Varljiva istina i objektivnost kao strateški ritual
Elusive Truth and Objectivity as Strategic Ritual

Summary/Abstract: The possibility of establishing the truth is one of the central issues in the media, because reality as an immediate experience in everyday life is contrary to media reality or reality as a cultural construction. In an effort to ascertain the truth, a starting point for journalists is the principle of objectivity, which entails quoting at least two sources. At the same time, it’s a democratic standard aimed at allowing for public presentation of different opinions. Although necessary, such conceived objectivity is not a sufficient, because by presenting the attitudes of the most influential factors in society, others are ignored, which leads to the reproduction of a status quo. In that case, objectivity amounts to a myth, because it does not lead to revealing and fathoming the social structure of power. At the same time, objectivity is a kind of “strategic ritual” (Tuchman), because journalists stick to it in order to enable their products to be accepted as reliable ones in a very competitive market. This, however, does not mean that we should abandon the search for truth, although many agree that this is an unattainable ideal and amounts to will o’ the wisp. Were are very firmly established criteria of checking information, as well as the credibility of sources, that could enable the audience to grasp the meaning, context and background of events and processes.

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