Modern mainstream journalism faces a very real disturbance of its foundational premise that credible news is gathered and articulated from an objective stance. This volume offers new examinations of how the traditional notion of objectivity is changing as professional journalists grapple with a rapidly evolving news terrain--one that has become increasingly crowded by those with no journalistic credentials. Examining historical antecedents, current dilemmas, international aspects, and theoretical considerations, contributors make the case that the journalist's impulse to hold onto objectivity, and to ignore the increasing subjectivities to which citizens are attuned, actually contributes to the news media's disconnect from today's news consumer. Revealing how traditional journalism needs to incorporate "post-objective" stances, these essays stimulate further thought and conversation about news with a view in both theory and practice.

Table of Contents


Introduction: Challenges for Journalism in a Post-Objective Age     

BURTON ST. JOHN III and KIRSTEN A. JOHNSON     


Part I. Historical Perspectives     

1. "Gagged, Mincing Neutrality": Horace Greeley on Advocacy Journalism in the Early Years of the Penny Press

DAXTON R. "CHIP" STEWART     

2. The Pride and Reward of Falisfication: Post-Objectivity as Post-Responsibility

AARON BARLOW     

3. A New Model of Objectivity: Investigative Reporting in the Twentieth Century

GERRY LANOSGA     


Part II. Contemporary Examinations     

4. Conversational Journalism and Journalist-Audience Relations: New Rules, New Voices

DOREEN MARCHIONNI     

5. The Sociality of News Sociology: Examining User Participation and News Selection Practices in Social Media News Sites

SHARON MERAZ     

6. Why Contribute? Motivations and Role Conceptions among Citizen Journalists

DEBORAH S. CHUNG and SEUNGAHN NAH     

7. Morality, the News Media, and the Public: An Examination of Comment Forums on U.S. Daily Newspaper Websites

SERENA CARPENTER and ROBIN BLOM     


Part III. Global Considerations     

8. Post-Objectivity and Regional Russian Journalism

WILSON LOWREY and ELINA ERZIKOVA     

9. Journalism from the Perspective of "We": How Group

Membership Shapes the Role of the Community Journalist

JOHN A. HATCHER     

10. Engagement as an Emerging Norm in International News Agency Work

JOHN JIRIK     


Part IV. Objectivity and Theory     

11. Why Objectivity Is Impossible in Networked Journalism and What This Means for the Future of News

DAVID MICHAEL RYFE     

12. Disrespecting the Doxa: The Daily Show Critique of CNN's Struggle to Balance Detachment and Connectedness

BURTON ST. JOHN III     

13. Gatekeeping in the Digital Age: A New Model for a Post-Objective World

KIRSTEN A. JOHNSON     

14. Contemporary News Production and Consumption: Implications for Selective Exposure, Group Polarization, and Credibility

ETHAN HARTSELL, MIRIAM J. METZGER and ANDREW J. FLANAGIN     


About the Contributors     

Index     

Burton St. John III is a professor of public relations at the University of Colorado-Boulder. He has authored and edited books on journalism, public relations, and propaganda. He has also published in the Journal of Communication Management, Journal of Mass Media Ethics, Journalism Studies, Public Relations Review, and Journalism Practice. Kirsten A. Johnson, an associate professor and chair of the department of communications at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania, teaches broadcast news writing and television production. She has published in Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly and Learning, Media, and Technology.