Objectivity in Journalism

What do you find more trustworthy, experts or numbers, personal 'know-how' or 'objective facts'? Can science claim special authority based on the objectivity of its methods? Are our ethical decisions always better when we strive to be impartial and unbiased? Why should we value objectivity, and is it achievable anyway? These are a few of the thought-provoking questions Guy Axtell asks in this comprehensive new text book, employing examples from the natural and social sciences as well as philosophy. This unique introduction surveys the key issues in a clear and concise way, assessing the nature of objectivity and value of the demand to be impartial decision-makers. Moving beyond the fundamentals, Axtell explores contemporary feminist and social epistemological attempts to 'reconstruct' the concept of objectivity, explains the implications of the so-called science wars for philosophy and the analytical method, and the ethical consequences of these debates. Objectivity is an excellent introduction to one of the most exciting areas of study in philosophy and science today. Students and scholars alike will value this balanced guide to a hotly contested, and vitally important, topic.

Current anxiety about the future of news makes it opportune to revisit the notion of professionalism in journalism. Media expert Silvio Waisbord takes this pressing issue as his theme and argues that “professional journalism” is both a normative and analytical notion. It refers to reporting that observes certain ethical standards as well as to collective efforts by journalists to exercise control over the news. Professionalism should not be narrowly associated with the normative ideal as it historically developed in the West during the past century. Instead, it needs to be approached as a valuable concept to throw into sharp relief how journalists define conditions and rules of work within certain settings. Professionalization is about the specialization of labor and control of occupational practice. These issues are important, particularly amidst the combination of political, technological and economic trends that have profoundly unsettled the foundations of modern journalism. By doing so, they have stimulated the reinvention of professionalism. This engaging and insightful book critically examines the meanings, expectations, and critiques of professional journalism in a global context.

The new 12th edition of Scholastic Journalism is fully revised and updated to encompass the complete range of cross platform multimedia writing and design to bring this classic into the convergence age. Incorporates cross platform writing and design into each chapter to bring this classic high school journalism text into the digital age Delves into the collaborative and multimedia/new media opportunities and changes that are defining the industry and journalism education as traditional media formats converge with new technologies Continues to educate students on the basic skills of collecting, interviewing, reporting, and writing in journalism Includes a variety of new user-friendly features for students and instructors Features updated instructor manual and supporting online resources, available at www.wiley.com/go/scholasticjournalism

Who makes the news in a digital age? Participatory Journalism offers fascinating insights into how journalists in Western democracies are thinking about, and dealing with, the inclusion of content produced and published by the public. A timely look at digital news, the changes it is bringing for journalists and an industry in crisis Original data throughout, in the form of in-depth interviews with dozens of journalists at leading news organizations in ten Western democracies Provides a unique model of the news-making process and its openness to user participation in five stages Gives a first-hand look at the workings and challenges of online journalism on a global scale, through data that has been seamlessly combined so that each chapter presents the views of journalists in many nations, highlighting both similarities and differences, both national and individual

What role can the ordinary citizen perform in news reporting? This question goes to the heart of current debates about citizen journalism, one of the most challenging issues confronting the news media today. In this timely and provocative book, Stuart Allan introduces the key concept of ‘citizen witnessing’ in order to rethink familiar assumptions underlying traditional distinctions between the ‘amateur’ and the ‘professional’ journalist. Particular attention is focused on the spontaneous actions of ordinary people – caught-up in crisis events transpiring around them – who feel compelled to participate in the making of news. In bearing witness to what they see, they engage in unique forms of journalistic activity, generating firsthand reportage – eyewitness accounts, video footage, digital photographs, Tweets, blog posts – frequently making a vital contribution to news coverage. Drawing on a wide range of examples to illustrate his argument, Allan considers citizen witnessing as a public service, showing how it can help to reinvigorate journalism’s responsibilities within democratic cultures. This book is required reading for all students of journalism, digital media and society.

In the mediated digital era, communication is changing fast and eating up ever greater shares of real-world power. Corporate battles and guerrilla wars are fought on Twitter. Facebook is the new Berlin, home to tinkers, tailors, spies – and terrorist recruiters. We recognize the power shift instinctively but, in our attempts to understand it, we keep using conceptual and theoretical models that are not changing fast, that are barely changing at all, that are laid over from the past. Journalism remains one of the main sites of communication power, an expanded space where citizens, protesters, PR professionals, tech developers and hackers can directly shape the news. Adrienne Russell reports on media power from one of the most vibrant corners of the journalism field, the corner where journalists and activists from countries around the world cross digital streams and end up updating media practices and strategies. Russell demonstrates the way the relationship between digital journalism and digital activism has shaped coverage of the online civil liberties movement, the Occupy movement, and the climate change movement. Journalism as Activism explores the ways everyday meaning and the material realities of media power are tied to the communication tools and platforms we have access to, the architectures of digital space we navigate, and our ability to master and modify our media environments.

What Journalism Could Be asks readers to reimagine the news by embracing a conceptual prism long championed by one of journalism's leading contemporary scholars. A former reporter, media critic and academic, Barbie Zelizer charts a singular journey through journalism's complicated contours, prompting readers to rethink both how the news works and why it matters. Zelizer tackles longstanding givens in journalism's practice and study, offering alternative cues for assessing its contemporary environment. Highlighting journalism's intersection with interpretation, culture, emotion, contingency, collective memory, crisis and visuality, Zelizer brings new meaning to its engagement with events like the global refugee crisis, rise of Islamic State, ascent of digital media and twenty-first-century combat. Imagining what journalism could be involves stretching beyond the already-known. Zelizer enumerates journalism's considerable current challenges while suggesting bold and creative ways of engaging with them. This book powerfully demonstrates how and why journalism remains of paramount importance.

Journalists have failed to respond adequately to the challenge of the Internet, with far-reaching consequences for the future of journalism and democracy. This is the compelling argument set forth in this timely new text, drawing on the most extensive ethnographic fieldwork in American newsrooms since the 1970s. David Ryfe argues that journalists are unable or unwilling to innovate for a variety of reasons: in part because habits are sticky and difficult to dislodge; in part because of their strategic calculation that the cost of change far exceeds its benefit; and in part because basic definitions of what journalism is, and what it is for, anchor journalism to tradition even when journalists prefer to change. The result is that journalism is unraveling as an integrated social field; it may never again be a separate and separable activity from the broader practice of producing news. One thing is certain: whatever happens next, it will have dramatic consequences for the role journalism plays in democratic society and perhaps will transform its basic meaning and purpose. Can Journalism Survive? is essential and provocative reading for all concerned with the future of journalism and society.

This book is a unique and definitive guide to the skills necessary for on-camera journalism and offers an invaluable behind-the-scenes look at the profession. Tailors the traditional skills of writing, reporting, and producing to the needs of journalists working in front of the camera Includes chapters devoted to the role of the storyteller, reporting the story across multiple platforms, and presenting the story on-camera Incorporates profiles of leading multimedia journalists and public relations practitioners Addresses the key ethical issues for the profession Offers practical advice for putting presentation skills to work Storytelling skills covered can be applied to a variety of traditional and new media formats including television news, radio, and podcasts