A new journalism podcast looks to history to counter ‘objectivity’

THE AMERICAN JOURNALISM COMMUNITY fancies itself a completely neutral estate, the poster child for objectivity. But this conceit is, at best, ahistorical. Like all things, the modern press corps was born into an inequitable society, and its strictures show up in the industry everywhere from hiring practices to how certain communities are covered, if they get coverage at all.

Debate about whether complete objectivity is possible while reporting inspires heated debate. A new podcast, The View From Somewhere, aims to push this important ethical conversation again to the forefront, this time with a deep look into the archives. Hosted by reporter Lewis Raven Wallace, 34, whose book of the same name is slated for release late this year, the podcast will dig into the history of objectivity in a journalistic context, featuring stories about reporters whose work has poked holes in the myth of its infallibility.

“Part of [the goal of] this book and this podcast is to tell a whole different story about what journalism has been and what it could be,” says Wallace.