An exercise in objectivity

So, I can't say that I envisioned spending the last ten days of my time in Greensburg in front of my television - even less so tuned in C SPAN.

The truth is, I'm stressed out enough trying to fit in all of my goodbyes, and finding time to devote hours to watching political coverage is the last thing I want to do. But, I must. You see...I am spending my semester in D.C. and while the bar *cough* I mean museum-hopping will be amazing, I have to remember that I'm mostly there for the experience of political reporting - an area in which I tend to fall short. So, when my program director sent out an email encouraging us to take in all of the Democratic and Republican convention glory, I took note.

Which brings me front and center in front of our amazing HDTV watching - not car crashes or action scenes - but Caroline Kennedy talk about her father, Ted Kennedy and Barack Obama. It's not what I pictured, but I'm really enjoying it actually...

...but I'd consider myself a democrat.

And here is where we reach the point of this particular entry: I need to learn to be objective. Now, I don't believe that I overtly have a problem with this, but I can already tell my attention to this particular convention is immensely greater than my attention will be to the GOP convention.

(Side note, they just showed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Yeah...I've met him :-))

Anyway..(see...attention problems)..my goal for this entire semester is to maintain the same objectivity I bring to news stories about campus bikes to stories about politics. It will be an initial challenge - and not in the writing, but in the reporting. I believe that the bias begins in the reporting. It's harder to be slanted when you have a full-range of quotes for a story - not impossible, but hard.

I have tons of goals for my time in D.C. but I can't think of a more fitting one to voice than this of a quest for objectivity. I think that, of all the situations in which I could find myself testing my objectivity, this election in this city is really the truest test to that challenge. Wish me luck.

Also...I currently endorse C-SPAN for the most accurate coverage of the convention - without commentary. I also enjoy CNN and MSNBC - wonder why? Okay, okay...Fox News too...