A timely call for a new ethic of journalism engagement for today's
troubled media sphere, Objectively Engaged Journalism argues that media
should be neither neutral nor partisan but engaged in protecting
egalitarian democracy. It shows how journalists, professional or
citizen, can be both objective in method and dedicated to improving a
global public sphere toxic with disinformation, fake news, and
extremism.Drawing from history, ethics, and current media issues,
Stephen Ward rejects the ideals of neutrality and "just the facts"
objectivity, showing how they are based on invalid dualistic thinking
with deep roots in Western culture. He presents a theory of pragmatic
objectivity and applies it to journalism. Journalism's role in
interpreting culture, he argues, needs a form of objectivity that
embraces human strengths and limitations.Defining responsible journalism
as situated, imperfect inquiry, Objectively Engaged Journalism is one of
the first systematic studies of the ethical foundations of engaged
journalism for a media that is increasingly perspectival and embedded in
society.