On the topic of objectivity...

The meeting on Rethinking Journalism Education was fascinating from a dozen different angles, but the posting about objectivity (and how relevant it might be in this whirlpool of new media) is something I'm seriously pondering.

Frequently students ask me about the blogs that I write and ask me if I wrote a blog critical of, say, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (about whom I've written on a number of occasions) would the blogs disqualify me from writing a news story about him?

I give them the best answer I have: It depends.

Depends on how long ago I wrote the blog, what I wrote, what news organization it was, and so on.

But I do think that the whole shield of objectivity we hold up - and ask our students to hold up - means less to the reading public than we think. It's a lot like the AP style we labor over, lecture on, give tests on, and about which we get into terrible arguments. Those people who still pick up their newspaper each morning don't really care that much if it's p.m., P.M. or PM - or o'clock for all that matter.

So I'm rethinking how I will teach the next generation of students about objectivity in this brave not-so-new world of blogs and podcasts and streaming video.