New York Times columnist Bret Stephens reacted to a Leonard Downie Jr. op-ed in the Washington Post calling for journalism to move beyond objectivity on Firday’s Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO “would be the end of the United States.”
Maher admitted to being taken back by the article, “he wrote an editorial about objectivity which I thought again was, kind of, a sea change. I mean, objectivity, I remember in the past always was something that was, of course, impossible to obtain in journalism but I never remember anybody saying we’re not trying. If you got accused of not being objective they would say ‘well, we’re humans, of course, we are, we try, we get as close as we can, we can't help it if some bleeds in.’”
Maher was being too generous there as he continued, “Now apparently, new journalism is we don't even try and we're not trying and we don't think that is a goal. He said the reason he said ‘the standard was dictated’ -- talking about objectivity – ‘over decades by male editors and predominately white newsrooms.’”
Stephens was adamant that this was a bad idea, “If he were to get his way that would be not just the end of any serious journalism in the United States, I think it would be the end of the United States.”
Unfortunately, Stephens took his good point and ruined it a bit when he tried to turn the conversation to Donald Trump, “This is Trump’s America because what it means is truth is whatever you claim it is. Truth is whatever your lived experience is, truth is whatever your narrative is. No, actually, that's not the truth and newspapers exist to at least seek a standard of accuracy and truthfulness that is not what [fellow panelist Rep.] Ruben [Gallego] or Bill or any of you in the audience happen to think it is.”
That “Truth is whatever your lived experience is” has been an ever-increasing part of progressive thought well before Trump decided to run for president and this lack of objectivity also led to some fake news claims about him during his presidency. Still, Stephens did appreciate the absurdity of Downie’s argument:
So, this is, I mean, what he's talking about is a trend in newsrooms which I think is incredibly damaging and all of this business ‘Well, you know, it was white guys who got on the bandwagon of objectivity,’ what exactly does that mean? So, anything that a white guy happened to have come up with at some point in time is therefore suspect ‘let's throw out the polio vaccine because it was a pair of white guys who came up with it.’ … How about Einstein's theory of relatively no longer holds because Einstein was manifestly white?
Hopefully Maher’s new audience at CNN will learn something from these kinds of segments.
Here is a transcript for the February 3 show:
HBO Real Time with Bill Maher
2/4/2023
10:42 PM ET
BILL MAHER: I have a newspaper man here today, so I thought I would ask a little bit about what's going on in journalism because I saw something that I thought was rather groundbreaking in the Washington Post, your competitor over there from The New York Times, Leonard Downey, he used to be, I think, the executive editor there. Okay, he wrote an editorial about objectivity which I thought again was, kind of, a sea change.
I mean, objectivity, I remember in the past always was something that was, of course, impossible to obtain in journalism but I never remember anybody saying we’re not trying. If you got accused of not being objective they would say “well, we’re humans, of course, we are, we try, we get as close as we can, we can't help it if some bleeds in.”
Now apparently, new journalism is we don't even try and we're not trying and we don't think that is a goal. He said the reason he said “the standard was dictated” -- talking about objectivity -- “over decades by male editors and predominately white newsrooms.”
So, that may be, I'm sure true, but-- so the concept of objectivity should go? Are we not throwing the baby out with the bathwater?
BRET STEPHENS: If he were to get his way that would be not just the end of any serious journalism in the United States, I think it would be the end of the United States.
MAHER: What? Wow. That's dramatic.
STEPHENS: I mean this is Trump’s-- let me explain for a second what I mean. Hang on a second—
RUBEN GALLEGO: Alright, I’m listening.
STEPHENS: This is Trump’s America because what it means is truth is whatever you claim it is. Truth is whatever your lived experience is, truth is—
MAHER: Right.
STEPHENS: -- whatever your narrative is. No, actually, that's not the truth and newspapers exist to at least seek a standard of accuracy and truthfulness that is not what Ruben or Bill or any of you in the audience happen to think it is.
I thought that was the battle we spent six years fighting the Trump Administration about. That you couldn't just say it was true, that you sold in 90 percent of your condominiums and your fabulous new development—
MAHER: Right.
STEPHENS: -- even if it wasn't true. So, this is, I mean, what he's talking about is a trend in newsrooms which I think is incredibly damaging and all of this business “Well, you know, it was white guys who got on the bandwagon of objectivity,” what exactly does that mean?
So, anything that a white guy happened to have come up with at some point in time is therefore suspect “let's throw out the polio vaccine because it was a pair of white guys who came up with it.”
MAHER: It is silly.
STEPHENS: How about Einstein's theory of relatively no longer holds because Einstein was manifestly white?
