I love hearing people say that Journalism used to be better and more "fact based".
Nah, I'm kidding, I don't love that myth.
CHALLENGE!
If you hold the faith-based belief that American Journalism used to be objective ... please state clearly the Year/Date that you're pointing to. Maybe leave a comment here with a link to an article or video - an example of "fact-based" "objective" journalism, from any time period. I'd love to see and interrogate what you mean.
The problem is that our entire learned framework for discerning reality, and assessing truth based on facts, is flimsy. "Fact Based Journalism" is definitely better than "Pure Lies Journalism" ... but "Fact Based Journalism" is just science-y sounding rhetoric, it's not a good bar.
WHY??
I can offer an impressive list of forty "facts" and mislead you entirely, by omitting "fact" number forty-one.
Each "fact" will need to be interpreted, or understood within a broader context, and with contrast against other "facts".
The reality of what IS includes not just a small, expressible set of "facts", but ALL "facts" ... including harder to discern, but resonant "facts" like intent.
The relevant "facts" in any narrative-story (Journalism) were narrowly chosen by a human or group of humans.
If you disagree with anything I've written here ... please accept the CHALLENGE above, and leave a comment explaining where you feel I'm wrong.
-Billy