Objectivity in journalism is a key topic for debate in media, communication and journalism studies, and has been the subject of intensive historical and sociological research. In the first study of its kind, Steven Maras surveys the different viewpoints and perspectives on objectivity. Going beyond a denunciation or defence of journalistic objectivity, Maras critically examines the different scholarly and professional arguments made in the area. Structured around key questions, the book considers the origins and history of objectivity, its philosophical influences, the main objections and defences, and questions of values, politics and ethics. This book examines debates around objectivity as a transnational norm, focusing on the emergence of objectivity in the US, while broadening out discussion to include developments around objectivity in the UK, Australia, Asia and other regions.

Journalistic Ethics: Moral Responsibility in the Media examines the moral rights and responsibilities of journalists to provide what Dale Jacquette calls “truth telling in the public interest.” With 31 case studies from contemporary journalistic practice, the book demonstrates the immediate practical implications of ethics for working journalists as well as for those who read or watch the news. This case-study approach is paired with a theoretical grounding, and issues include freedom of the press, censorship and withholding sensitive information for the greater public good, protection of confidential sources, journalistic respect for privacy, objectivity, perspective and bias, and editorial license and its obligations. This is a book for anyone who now works in journalism, or is considering a career as a journalist. It is also important groundwork for everyone who follows the day's events in newspapers, radio, television, or on the internet.

Journalists are trained to tell the stories of others and leave themselves out of their writing. Student journalists are no different. They spend their days on their college newspaper writing about what happens to others, especially when what is happening involves protests, sit-ins, riots, hunger strikes and other unrest on the very campuses where they also attend school. Now some of these former student reporters and editors tell their own stories of some of the challenges all student journalists face in reporting events that most administrators would rather see not covered at all. For some, this is the first time the stories of what happened in the newsrooms and behind the scenes will appear in print. Some of the issues they discuss include censorship, the role of the newspaper as the conscience of the community, objective and activist journalism and the challenges of reporting crises. The protests covered here represent the many concerns college student protesters have tackled through the decades: integration in 1962, the free speech movement of 1964, racial issues and the Vietnam War in 1968 and 1970, and continuing racial issues in the present. Many of these former student journalists look back decades to their work in the 1960s. Some discuss a more recent protest. Looking back, they admit they might have done things differently if they had to do it again, yet all are fiercely proud of the work they did in recording the first version of history.

This volume explores contrastive rhetoric for audiences in both ESL contexts and international EFL contexts, exposing the newest developments in theories of culture and discourse and pushing the boundaries beyond any previously staked ground. The book presents a comprehensive set of empirical investigations involving a number of first languages; 13 of the 17 authors are English-as-a-second-language speakers, many working in non-US contexts. This work develops a coherent agenda for contrastive rhetoric researchers, studying genres such as school writing, grant proposals, business letters, newspaper editorials, book reviews, and newspaper commentaries. Four chapters provide ethnographies and observations about contrastive rhetoric and the teaching of EFL and ESL. The book ends with a look to the future, suggesting it is more accurate to use the term ‘intercultural rhetoric’ to account for the richness of rhetoric variation of written texts and the varying contexts in which they are constructed.