What is expected of journalists is very much like what we ask of jurors.
When the members of a jury are selected, they are asked whether they can be fair in coming to a judgement — whether they can put aside any biases or pre-existing opinions about the people and issues involved in that trial in order to come to a dispassionate, balanced decision based not on beliefs or prejudices but on the facts as established in sworn testimony.
They are also reminded of this pledge by the judge when they receive instructions just before they begin their deliberations.
The analogy is not perfect but what we demand of jurors is similar to what we insist of journalists when we send them out to gather the facts for stories.
Editors and news directors recognize that reporters are just like anyone else in that they have their own beliefs, opinions, biases, blind spots and flaws. That’s only human.
But what a good journalist, like a good juror, has to set that all aside in favor of an all-consuming commitment to get it right.
That this is hard to do is obvious, especially when the truths we discover contradict our core beliefs, prejudices or assumptions. But, as I’ve said many times to student journalists, you can’t discover the truth as you wish it to be, you have to report the truth as you discover it to be.
The integrity of our legal system depends on jurors who can follow strict jury instructions in a search for the truth. The integrity of our media institutions depend on journalists who can maintain a similar discipline in their search for truth.
And our democracy depends on both them.
HEADLINES:
Ukraine F-16 pilot killed in large-scale Russian attack, Zelenskiy calls for US help (Reuters)
UN nuclear watchdog chief says Iran could again begin enriching uranium in ‘matter of months’ (CNN)
Senate Republicans advance Trump’s tax and spending cuts bill after dramatic late-night vote (AP)
Musk Fumes as Trump Tax Bill Cuts Electric Vehicle Credits (Bloomberg)
The End of Publishing as We Know It — Inside Silicon Valley’s assault on the media (Atlantic)
Trump says he will move aggressively to undo nationwide blocks on his agenda (WP)
Around 100,000 march in Budapest Pride event in defiance of Hungary's ban (NPR)
The Other Reason MAGA Is Melting Down Over Iran (Mother Jones)
The United States Is About to Embark on a Terrifying Experiment in Mass Statelessness (Slate)
America’s New Anti-Vaccine Foreign Policy (Atlantic)
Unusual pushback, ‘dangerous precedent’: What the first meeting of Kennedy’s CDC advisers reveals about the future of vaccines in America (CNN)
This Is Why High-End Electric Cars Are Failing (Wired)
Lights! Camera! But not enough action in a fading and worried Hollywood. (WP)
World's oldest boomerang doesn't actually come back (BBC)
Tourists are trickling into Afghanistan and the Taliban government is eager to welcome them (AP)
Facebook is starting to feed its AI with private, unpublished photos (Verge)
Entitled Child Expects To Eat Lunch Every Day (The Onion)
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