January 1, 1999

Pragmatic News Objectivity: Objectivity with a Human Face

A paper by Stephen Ward, spring 1998 fellow, considers the journalistic value of objectivity from a philosophical perspective. The concept of objectivity has come under assault, not only through violations by practitioners, but also through a concerted attack by modern and post-modern media critics, who believe that “objectivity” is (depending on the critic) deceitful, erroneous, […]

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Should American Journalism Make Us Americans?

A paper by Jim Sleeper, fall 1998 fellow, asks if by offering a bilingual product, newspapers are undermining a united sense of citizenship. The Miami Herald began producing a Spanish-language version of its paper to attract the growing population of former Cubans and Latin Americans in the city. Sleeper argues that this move contributes to

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Tensions of a Free Press: South Africa After Apartheid

A paper by Sean Jacobs, fall 1998 fellow, examines changes in South Africa’s news media in the 1990s. Television and radio, long dominated by the state, had a history of bias in favor of South Africa’s apartheid government. The first democratic elections in 1994 revealed how far removed from the electorate the media was, argues

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Whither the Civic Journalism Bandwagon?

A paper by Charlotte Grimes, spring 1998 fellow, asks whether citizen journalism is living up to its promises. Grimes provides a history of the rise of civic journalism that raises many questions about both its aims and its successes, and whether there is benefit in supplanting traditional tools and processes with newer ones. She notes

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