News with a View ─ Essays on the Eclipse of Objectivity in Modern Journalism

St. John (communication, Old Dominion U.) and Johnson (communications, Elizabethtown College) compile 14 essays by English, journalism, and communication scholars from the US who examine how the traditional idea of objectivity is changing in journalism as professional journalists deal with the changing news environment, which has been taken over in part by amateur journalists. They offer historical perspectives on the topic, discussing Horace Greeley's philosophy of advocacy journalism and a non-neutral press, the history of the pseudo-journalism of political activists, and investigative reporting as a competing ideology to objectivity in the twentieth century. They then discuss conversational journalism and journalist-audience relations, user participation and news selection practices in social media news sites, the motivations and role conceptions of citizen journalists, whether the moral focus of an article causes variations in comments from readers in forums, and international perspectives, including Russia, the US and South Africa, and the Associated Press and Reuters global news agencies. The final section addresses how the networked environment poses a new set of dilemmas that objectivity may not be able to address, the Daily Show as a critic of CNN, reconceptualizing the gatekeeping process, and credibility and bias in used-generated news. Annotation Ac2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Burton St. John III, an associate professor of communication at Old Dominion University in Virginia, 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.