Don’t lose any sleep over charges that
HCN lacks objectivity. Middle-of-the-road
pragmatists did not coax us out of the caves, launch the industrial
revolution, or give birth to the idea that nature is more than a
supporting cast of extras. All that and more, the good and the bad,
was the work of advocates — many with ink-stained hands.
I have had extensive contact with the news media, print
and electronic, local to national, over decades spent on the sharp
edge of political activism. I have seen headlines distort content,
found facts buried so deep in the body of a story that only the
most dedicated reader could mine them, and traced back wire service
accounts to find that one side of the story was meticulously
excised. Worst of all, I have seen whole articles spiked by editors
fearing a backlash from publishers, subscribers or advertisers.
As a witness to both reality and its journalistic
descriptions, I learned in my teens that objectivity, however
noble, is a moving target that bears few wounds.
John Walker
Coaldale,
Colorado
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Objectivity is a moving target.
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