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Journalist Is Fired From Public Radio Show for Questioning Objective
Reporting Under Trump
http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/journalist_fired_for_questioning
_objective_reporting_under_trump_20170202/
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Posted on Feb 2, 2017
"I can't be objective on the question of my own humanity," Lewis Wallace
wrote. (Rachel Johnson / CC 2.0
(https://www.flickr.com/photos/rachel-johnson/4298911131/in/photostream/) )
Lewis Wallace worked for the American Public Media show "Marketplace
(https://www.marketplace.org/) " since May of last year, but on Monday he
was fired.
The reason? Wallace wrote a personal blog post questioning objective
journalism under the Trump administration. Titled "Objectivity is dead, and
I'm okay with it
(https://medium.com/@lewispants/objectivity-is-dead-and-im-okay-with-it-7fd2
b4b5c58f#.ad931s3vw) ," the piece explored how journalists will "adapt to a
government that believes in 'alternative facts' and thrives on lies,
including the lie of white racial superiority."
"I argue that our minds-and our listeners' and readers' minds-are stronger
than that, strong enough to hold that we can both come from a particular
perspective, and still tell the truth," Wallace wrote. "And I have the sense
that this distinction is important in this moment, because we are going to
have to fight for and defend what it means to serve the public as
journalists."
In a post published Tuesday on the website Medium
(https://medium.com/@lewispants/i-was-fired-from-my-journalism-job-ten-days-
into-trump-c3bc014ce51d#.vl2r0ubnl) , Wallace explained how his story on
objectivity led to the loss of his job:
A couple hours after it was published, I got a call from the managing editor
and executive producer at Marketplace. They said my post was in violation of
Marketplace's ethics code, and that I would be suspended from air and should
not come into work for the rest of the week.
They specified a few reasons it violated the policy: Marketplace, they said,
believes in objectivity and neutrality (though neither word actually appears
in its code). And they were concerned about the section of my piece that
asserted that we shouldn't care, as journalists, if we are labeled
"politically correct" or even "liberal" for reporting the facts. (I still
maintain that we shouldn't care, and for the record, I am not a liberal.)
They said they wished I had brought the post to them first. .
On Friday, still suspended, I woke up feeling like I was disappearing . I
sent my superiors a very heartfelt message . and let them know I'd be
putting the post back up at the end of the day. .
On Monday morning, the VP of Marketplace fired me. I was terminated
effective immediately, with my benefits ending in two days and an offer of
two weeks' pay.
"Marketplace" executive Deborah Clark elaborated on Wallace's termination in
a phone conversation with a columnist at The Washington Post
(https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/how-one-reporters-rejection-
of-objectivity-got-him-fired/2017/02/01/bc5cc9c6-e7ef-11e6-80c2-30e57e57e05d
_story.html?postshare=8411485973906118&tid=ss_tw-bottom&utm_term=.ef9bd707d0
f5) .
"This was a clear violation of our ethics code," Clark stated. "He did not
agree-and he does not get to make that decision. That left me with no other
options."
In his explanation of the events leading up to his firing, Wallace addressed
how his identity as a transgender journalist influenced his commitment to
his argument about objectivity.
"I thought my experiences navigating this as a trans person might bring some
interesting perspective," Wallace wrote. "I thought if other journalists
disagreed, we could have a vibrant discussion about why, and that it might
reach others who were feeling isolated or afraid to speak out."
As Wallace noted in the title of his piece for Medium, he was fired "ten
days into Trump." He believes this reflects how the new administration is
already forcing journalists to question objectivity.
"Wallace's firing is emblematic of struggles in newsrooms across the
country," according to the Post. "Journalists and their managers are
sparring about the meaning of impartiality in a world redefined by a Trump
administration that sees the news media as the enemy."
"I did not expect nor desire to be fired from my job as such an apparently
direct result of the fear produced by these intimidating and fast-moving
political changes," Wallace wrote in Medium.
Wallace has continued to address the issue on social media, engaging with
fellow journalists over the question of personal identity and political
neutrality.
"I can't be objective on the question of my own humanity," he tweeted
(https://twitter.com/LewisPants/status/826486087174516736) Tuesday. "I
shouldn't have to pretend to in order to do my job."
-Posted by Emma Niles (http://www.truthdig.com/staff/emma_niles/)
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