Writers' personal lives? Nobody's business.

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Last month, many readers of The New York Times were outraged to learn that columnist David Brooks’s son is serving with the Israel Defense Forces. The critics said that having a child in the Israeli military compromises Brooks’s objectivity, especially because he frequently writes about the Middle East. They said, further, that he should have revealed the information himself, as a kind of disclaimer.

I completely disagree. Brooks is an opinion writer, and he is entitled to that opinion no matter where his children live or what they do. On a broader philosophical level, I believe objectivity is an ideal that can be approached but not achieved. All journalists strive for objectivity, but never get there. We all have our biases, conscious and unconscious. If we began revealing where our children go to school, where our spouses work, where we eat, where we shop and where we travel, we’d never get to the task of writing. All that we are informs us and affects our writing.

A critical distinction must be made between opinion writers — columnists — and news reporters. Opinion writers, like Brooks and other op-ed columnists in every newspaper, including this one, have great latitude in what we write. When we present facts, they must be true. Beyond that, we have no obligation to present both sides of an issue. We are writing opinion, our opinion, and any reader may disagree. In presenting an argument, we do not have to be balanced, only honest and persuasive in offering our point of view.

Brooks may or may not be affected by his son’s service in Israel. He still has no moral responsibility to tell folks about the young man’s activities. What if Brooks writes about a particular congressman? Does he have to reveal that he had a run-in with the man at a cocktail party? If he writes about the dangers of eating raw hamburger, must he tell the story of his trip to the E.R. after a meal at some diner? Absolutely not.

Informed readers should know that when they turn to the op-ed pages, they will find opinion — one person’s opinion, influenced by belief and conviction — not objective fact.

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