Oh Hail ye Great Objectiv-ism

As a journalism student, I often hear about the pillars of journalism. "Relevance, Usefulness, Interest," preach the Missouri Group on page four of "News Reporting and Writing" while Bob Woodward idealizes a story as "the best obtainable version of the truth."

These concepts, which are so often taken for granted, are inherently flawed however. "Journalists," wrote Michael Schudson in his book Discovering the News," came to believe in objectivity, to the extent that they did because they wanted to, needed to, were forced by ordinary human aspiration to see escape from their deep convictions of doubt and drift."

Like a religion that relies on utter faith in one idea--like the divinity of Christ or the goodness of man--journalists base their faith on the idea that humans have the ability to be objective. Ironic, really. A quality that is usually associated with science is actually a belief employed in the pursuit of the spirit of journalism.

Thus, journalists are romantic scientists. Using the neutrality of science and the heart of social do-gooder, it is a culture in ideological limbo.

And like religion, there is never a solid answer.