A Short History of the History of Objectivity

Abstract

This article provides a broad overview of how American journalism historians have treated the concept of objectivity in the latter part of the 20th century. In following the narrative of objectivity's history, the author finds that historians’ narratives have shifted as intellectual attitudes toward objectivity have changed. Now that objectivity no longer plays as central a role in journalism as it once did, histories of the concept may shift once again.

Notes

¹ See Schudson's distinction between the storytelling and information models of the popular press of the 1890s (1978).

² For a recent defense of Lippmann's argument, see Jansen (2008).

³ Critics may charge that Fox's claim to fairness and balance are in a sense a reference to classic objective values (and also, therefore, dishonest in this particular case). However, as Schudson (1998) pointed out, the term fairness has been used throughout American journalism's history, often with different meanings. I argue that it is at least possible to read the slogan as designed with the post–objective era in mind—the implication is that Fox is offering “balance” to an assumed inherently liberal mainstream media, and thereby bringing “fairness” back into American political reporting.

⁴ It is worth noting that at the beginning of her essay, Williams observes that “modern concepts are unrighteous judges when applied to the press of centuries ago” (2005, p. 24), and then goes right ahead and applies a modern concept to the press of several centuries ago, which suggests that the narrative of objectivity is so strong that in some cases it can over-ride justified historical qualms about its use.