North Carolina's top journalism school is finally being honest

UNC abandons the principle of objectivity. Maybe journalists can drop the charade, too

For years, the UNC-Chapel Hill journalism school wooed two people at once — two people who could not possibly be more different.

One was Walter E. Hussman Jr., the publisher of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He comes from the old school of journalism, the “just the facts” school, the one where it’s a token of virtue to be impartial, to seek both sides, and to be fair.

Journalism school dean Susan King ultimately landed a $25 million gift from him in September 2019. In exchange, Hussman’s name now adorns the journalism school, and UNC pledged to etch his values in stone in Carroll Hall: objectivity, impartiality, integrity and truth-seeking.

The other was Nikole Hannah-Jones, the New York Times Magazine writer and Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of the 1619 Project. Her work blends reporting with personal essays, combining facts, feelings and narrative and bending history in pursuit of what she considers a higher truth. She believes objectivity in journalism is a myth and never really exi…