Why the media abandoned objectivity for activism

Should journalism inform the public or influence it? Independent journalist and podcast host Tara Henley discusses her new book The Trust Spiral: Why the Media Needs Objectivity, examining how journalists abandoned objectivity for activism. Henley traces the emergence of journalistic objectivity in the 19th century to more recently, when younger, progressive journalists rejected it for “identitarian moralism”. She argues it is this shift that’s behind falling trust in media, critiquing major Canadian media failures—from pandemic coverage to residential school graves reporting—while defending objectivity as an aspirational standard and part of journalism’s public service.

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