Objectivity

I read in the news here recently about a national airline cutting jobs as a result of multi-million losses which led the company to leverage its air routes with another air carrier, thus significantly cutting back on its routes and hence the job losses. When I then read news from the national airline's base country, there was no mention of the multi-million losses. Instead, the news was such that it sounded like a sensible idea to leverage the routes - nothing about the huge losses. I wasn't surprised, as who wouldn't want to limit the amount of bad news within the country, right? It happens everywhere, but especially more in certain countries.

I then wondered whether there was such a thing as objectivity anymore. I wouldn't be surprised if the latter country accused the news agencies in the first country mentioned of trying to paint a bad picture of the latter country etc etc. It wouldn't be the first time this happens, rightly or wrongly. News agencies are supposed to be objective and provide us with facts and figures, however this is often tainted by personal and political views. Does it matter which fact they omit to report? Would it be better for the person/company/country concerned if certain figures are intentionally or unintentionally forgotten? Was there a reason behind the emphasis on certain facts?

We do it in our everyday lives too. Remember how when I was younger, my mom wanted to know who had higher marks than me in school. I thought it'll be better to say who had lower marks than me (which may be a shorter or longer list depending on whether you're talking about primary/junior school, secondary/high school or college). :) We are supposed to try and be objective when it comes to appraisals, reporting, etc - but can we be truly objective?