This blog post by Terry Heaton has me thinking about that old issue of journalistic objectivity.

Can we finally put a bullet in the myth that objectivity really exists? We all have biases. For reporters to pretend that they don't to stay "objective" is outright dishonest.

This is one of the reasons I stopped writing news and stick to opinion columns. It's not that I can't write a "balanced" story. I can. Hell, I can write a story so balanced it could be featured on Fox News. And that's the problem. A reporter may spin a story the direction of his bias, or may do the opposite the assuage those attacks of bias from the other side.

Either way, it's dishonest and should stop. The writing would be a lot better if reporters could just honestly tell what they have seen and heard, in their own voices, biases and all. And with the interactivity of the web, we can let the readers add their own biased views to provide the balance.