Racializing objectivity : how the white southern press used journalism standards to defend Jim Crow / Gwyneth Mellinger.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mellinger, Gwyneth, author.

Series:

Journalism and democracy

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Journalism--Southern States--History--20th century.

Journalism.

African Americans--Segregation--History--Press coverage.

African Americans.

Racism in the press--Southern States.

Racism in the press.

African Americans--Southern States--History--20th century.

American newspapers--Southern States--History--20th century.

American newspapers.

African American newspapers--History--20th century.

African American newspapers.

Press and politics--Southern States.

Press and politics.

Physical Description:

xiv, 283 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press, [2024]

Summary:

"When the civil rights movement began to challenge Jim Crow laws, the white southern press reframed the coverage of racism and segregation as a debate over journalism standards. Many white editors, for instance, designated Black Americans as "Negro" in news stories, claiming it was necessary for accuracy and "objectivity," even as white subjects went unlabeled. This weaponization of journalism standards-particularly the idea of objectivity-was used to counter and discredit reporting that challenged white supremacy. Gwyneth Mellinger exposes how these standards were used as rationalization for white supremacy and as a political strategy to resist desegregation, while arguing that white privilege gave these professionals a stake in the racial status quo and was thus a conflict of interest. Elegant and incisive, Racializing Objectivity unequivocally demonstrates that a full telling of twentieth-century press history must reckon with the white southern press' cooptation of objectivity and other professional standards to skew racial narratives about Black Americans, as well as about northern whites and democracy itself"-- Provided by publisher.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Mellinger, Gwyneth, 1956- Racializing objectivity

ISBN:

9781625348104

162534810X

9781625348111

1625348118

OCLC:

1452447727