global voices, one world

“How can we best explain the differences between altruists and the paradigmatic self-interested individuals who exist at the heart of disciplines as wide-ranging as psychology, evolutionary biology, economics, and rational actor theory? The most important and consistent difference centers on systematic similarities in perspective. All altruists have a particular way of seeing the world, and especially themselves in relation to others. All the altruists I interviewed saw themselves as individuals strongly linked to others through a shared humanity.”

In Kristen Renwick Monroe, The Heart of Altruism: Perceptions of a Common Humanity, 1996. page 213.

What explains ethical political action? Why do certain people do things for other people? The important insight Monroe gives us is that self-interest and reason are unable to give us a comprehensive answer to why people perform acts of altruism. This is not an insignificant finding, since a wide range of scholarly disciplines have as a fundamental starting point that humans are rational actors, and act out of self-interest (economics, political science, etc). Instead of self-interest, she proposes to consider perspective as a crucial variable for explaining altruism. Perspective, as one’s self in relation to others, not merely one’s sense of self.

One can then proceed to ask how journalism contributes to a larger understanding of the world; in other words, what role does journalism play in forming and shaping the view we have of the world, of ourselves, of others, and of ourselves in relation to others? What does it mean for perspective formation that objectivity is the main guiding principle for news making? Herbert Gans has long advocated for a “multiperspectival” approach to news making, rather than objectivity. How are alternative and citizen media different in this regard, and what potential might they offer for changing and improving our perspectives?