One of the hardest things to do as a journalist is be impartial. I would actually say it's categorically impossible to eliminate all bias from writing. Whether we like it or not, human beings are inherently biased. As writers with integrity, we expect journalists to do their best to report facts without interpreting them for us. Codes of ethics vary to some degree from company to company but all comprise the same standards: truthfulness, objectivity, impartiality, accuracy and accountability. What journalists report has to be true and accurate, and their reporting must be as objective and impartial as possible. If reporting fails to meet those standards, then they must be held accountable for errors, particularly if those errors lead to harm.
Back in the days of Nixon and Watergate, it was the dogged persistence of journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward protecting sources that kept the identity of "Deep Throat" a secret until 2005. What is the most interesting thing to me about Watergate and all the mess surrounding it is just how eerily similar our current political situation is. We have a man in office who regularly decries negative media coverage as "fake news" while simultaneously praising those sympathetic to his narrative. We have a collection of officials determined to use their power to obscure any investigation of wrongdoing and outright discredit the very idea that the man sitting in office could be fallible. Just as a concept, these thoughts are disturbing and set an incredibly uncomfortable precedent for the Office of the President.
That being said, entirely too much attention is being paid to a man who laps it up like a cat with a bowl of cream. Right now, our media is almost constantly focused on the White House and the man sitting in the Oval Office, as if everything revolves around him. It doesn't. We've just let it go for so long it seems that way. Through our actions (and in some cases, inaction), we've allowed the normalization of radicalism. Everything that happens becomes about partisan politics. It has invaded our homes, our families, and every single aspect of our lives. No one can go anywhere or talk about anything without it becoming a polarizing argument of left-versus-right, liberal-versus-conservative, Democrat-versus-Republican. Now, even the weather has become political. There's literally no escaping the rhetoric.
Unfortunately, reporting has become a part of the problem rather than the solution to it. In a desperate bid to get clicks because clicks equal readers and readers equal job security, reporters are focusing on the scandal of the hour to the exclusion of all else. It has become a perpetual political motion machine, where people read about politics so reporters write about politics so people read more about politics so reporters write more about politics... It could go on until we implode if it doesn't stop now.
I'm not advocating we stop reporting on political scandals. Not at all. Instead, I advocate that we stop allowing political scandals to dominate our news, our lives, and our minds. There are other things to talk about, and not everything has to be about politics because not everything is. We can discuss climate change without bringing the White House into it by talking about what small, easy steps individuals can take to reduce carbon footprints. We can discuss the economy without bringing the White House into it by talking about what companies are doing to increase productivity without crushing worker's rights. Immigration reform, criminal justice reform, education reform, housing reform... These are all things we can discuss without the Oval Office ever entering into the equation. Reporters need to focus back on the core principles of journalism, reclaim their integrity, and stop letting someone else drive the narrative away from objectivity and into places it was never meant to go.
Maybe then we can talk about the weather again.