Michael Hoover wrote: >people do different things, as for doug, he's a reporter (he may think >of himself in other terms), i've indicated number of times in past >impact that i think this has on his perspective re. certain things
To which Doug Henwood replied: I usually say "journalist," but I won't complain about reporter. I'm clearly not objective, in the New York Times-approved sense, but getting involved in party politics would ruin whatever credibility I have - and I don't have a lot of time to spare anyway. According to the old formula for policial action - agitate, educate, and organize - I concentrate on the first two. There are plenty of people around to handle the third. Doug Response Jim C: First of all, I have always seen these dimensions of political action as dialectially united and inseparable with each dimension informing, shaping and testing the others. It is through organizing and organizing goals/imperatives for example, that one directs, sees and tests effectiveness--or lack of effectiveness--on the agitational and educational fronts. Plus, real-world organizing often provides the raw data and information (outside of ideologically cherry-picked sources of data, methodologies and data)for effective agitation and education. On the issue of "objectivity", I have always thought of degree of "objectivity" being a function of--and defined by--degrees of intellectual honesty, humility and courage along with methodological rigor--without fear or favor--as opposed to some supposed/asserted "non-bias" (the only people not "biased" are those in comas, dead or so brain damaged as not to know what planet they are on). In this sense, the NYT (not "all the news that fit to print" but rather all the news that is print to fit"--the interests of the ruling class) meets none of tests or definitions of "objectivity." On the issue of self-identity and self-identification, I have always defined myself not in terms of my primary occupation for purposes of earning a living--in my case an academic--but rather in terms of my core values and yes, biases--anti-Imperialist, anti-racist, anti-colonialist, anti-fascist, anti-capitalist... Jim C.
