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¦¦¦¦¦ Deconstructing Journalism Culture
EPISTEMOLOGIES
The Epistemology constituent of journalism culture is concerned with the philosophical underpinnings of journalism Epistemological considerations in journalism raise the question of whether or not the news can provide an objective and value-free account of the truth and, if so, how such truth claims are to be justified. The Epistemologies of journalism can be classified with respect to two fundamental dimensions: Objectivism and Empiricism.
Objectivism
The first dimension, related to the question of how truth can be attained, is concerned with a philosophical or absolute sense of objectivity rather than with a procedural sense of objectivity as method. The division tracks along a divide between the correspondence pole (high), which assumes that there is a correspondence between "what is said" and "what exists", and a subjectivism pole (low) which adheres to the view that all news is selective and that human beings perceive reality based on judgments. Journalism cultures which load high on the Objectivity dimension endorse the principles of epistemological foundationalism, which holds knowledge as the correspondence between mental impression and the true shape of the existent actual, and perceptual realism, in which the perceived objects are seen as independent of the existence of any perceiver. Journalists claim the existence of an objective and ultimate truth "out there" that oughts to be "mirrored", and not to be created, invented or altered in any way. The observer and the observed are seen as two distinct categories, and it is assumed that reality, in principle, can be perceived and described "as it is" and tested against the "genuine reality".
Extreme subjectivism, on the other hand, entails the constructivist idea that there is no absolute truth, and journalists inescapably create their own realities. Subjectivist journalists believe that the news is just a representation of the world, and all representations are inevitably selective and require interpretation. Truth, and its pursuit, can therefore not be separated from context and human subjectivity, rendering it impossible for journalists to produce value-free accounts of events. Although subjectivist journalists agree on the view that truth must be pursued, they believe that truth ultimately emerges from a combination of -- or competition between -- a potentially infinite number of subjective accounts (objectivity as the "sum total of subjectivities"). Such an understanding of a discoursive approximation to truth foregrounds explicit and open competition in the public domain, which means competition in the marketplace as well as competition between mainstream news and alternative accounts.
Empiricism
The second dimension of the epistemology constituent is concerned with the means by which a truth claim is ultimately justified by the journalist. There are basically two ideal-typical ways of justifying truth claims in the epistemology of journalism: Journalists can justify truth claims empirically (high) or analytically (low). Journalism cultures which prioritize an empirical justification of truth strongly emphasize observation, measurement, evidence and experience. Journalists who score high on the Empiricism dimension believe that truth essentially needs to be substantiated by facts, they give priority to factual knowledge over a priori (analytical) knowledge, while the procedural and methodological aspects of proper reporting (investigation, fact-checking, etc.) are highly valued. In its most radical form, this pole of the Empiricism dimension leads journalists to merely record events and let "the facts speak for themselves".
The negative end of the Empiricism continuum, where journalism cultures stress the analytical justification of truth claims, accentuates reason, ideas, values, opinion and analysis. Journalists who tend to this pole of the Empiricism dimension give priority to analytic knowledge with truth being independent of the facts. The credibility of analytical journalism, which becomes manifest as commentary and opinion journalism, is not rooted in conventional standards like accuracy, fairness and balance, but in its ability to persuade the audience.
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