Standards of objectivity : a comparison between daily and alternative newsweekly papers in three Ohio cities

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Journalism has professional standards. But should the standards practiced by daily newspaper journalists extend to their alternative newsweekly counterparts? This study looked at one professional standard, the concept of objectivity, and how that standard was defined and practiced by journalists at three alternative newsweeklies and three daily newspapers in Ohio. A textual analysis of 18 articles looked at the sourcing, voice and framing of each article. Semi-structured interviews with the reporters and editors behind those articles allowed for a more in-depth look at how those journalists defined objectivity, as well as the choices those journalists had to make while putting their definitions of objectivity into practice. The findings show that while the rhetoric of alternative newsweekly and daily newspaper journalists were at times different, the news stories that they produced were remarkably similar.