"Accountability Journalism": AP blurs opinion and news

With new ledes like, "John McCain calls himself an underdog. That may be an understatement," and "I miss Hillary," the Associated Press style is experiencing unprecedented change.

Washington bureau chief, Ron Fournier, is encouraging news pieces to incorporate first-person writing and use emotive language; Fournier defends the changes as "accountability journalism."

Accountability journalism is "provocative without being partisan," said Fournier. "Truth-tellers without being editorial writers." The bureau chief claims this form of journalism liberates both journalists and the truth.

Not all agree. "The problem," says James Taranto, the Wall Street Journal's Best of the Web columnist, "is that while you can do opinion journalism and incorporate reporting into it, you can't say you're doing straight reporting, and then add opinion to that."

Fournier is receiving some pushback not only outside the organization, but also from his own staff; some feel the changes stray from the AP's mission of "delivering fast, unbiased news."

According to Politco, "At times, Fournier has pulled back. He wanted to open a news analysis...in May with, 'The Democratic presidential race is over' ... After some back and forth, the reporters won out with 'The Democratic presidential race is all but over.'"

"The AP has always been a just-the-facts type of organization," an AP staffer explained. "I think there's mixed feelings -- there's reluctance."

Source: Politico.com