CBS’s Stephen Colbert welcomed Columbia Journalism School Dean, New Yorker staff writer, and MSNBC talking head Jelani Cobb to the Tuesday edition of The Late Show to proclaim that only one of the two parties believes in democracy, imply Republicans want to stop black people from voting, and wonder why trust in journalism is so low.
Colbert started off okay, “Sixty-eight percent of Americans say that they have lost their confidence in newspapers, TV, or radio. The only thing they trust now is late night and I was wondering, how do you as a journalist yourself, and as the dean of the school, how do you think journalism needs to get that or can get that trust back from the American public?”
Cobb replied by recalling, “You know, it's not something that, you know, can be inherited. It's something that has to be earned every single day. And so I talk with my students about this and say, you know, you earn the trust of the public by being correct day in, day out and when you make mistakes, you own up to it.”
He continued:
The other thing that I think is really important is that most people don't know how news gets produced. You know, they think that we do, I mean, there are movies, maybe you see someone go out reporting and so on, but the ethical standards and the fact-checking, things that you do, the stories that you don't publish, the things you find out that go, this doesn't quite add up. You know, there are actually rigorous processes in place and most reliable institutions, rigorous processes that determine what you can and can't say in a newspaper article or in a news story and so we have to do a better job of explaining that story.
That sounds great, Cobb and his colleagues should take his own advice, because in reality, things are very different as Colbert later highlighted, “How hard is it to maintain or to uphold or point toward the ethics of objective reporting when you're not necessarily reporting Coke and Pepsi? You’re reporting, like, one group of people still believes in democracy and another group of people is fine with autocracy and would be fine if you did not vote… So, how do you objectively, you can't say like “well, they’re fine stories on both sides of this.”
Cobb replied, “that's not what objective reporting is and that's one of the things that we have to get past, like it’s one of the common misperceptions that if you just report on both sides equally, then you're being objective.”
Rather, the true definition of journalistic objectivity requires you to “report on both sides while subjecting both to the same sort of equal interrogation of their positions and their statements and the truth is in the offing of that.”
Cobb further added “And so, you, if a person is saying that they advocate autocracy and a person advocates for democracy, those two things are not equal. And you're not being unobjective or you're not being subjective to say that those things are not equal.”
Again sounds great, but if Cobb really wanted journalists to take sides on issues because that is what truth demands, he would also call out Colbert for the “would be fine if you did not vote” line, but he doesn’t because he is also a flaming progressive partisan pretending to be a truth-teller and that is why trust in the media is so low.
Here is a transcript for the January 23-taped show:
CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
1/24/2024
12:22 AM ET
STEPHEN COLBERT: Sixty-eight percent of Americans say that they have lost their confidence in newspapers, TV, or radio. The only thing they trust now is late night and I was wondering, how do you as a journalist yourself, and as the dean of the school, how do you think journalism needs to get that or can get that trust back from the American public?
JELANI COBB: Well, I mean, there are a lot of things. First, you know, thank you, really happy to be here and, you know, we don't really get the trust back. You know, it's not something that, you know, can be inherited. It's something that has to be earned every single day. And so I talk with my students about this and say, you know, you earn the trust of the public by being correct day in, day out and when you make mistakes, you own up to it.
The other thing that I think is really important is that most people don't know how news gets produced. You know, they think that we do, I mean, there are movies, maybe you see someone go out reporting and so on, but the ethical standards and the fact-checking, things that you do, the stories that you don't publish, the things you find out that go, this doesn't quite add up. You know, there are actually rigorous processes in place and most reliable institutions, rigorous processes that determine what you can and can't say in a newspaper article or in a news story and so we have to do a better job of explaining that story.
…
COLBERT: How hard is it to maintain or to uphold or point toward the ethics of objective reporting when you're not necessarily reporting Coke and Pepsi? You’re reporting, like, one group of people—
COBB: Sure.
COLBERT: -- still believes in democracy and another group of people is fine with autocracy and would be fine if you did not vote.
COBB: Right.
COLBERT: Specifically, you, Jelani, did not vote.
COBB: I know, it’s shocking.
COLBERT: So, how do you objectively, you can't say like “well, they’re fine stories on both sides of this.”
COBB: But see, that's not what objective reporting is and that's one of the things that we have to get past, like it’s one of the common misperceptions that if you just report on both sides equally, then you're being objective. But you should report on both sides while subjecting both to the same sort of equal interrogation of their positions and their statements and the truth is in the offing of that.
And so, you, if a person is saying that they advocate autocracy and a person advocates for democracy, those two things are not equal. And you're not being unobjective or you're not being subjective to say that those things are not equal.
