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Objectivity and Professional Journalism in Transition in the Modern Media Ecology

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Objectivity and Professional Journalism in Transition in the Modern Media Ecology REWRITING THE RULEBOOK, REVAMPING AN INDUSTRY: OBJECTIVITY AND PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISM IN TRANSITION IN THE MODERN MEDIA ECOLOGY by CHRISTINA LEFEVRE-GONZALEZ B.S., University of Texas at Austin, 1997 M.A., University of Colorado, Boulder, 2006 A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Journalism and Mass Communication 2013 This dissertation entitled: Revising the Rulebook, Revamping an Industry: Objectivity and Professional Journalism in Transition in the Modern Media Ecology written by Christina Lefevre-Gonzalez has been approved for the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication _____________________________________________________ Professor Emeritus Robert Trager, Chair _____________________________________________________ Professor Stewart Hoover ______________________________________________________ Professor Michael McDevitt _____________________________________________________ Associate Professor Peter Simonson _____________________________________________________ Associate Professor Elizabeth Skewes Date ______________________ The final copy of this dissertation has been examined by the signatories, and we Find that both the content and the form meet acceptable presentation standards Of scholarly work in the above mentioned discipline. IRB protocols #12-0324 and #12-0715 Abstract Lefevre-Gonzalez, Christina (Ph.D., Communication) Revising the Rulebook, Revamping an Industry: Objectivity and Professional Journalism in Transition in the Modern Media Ecology Dissertation directed by Professor Emeritus Robert Trager Journalistic objectivity, a key journalism ethic in American newsrooms for much of the twentieth century, is a concept often taken for granted in journalism ethics. Despite its seemingly unimpeachable role in mainstream newsrooms, recent publications by media scholars and critics have interrogated the concept’s continued applicability in today’s more fluid, digitized media ecology. Little research, however, has clarified whether journalists continue to adhere to the objectivity standard in their work. Likewise, little research has investigated whether objectivity continues to be taught, or how educators address the concept in journalism ethics classrooms at the university level. By interviewing journalists based in the Washington, D.C. area, this research assesses whether the concept has ever been reified as a practice within newsrooms. Additionally, it explores how and why objectivity challenges the way journalists construct their dual identities as reporters and as citizens, and how the concept influences the way reporters manage the impressions they make in order to adhere to prescribed public expectations for press behavior. By interviewing university educators who specialize in teaching journalism ethics, this research explores how educators address the concept of objectivity to their students. iii It also explores alternative conceptualizations of the term by educators, particularly transparency, pragmatic objectivity, and the critical political-economist perspective. This research exposes an important construct for future journalism research: the modern media ecology, which is both horizontally and vertically fluid. The modern media ecology parallels the rise of a post-Fordist American society, signaling an epistemic shift in journalism away from a professionalized, objective model to a more subjective, “fair” reporting model. In essence, the waning of journalistic objectivity is only a symptom of much larger socio-economic changes underway in not only journalism, but in communication work as a whole. In response, journalism education at American universities is experiencing an epistemic shift of its own. This research ends with an exploration of how post-Fordist ideology has impacted journalism education at the University of Colorado, as the University seeks to build a new interdisciplinary college that better fits the new fluid media ecology. iv Dedications For Jorge, My Sail… through waters both steady and turbulent. These last two decades of personal and professional growth have been your gift to me. I look forward to decades more. Let’s see where our journey takes us next. And for Dr. Derek J. Main (1971-2013), My Dear Cousin… gone much too soon. The other “Dr.” in the family. A gifted paleontologist and a loved family member. Your passion for discovery could fill one-hundred dissertations and countless young minds. Acknowledgments I cannot fit into one small section the bounty of individuals for whom I owe a great debt while completing this project, but I will certainly give it a go. I met many journalists during the two hot weeks of interviews in DC last year, many who gladly opened their office doors and spent an hour with a sweaty graduate student from Colorado who they only knew through a brief email exchange. This project simply would not exist had it not been for their generosity of time. The same goes for the few other journalists and many educators who I interviewed by telephone. Your time and candidness made this project whole. My thanks also to Journalism and Mass Communication Director Christopher Braider, and Associate Vice Chancellor of Faculty Affairs Jeff Cox, for their permission to use internal documents from the ICJMT discussion process in the penultimate chapter of this dissertation. I hope that the resulting research offers at least a tiny bit of added perspective on the exciting changes underway in communication education at CU Boulder. I have nothing but my very best wishes to the many faculty members currently immersed in structuring the new college, as well as to the entire JMC faculty as they weather the changes ahead. My thanks to Associate Professor Peter Simonson from the Department of Communication who offered sound advice on some of the theoretical work grounding this research and for, earlier in my graduate school career, giving me confidence as I battled a severe lack of self-esteem in my ability to think. He probably does not know this before this writing, but the encouragement he offered me for the work I completed in his class gave me the confidence to tackle a project like this. vi Professor Stewart Hoover, whose travel schedule always leaves me in a state of envy, has been a steady hand in my development since my first year in the PhD program. I want to think him for his guidance through some of my earlier research work and his connecting me to informants that offered valuable data for this project. I also want to extend my thanks to Professor Michael McDevitt. It is unfortunate that we did not work together until my last semester on assistantship, but I cannot express how glad I am that we did! I was privileged to have the insight of someone who also has explored objectivity, and its alternative variants, on my committee. Perhaps our paths will cross again down the road. Associate Professor Elizabeth Skewes has been a constant guide since I entered CU as an MA student in 2004. She has always been generous with her time and advice, and I can say without qualification that I would not have made it through the program without her patient ear. Her professional news background helped me to ground the interviews I conducted with journalists so I could avoid embarrassing myself. Her intelligent book recommendations gave me additional theoretical groundwork that enhanced my data analysis. She provided professional guidance and friendship when it counted the most. I will miss her greatly. Perhaps our paths will cross again in the future, as well. And what would I do without the patience of my chair, Professor Emeritus Robert Trager? I am profoundly grateful that he kept me on board as an advisee well after his retirement. His steady guidance of my dissertation work kept me on track, all the while putting up with my fiercely independent nature and slow progress early in the research process. I appreciate his continued faith in me as a student and his continued encouragement after reviewing each chapter. Ultimately, it was his mentorship that helped vii me through to the end. My thanks to him, and I hope he enjoys finally being retired in full! (And before I forget—Go Red Sox!) I also want to extend my thanks to the supportive staff with which I have had the privilege of working over my years at CU: To Martha LaForge, JMC’s graduate advisor, who has always greeted me with smile and a generous ear. To Dave Martinez, who became indispensible as I assisted with the ICJMT symposia during the 2011-2012 school year. To Amy Belue, who provided help with at least a few panicked moments while I worked as a graduate assistant. All of them became the backbone of my success as a graduate student. To everyone else whom I failed to mention: Thank you, thank you. Many times over, thank you! viii PART 1: OBJECTIVITY IN THE MODERN AMERICAN NEWSROOM ........................ 1 Chapter 1: Defining Objectivity as a Journalistic Value ............................................... 1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................... 1 Genesis of Journalistic Objectivity: From the Ancients to a Positivist Science .................................... 4 Objectivity as a Journalistic Norm: From the Civil War to the Progressive Era ................................. 16 The Current Condition of Journalistic Objectivity ...................................................................................
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