A trip back in time to find a lost connection at the fair

I don’t like editorials. I didn’t like them when I was a journalism student in college, I didn’t like them when I was a newspaper reporter and I don’t like them now. I’ve never understood how society benefits from a media outlet taking an institutional position on an issue. Since that position is demonstrated through an editorial penned by an invisible author, the public is left wondering where this opinion is truly coming from.

The “invisible” nature of newspaper editorials is, at least in part, responsible for a journalistic discipline that’s come to be known as “advocacy journalism.” Lou Dobbs self-described reason for leaving CNN last year was to pursue this particular brand of reporting. Rachel Maddow cites the practice frequently during her show on MSNBC. This approach to delivering the news, which also has roots in opinion columns and op-ed pieces, has revolutionized the way companies and organizations’ reputations can be (at least partially) shaped by the news media.

The evolution of Journalism from an objective plane to an advocacy plane has coincided with a media revolution that included the birth and development of the Internet and social media. This means that those of us tasked with directing reputation management strategies need to be experts in and accept the reality of advocacy journalism.

It is interesting to note the different focuses of the three cable and internet news giants: Fox, CNN and MSNBC. Despite their marketing claims, each practices its own version of advocacy journalism. As of this writing, the lead on Fox was former White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove’s release of a book that offered a less-than-glowing account of President Obama’s first year, CNN was focused on a Kentucky doctor and the free outpatient services he was offering on Sundays, while the fact that the United States lost fewer jobs than expected was MSNBC’s lead story.

It may have always been unfair to expect reporters to be completely objective. Reporters are, after all, human beings who are moved by emotion and have opinions just like the rest of us. The better we understand this, the better we can do our work. Perhaps we should applaud advocacy journalism for helping create the most transparent news media in history.