Written by The Bison
n the journalistic world, there is an expectation (whether followed or not) to be objective. Your beliefs, prejudices and allegiances are to be checked at the door in order to provide a fair and accurate reporting of the facts: who, what, when, where, why. It is a journalist’s task to tell stories as if they were being read from a nonfiction book — but in 500 words or fewer.The struggle Bison staffers have faced for some time (most likely since it was first published) has been the balance of our collective Christian worldview with the essential job description of a journalist: objectivity. Over the years, we have received the phone calls or letters requesting a more “Christian” worldview in our stories. In this editorial, we would like to state why we choose to maintain objectivity in news and feature stories.While we cannot fully speak for the staffs that have come before us, this year’s Bison staff believes that the truth will set you free. We have often been asked, whether in class or in the “real world,” if the ideal of journalism can truly correlate with the ideal of Christianity. Our answer is yes. The goal of Christianity is to spread the light of truth throughout our world; likewise, the goal of journalism (though not always well-executed) is to report truthful, factual information to be shared among the general public. To tell the truth, and nothing but the truth, does not violate our Christian beliefs.Do we have opinions about some of the things we cover? Of course we do. However, it is our belief that we can do a cause, event or situation much more justice by remaining objective and letting our readers draw their own conclusions.After all, the truly good news does not need our slant: The glory of God shines through the people we encounter and report on. It is simply our job to give them a voice and let the truth shine on.Merry Christmas,The 2010 Bison editorial staff
