Posted: Feb 23, 2012 9:15 am
I'd never heard the term before, but according to Wikipedia:
The View from Nowhere is a phrase used to describe a complex, widespread, particular kind of conflict of interest in media ethics, specifically between being objective and informative.
It refers to journalism and analysis that disinform the audience by creating the impression that opposing parties to an issue have equal correctness and validity, even when the truth of their claims are mutually exclusive.
The noble goal of objective and unbiased reporting ("just the facts"), leaves decisions about the meaning and value of a news report up to the audience. But sometimes the facts of a particular story can have only one particular set of meanings. In such a case, a journalist must clearly define what facts are members of this set, and what beliefs are not a member of this set.