Is transparency the way of the future?

Walter Cronkite once said, “Objectivity is the reporting of reality, of facts, as nearly as they can be obtained, without the injection of prejudice and personal opinion”. For a very long time, objectivity was a corner stone, a foundation of journalistic practice however times appear to be changing. Along with the age of technology and the inevitable evolution of journalism, as we move towards the future, transparency has risen to the fore. It is now the widely held belief that transparency is the new objectivity.

Bob Franklin, The Future of Journalism, comments on this matter raising the point that “journalism… must be rooted in truth telling” and that journalists should be able to, with sincerity, say that they believe their version of events to be correct. However, the debate as to which should rein supreme rages on with Tom Kent, the standards editor for The Associated Press, rather bluntly putting forth that “to show their commitment to balance, journalists should keep their personal opinions to themselves”.

Wikileaks then came along and brought with it this new notion of radical transparency. Wikileaks, as seen on their about page, believes that “transparency creates a better society for all people”. Through publishing information openly this can be better realised. With the ability to jump around the web, accessing source material at the literal click of a button, the importance of transparency and its benefits to the public are evident. David Weinberger, Harvard Researcher, posted a strong argument as to why transparency is the new objectivity on his blog. He pointed out, “Objectivity is a trust mechanism you rely on when your medium can’t do links. Now our medium can”.

There appears to be growing support for transparency with the BBC’s Global News Director saying that, “transparency is what delivers trust”. Ultimately the news produced by journalists still has to be accurate and fair. This firm belief that objectivity alone no longer works as the overriding ethos for journalism lends weight to the belief that transparency is in fact the new objectivity.