Journalistic objectivity is the definitive canon of American mainstream journalism. Yet American journalists cannot agree on what it is, how it is measured, or on how it is done. The source of the confusion is the assumption that objectivity is an ideal, absolute, impossible, incomprehensible, value-free state of being, outside of all physical, cognitive, psychological, and social contexts, where reality is perceived without distortions of any kind. This assumption is logically invalid and historically inaccurate. Journalistic objectivity evolved from the American cultural premises of egalitarianism and positive scientific empiricism through four historical stages: Nonpartisanship, Neutrality, Focus-On-Facts, and Detachment. It is possible, comprehensible, and reflects specific values.
Within the context of journalism, there is no absolute truth. A "truth" is an interpretation
of reality that passes three tests-coherence, correspondence and pragmatism--within a specific
context. There are as many potential "truths" as there are contexts from which to determine
those truths. With so many potential truths, chaos is unavoidable unless an added dimension of
truth is identified. That added dimension is "objectivity." "Objective" truths are interpretations
of reality that pass the three tests of truth within the largest, most information-rich contexts.
An "objective" journalist is one who gathers interpretations of reality (true or not) from
the smaller contexts of news participants, and presents them faithfully and accurately to the larger
context of news consumers, so that the most objective truth (the one that everyone in the large
context can agree on) can be determined. In order to do this, an objective journalist has to be
able to surf contexts. Therefore, "journalistic objectivity" is the ability to surf contexts, or
Contextual Independence.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-1114101-191429 |
| Date | 15 November 2001 |
| Creators | Lane, Les L. |
| Contributors | Louis A. Day, Richard A. Nelson, Alan D. Fletcher |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-1114101-191429/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in the University Libraries in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. |
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