“Objectivity is not neutrality,” according to NPR’s midday news show co-host Tonya Mosely. Although it seems rather strange, she has a point. Within journalism, neutrality is almost impossible because we are all human. However, discrimination is evident throughout the journalistic workplace based off of the color of their skin through the questioning of their “neutrality.” Mosely describes an experience she had previously had as a black journalist, explaining the questioning she went through by her boss when she was covering a shooting of a black man by a police officer. “She held a common and misguided idea that I couldn’t be neutral or objective because my skin makes it impossible to see ‘all sides.’” With this assumption, it is implied that white skin automatically assigns a neutral perspective where that is simply not the case. Everyone has an opinion or perspective. Going forward though, in order to prevent such discriminatory thoughts, Mosely suggests newsrooms should be more diverse, listen to each individual more despite the color of their skin, and avoid false equivalency.
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