Assessments of objectivity in journalism require more than judgements about the impartiality of content

Assessments of objectivity in journalism require more than judgements about the impartiality of content 2The central proposition put forward here is that assessments about media objectivity should take into account factors that go beyond the content of a journalist's work.The proposition is advanced as a way to help navigate the acute challenges to the ideal of objectivity that arise from the combined effects of social media and the scrutiny of journalistic judgements brought about by intensely polarised political forces.These forces have the power to frame journalistic performance by reference to their own interests rather to any objective standard of truth.The purpose of this paper is to provide a response to this relatively new operating environment by focusing attention on a wider range of considerations that affect objectivity beyond the traditional focus on impartiality of content.That remains central, but other relevant factors are the systemic processes inside media organisations that influence journalistic output, and the tension between the right of journalists to participate in civic life outside their job and the right of media organisations to protect their reputations for producing objective journalism.It is argued that there are five elements to be considered in assessing objectivity: impartiality of content; the process of gatekeeping; the process of deciding who is fit to tell the story; the independence journalists bring to their work, and the process by which that independence is assessed by their employer.Each of these is examined in the light of contemporary events.From this, conclusions are drawn about a refreshed approach to this vexed question.