Defining Objectivity

Researchers seem to have some basic agreement regarding how to think about objectivity, following Michael Schudson’s definition of objectivity as "separating facts from values and reporting only the facts." However, there are some differences that emerge when issues such as cultural and historical contexts for journalism are considered. For instance, some researchers have approached objectivity as an inherent and mandatory moral ideal of journalism, choosing to study how widely the standard has reached across the world. Others, however, are less interested in the obligation of objectivity and have sought to instead explore the status of objectivity in the hierarchy of journalistic duties as defined by various cultures. Therefore, as the approaches to objectivity evolve, in this thesis I will be looking for evidence of objectivity as defined by the American system, as well as evidence of alternate definitions of objectivity offered in other cultures. I will elaborate on this further in a subsequent section. 

My research will focus on objectivity in the United States and French journalistic systems specifically because each system is considered unique in the way professional standards have evolved there. While the United States is largely considered to be the "birthplace" of today's objective and facts-based journalistic practice, France is home to a much more literary path of journalistic origin. The two countries also occupy a similar tier in the global hierachy, with governments involved in many of the same conflicts and agreements, making the work of comparison much easier. I will elaborate on this further in a subsequent section. 

And So It Begins (For Real This Time)

I've been talking about it since the summer: the dreaded thesis. It seems like it's been looming over me since my freshman year when I decided to join the Honors Program. Why did I do that again? Oh yeah, priority registration.

Until this fall, it never seemed like it would actually happen. Oh yeah, my thesis. I'll get to it eventually.

Right?

Well. Sort of.

Fall quarter I tried to start. And then life (read as: school/work/extracurriculars/Netflix) got in the way. I kept saying, I need to start my thesis. I need to read something. I need to do something.

That thought usually ended in me frantically looking up sources but not actually reading any of them before giving up and going to bed at 10:30 like the college senior (citizen) that I am.

But then, over winter break, I really had no excuse not to do any reading, at the very least. So I did do some reading, and some annotating, and I started to feel like I was making some progress.

When winter quarter started, I was motivated to keep the momentum going and do at least a little bit of work every day. Sadly, that did not last long. This week, I intended to read the remaining sources I've gathered, annotate them, and begin writing the section on objectivity as a professional standard for my literature review. I did get a little writing done, but unfortunately the reading definitely did not happen.

Maybe next week I'll write something that actually pertains to the research, but as of right now I'm just slightly too overwhelmed. And so, since I still haven't quite stopped slacking off, here's the annotated bibliography of the sources I read over break: