The objectivity norm in American journalism*

TLDR

The question of why the occupational norm of objectivity arose in American journalism has attracted historians but has not been examined as a general social phenomenon, and scholars identify four conditions for new norm emergence: two related to internal group solidarity and two to articulating ideals for controlling subordinates and transmitting culture. Why did the occupational norm of “objectivity” arise in American journalism? Reviewing the history of professionalization, the essay identifies the late 19th and early 20th century as the period when these conditions crystallized. Alternative technological and economic explanations are criticized, and the difficulty of understanding why objectivity emerged first and most fully in the United States rather than in European journalism is discussed.

Abstract

Why did the occupational norm of ‘objectivity’ arise in American journalism? This question has attracted the interest of many journalism historians but it has not previously been examined as an instance of a more general social phenomenon, the emergence of new cultural norms and ideals. Four conditions for the emergence of new norms are identified – two having to do with the self-conscious pursuit of internal group solidarity; and two having to do with the need to articulate the ideals of social practice in a group in order to exercise control over subordinates and to pass on group culture to the next generation. Reviewing the history of the professionalization of American journalism, this essay identifies the late 19th and early 20th century as the period when these conditions crystallized. Alternative technological and economic explanations of the emergence of objectivity are criticized and the difficulty of understanding why objectivity as a norm emerged first and most fully in the United States rather than in European journalism is discussed.