This episode of Backstory does a fabulous job of using the past to understand our present moment. Recommended highly for anyone who works in journalism or is interested in it. backstoryradio.org/shows/behind-t…
One of the key takeaways for me was the distinction between objectivity (which is pretty much impossible) and accuracy (which is achievable and should always be the goal). Ida B. Wells exposed the truth about lynching precisely BECAUSE she had an investment in the story.
One can have a perspective AND be accurate. Those two are not at odds with each other. And in a situation like we have now where one political party has fully immersed itself and its supporters in a world of "alternate facts," to be "both sides" objective is to be inaccurate.
As Ruben Salazar discovered in the late 1960s, to write about the experiences and perspective of LA's Chicano community with empathy and to advocate for the issues they cared about was to give the readers of his newspaper a fuller, more accurate picture of their city.
I also have to say, the moment at 29:30 when Nathan Connolly takes Brian Balogh to task for comparing Breitbart to Ida B. Wells is, alone, worth the price of admission.
