who check that the opinion is based on factual information.
And when that process breaks down -- people are held accountable for it.
The theory is this: the whole purpose of journalism is to give you the information you need to make a decision, take action or make a judgment. So, once you have a grip on the facts, opinion journalists expose you to arguments and analysis you may not have come up with on your own. They help you to rehearse your decision…or rehearse your defense of it.