Objectivity?

Is it possible for a reporter to be truly objective? This is one of the questions I consistently struggle with as a journalist. Whenever I talk to non-journalism track friends or classmates about this subject, they quickly make the generalization that no journalist writes fair or unbiased material. One girl even said that nothing about my profession is objective. The mere process of budget meetings, she said, screams subjectivity because the editorial staff decides what news is “important” and what isn’t. I can’t say that she is wrong in some respects or that no journalist has a hidden agenda. What I can say is that I strive each day to be objective and report fairly. Will I obtain true objectivity one day, if it actually exists? Probably not. But today I’ve finally learned the reason why. Kenny Irby of Poynter addressed that in today’s lecture. “How can you be objective with all the subjective realities?” he asked. He's right. Whether it is age, race, religion or whatever, everyone has a subjective reality that is different from any other person’s. It defines who we are and the decisions we make.