Objectivity has long been contentious in American journalism. Many practitioners call it essential to a news organization's credibility. Critics, however, hold objectivity is impossible and urge reporters simply to reveal their biases. For educators, teaching objectivity is challenging. Some, seeking a middle ground, instead urge fairness and…

A contribution to the debate on the journalism of opinion. (Author)

Survey of 108 reporters while battles raged during the Yom-Kippur War show the differences in attitudes of resident and visiting correspondents toward news sources. (RB)

Differences in crowd estimates at 1965 and 1967 anti-war demonstrations as reported by dove and hawk papers stem from the use of different sources. (RB)

Factor analysis of 50 editors' responses to a questionnaire eliciting information about objectivity found general agreement on the subject but clear differences of emphasis on various aspects of it. (FL)

This issue of "Journalism Monographs" deals specifically with the state of newspaper journalism in Sri Lanka, formerly the Dominion of Ceylon. The country's literacy rate is about 81 percent. The first section of this article is a general discussion of newspaper journalism in Sri Lanka, examining historical background and such press…

Reports that male editors of women's/lifestyle pages cover more male-oriented subjects than female editors; that men favor coverage of entertainment while women favor coverage of club and social news and the women's movement; and that nontraditional men editors choose a leisure focus while nontraditional women editors choose a social change…

Reports that editorial page editors and cartoonists agree on most aspects of the cartoonist's role, but differ on the amount of freedom allowed the cartoonist. (FL)

In requesting after action reports--Pentagon-prepared summaries of interviews between reporters and Pentagon officials--investigative reporter Jack Taylor both aroused Pentagon opposition and created a rift between the Pentagon press corps and outside reporters. To investigate whether the full-time Pentagon press corps was reporting as…

Presents the responses of ten of a total of seventy-three black press publishers, editors, and reporters who were asked in a national survey, "What is it that makes news?" (RB)

A study of newspapers in three Louisiana cities suggests that whether a city's newspapers are owned jointly or by separate owners, little duplication occurs in newspaper appearance or content. (GW)

Traces the evolution of libel law involving the clergy as plaintiff and the news media as defendant. Concludes that the clergy's position in libel suits is not as favorable as it once was but that it is still more favorable than that of most other types of plaintiffs. (FL)

An analysis of the election stories about presidential candidates that appeared in three major news magazines during the 1976 presidential campaign reveals that coverage of Eugene McCarthy's candidacy was unbiased but meager. (GT)