Fired ‘Marketplace’ Reporter Wonders: Is Objective Journalism Dead?
Lewis Wallace, former “Marketplace” reporter. (Sam Worley / KCRW)
In this week’s episode of “Scheer Intelligence,” Truthdig Editor in Chief Robert Scheer interviews Lewis Wallace, a former reporter fired for questioning objective journalism in the age of Trump.
Wallace had been working for the American Public Media show “Marketplace” for months when he was abruptly fired in February. The reason? He’d written a personal blog post, titled “Objectivity is dead, and I’m okay with it,” in which he explored how journalists will “adapt to a government that believes in ‘alternative facts’ and thrives on lies, including the lie of white racial superiority.”
“Marketplace” executive Deborah Clark stated that the blog post “was a clear violation of our ethics code.” Wallace, who is transgender, tells Scheer that he can’t be objective when it comes to LGBTQ issues in the news — nor should he have to be. The two also discuss diversity in journalism. Listen to the full interview below:
