Professional journalism faces a legitimacy crisis. The Trump years brought one set of problems to the foreground; the years ahead will bring others more clearly into view.
The model of professional journalism that is most familiar in the United States is not timeless. It first arose under particular conditions in the early 20th century. That’s when university programs in journalism first opened their doors and journalists started crafting professional codes. In this vision, journalists were supposed to acquire the expertise to decide what counts as news and how to report it. Their professional discretion was purported to be the key to resisting pressures from political leaders, business interests, and audiences.
This model contrasted sharply with the effusively partisan style of news that had pervaded the U.S. through most of the 19th century. Much of that era’s press fed off partisan loyalties. It relied on a shared political identity with its audience for appeal and perceived credibility, as Richard Kaplan argues in his careful and detailed portrait of the rise of journalistic objectivity and professionalism. Kaplan showed that one major factor prompting journalism’s professional transformation was a shift in American political culture. In the midst of Progressive Era reforms and Populist insurgency, party machines lost power and the intensity of partisan loyalties diminished.
While professionalism promised them greater autonomy, journalists never achieved a broad mandate to act as a critical check on popular opinions, to exercise their own political judgment, or to seriously engage socially marginalized viewpoints. Instead, Kaplan argues, the ideal of objectivity led journalists to link “their fortunes to the elite” for a “semblance of power and prestige.” Journalists largely deferred to government officials and party elites to set boundaries around what Daniel Hallin calls the “sphere of legitimate controversy.” This professional model also called on journalists to venture cautiously when hitting upon issues of elite controversy. They relied heavily on the technique of presenting “both sides” of an issue while withholding their own obvious pronouncements.
The influence of this model of professional journalism has been declining for decades. Its problems and faults have been numerous: from the narrow perspective and social exclusivity of a profession long dominated by white men to the contradictions of a technocratic approach to making news decisions unavoidably touching upon contested values.
But even with all its weaknesses, we haven’t seen an alternative model emerge that can speak across partisan and social divides. To the extent that news outlets have achieved such cross-partisan and popular legitimacy, they’re still riding off the fumes of professionalism.
This situation poses delicate challenges. During the Trump years, progressive news workers, readers, and viewers rightfully put much more pressure on news outlets to ditch the timidity of previous professional norms — calling on outlets to boldly label politicians’ lies and racist fearmongering and assert a voice in defense of democratic ideals. There’s no going back to a model of journalism that leans into bothsidesism to secure loyalties across the partisan spectrum. But in a state of dizzying polarization, journalism has little foothold on any other source of cultural authority that spans partisan and social divides.
Many of us accept that “neutrally reported” facts alone are not sufficient to counteract the threats of anti-democratic movements and demagogues trading in propaganda and manipulation. But neither is a press that speaks with moral clarity and conviction about these dangers — unless it enjoys a broad and popular perception of legitimacy.
Creating institutions and platforms capable of supporting democracy’s communicative needs under such conditions is the struggle that lies ahead.
Anthony Nadler is an associate professor of media and communication studies at Ursinus College.
Professional journalism faces a legitimacy crisis. The Trump years brought one set of problems to the foreground; the years ahead will bring others more clearly into view.
The model of professional journalism that is most familiar in the United States is not timeless. It first arose under particular conditions in the early 20th century. That’s when university programs in journalism first opened their doors and journalists started crafting professional codes. In this vision, journalists were supposed to acquire the expertise to decide what counts as news and how to report it. Their professional discretion was purported to be the key to resisting pressures from political leaders, business interests, and audiences.
This model contrasted sharply with the effusively partisan style of news that had pervaded the U.S. through most of the 19th century. Much of that era’s press fed off partisan loyalties. It relied on a shared political identity with its audience for appeal and perceived credibility, as Richard Kaplan argues in his careful and detailed portrait of the rise of journalistic objectivity and professionalism. Kaplan showed that one major factor prompting journalism’s professional transformation was a shift in American political culture. In the midst of Progressive Era reforms and Populist insurgency, party machines lost power and the intensity of partisan loyalties diminished.
While professionalism promised them greater autonomy, journalists never achieved a broad mandate to act as a critical check on popular opinions, to exercise their own political judgment, or to seriously engage socially marginalized viewpoints. Instead, Kaplan argues, the ideal of objectivity led journalists to link “their fortunes to the elite” for a “semblance of power and prestige.” Journalists largely deferred to government officials and party elites to set boundaries around what Daniel Hallin calls the “sphere of legitimate controversy.” This professional model also called on journalists to venture cautiously when hitting upon issues of elite controversy. They relied heavily on the technique of presenting “both sides” of an issue while withholding their own obvious pronouncements.
The influence of this model of professional journalism has been declining for decades. Its problems and faults have been numerous: from the narrow perspective and social exclusivity of a profession long dominated by white men to the contradictions of a technocratic approach to making news decisions unavoidably touching upon contested values.
But even with all its weaknesses, we haven’t seen an alternative model emerge that can speak across partisan and social divides. To the extent that news outlets have achieved such cross-partisan and popular legitimacy, they’re still riding off the fumes of professionalism.
This situation poses delicate challenges. During the Trump years, progressive news workers, readers, and viewers rightfully put much more pressure on news outlets to ditch the timidity of previous professional norms — calling on outlets to boldly label politicians’ lies and racist fearmongering and assert a voice in defense of democratic ideals. There’s no going back to a model of journalism that leans into bothsidesism to secure loyalties across the partisan spectrum. But in a state of dizzying polarization, journalism has little foothold on any other source of cultural authority that spans partisan and social divides.
Many of us accept that “neutrally reported” facts alone are not sufficient to counteract the threats of anti-democratic movements and demagogues trading in propaganda and manipulation. But neither is a press that speaks with moral clarity and conviction about these dangers — unless it enjoys a broad and popular perception of legitimacy.
Creating institutions and platforms capable of supporting democracy’s communicative needs under such conditions is the struggle that lies ahead.
Anthony Nadler is an associate professor of media and communication studies at Ursinus College.
John Saroff Covid sparks the growth of independent local news sites
Anna Nirmala Local news orgs grasp the urgency of community roots
John Ketchum More journalists of color become newsroom founders
Ben Werdmuller The web blooms again
Astead W. Herndon The Trump-sized window of the media caring about race closes again
Brian Moritz The year sports journalism changes for good
Cory Bergman The year after a thousand earthquakes
Jer Thorp Fewer pixels, more cardboard
Charo Henríquez A new path to leadership
Jody Brannon People won’t renew
Ståle Grut Network analysis enters the journalism toolbox
Jim Friedlich A newspaper renaissance reached by stopping the presses
Julia B. Chan and Kim Bui Millennials are ready to run things
Zizi Papacharissi The year we rebuild the infrastructure of truth
Matt DeRienzo Citizen truth brigades steer us back toward reality
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen Stop pretending publishers are a united front
Cherian George Enter the lamb warriors
Richard Tofel Less on politics, more on how government works (or doesn’t)
Juleyka Lantigua The download, podcasting’s metric king, gets dethroned
Don Day Business first, journalism second
Jonas Kaiser Toward a wehrhafte journalism
Alfred Hermida and Oscar Westlund The virus ups data journalism’s game
Ariel Zirulnick Local newsrooms question their paywalls
Christoph Mergerson Black Americans will demand more from journalism
J. Siguru Wahutu Journalists still wrongly think the U.S. is different
Jessica Clark News becomes plural
Brandy Zadrozny Misinformation fatigue sets in
Amara Aguilar Journalism schools emphasize listening
Garance Franke-Ruta Rebundling content, rebuilding connections
Mark Stenberg The rise of the journalist-influencer
Candis Callison Calling it a crisis isn’t enough (if it ever was)
John Davidow Reflect and repent
Logan Jaffe History as a reporting tool
María Sánchez Díez Traffic will plummet — and it’ll be ok
Annie Rudd Newsrooms grow less comfortable with the “view from above”
Robert Hernandez Data and shame
Jennifer Brandel A sneak peak at power mapping, 2073’s top innovation
Whitney Phillips Facts are an insufficient response to falsehoods
Kawandeep Virdee Goodbye, doomscroll
Mike Caulfield 2021’s misinformation will look a lot like 2020’s (and 2019’s, and…)
Heidi Tworek A year of news mocktails
Nisha Chittal The year we stop pivoting
Jennifer Choi What have we done for you lately?
Celeste Headlee The rise of radical newsroom transparency
Ben Collins We need to learn how to talk to (and about) accidental conspiracists
Steve Henn Has independent podcasting peaked?
Alicia Bell and Simon Galperin Media reparations now
Hadjar Benmiloud Get representative, or die trying
Meredith D. Clark The year journalism starts paying reparations
Rishad Patel From direct-to-consumer to direct-to-believers
Gordon Crovitz Common law will finally apply to the Internet
A.J. Bauer The year of MAGAcal thinking
Tauhid Chappell and Mike Rispoli Defund the crime beat
Ray Soto The news gets spatial
Talmon Joseph Smith The media rejects deficit hawkery
Pablo Boczkowski Audiences have revolted. Will newsrooms adapt?
Ariane Bernard Going solo is still only a path for the few
Joanne McNeil Newsrooms push back against Ivy League cronyism
M. Scott Havens Traditional pay TV will embrace the disruption
Colleen Shalby The definition of good journalism shifts
Michael W. Wagner Fractured democracy, fractured journalism
Julia Angwin Show your (computational) work
Alyssa Zeisler Holistic medicine for journalism
Rick Berke Virtual events are here to stay
Bill Adair The future of fact-checking is all about structured data
Chase Davis The year we look beyond The Story
Mariano Blejman It’s time to challenge autocompleted journalism
Nico Gendron Ask your readers to help build your products
Marcus Mabry News orgs adapt to a post-Trump world (with Trump still in it)
Chicas Poderosas More voices mean better information
José Zamora Walking the talk on diversity
Gabe Schneider Another year of empty promises on diversity
Catalina Albeanu Publish less, listen more
Sonali Prasad Making disaster journalism that cuts through the noise
Joni Deutsch Local arts and music make journalism more joyous
David Skok A pandemic-prompted wave of consolidation
Rachel Glickhouse Journalists will be kinder to each other — and to themselves
Jesse Holcomb Genre erosion in nonprofit journalism
Mandy Jenkins You build trust by helping your readers
Edward Roussel Tech companies get aggressive in local
Imaeyen Ibanga Journalism gets unmasked
Jacqué Palmer The rise of the plain-text email newsletter
Eric Nuzum Podcasting dodged a bullet in 2020, but 2021 will be harder
Ernie Smith Entrepreneurship on rails
Kerri Hoffman Protecting podcasting’s open ecosystem
John Garrett A surprisingly good year
Ashton Lattimore Remote work helps level the playing field in an insular industry
Hossein Derakhshan Mass personalization of truth
David Chavern Local video finally gets momentum
Beena Raghavendran Journalism gets fused with art
Jeremy Gilbert Human-centered journalism
Andrew Ramsammy Stop being polite and start getting real
Matt Skibinski Misinformation won’t stop unless we stop it
C.W. Anderson Journalism changed under Trump — will it keep changing under Biden?
Victor Pickard The commercial era for local journalism is over
Delia Cai Subscriptions start working for the middle
Mike Ananny Toward better tech journalism
Sarah Marshall The year audiences need extra cheer
Doris Truong Indigenous issues get long-overdue mainstream coverage
Gonzalo del Peon Collaborations expand from newsrooms to the business side
Raney Aronson-Rath To get past information divides, we need to understand them first
Tamar Charney Public radio has a midlife crisis
Sue Cross A global consensus around the kind of news we need to save
Sarah Stonbely Videoconferencing brings more geographic diversity
Cindy Royal J-school grads maintain their optimism and adaptability
Kate Myers My son will join every Zoom call in our industry
Patrick Butler Covid-19 reporting has prepared us for cross-border collaboration
Megan McCarthy Readers embrace a low-information diet
An Xiao Mina 2020 isn’t a black swan — it’s a yellow canary
Renée Kaplan Falling in love with your subscription
Aaron Foley Diversity gains haven’t shown up in local news
Kevin D. Grant Parachute journalism goes away for good
Sam Ford We’ll find better ways to archive our work
Anthony Nadler Journalism struggles to find a new model of legitimacy
Mark S. Luckie Newsrooms and streaming services get cozy
Errin Haines Let’s normalize women’s leadership
Ryan Kellett The bundle gets bundled
Laura E. Davis The focus turns to newsroom leaders for lasting change
Janet Haven and Sam Hinds Is this an AI newsroom?
Danielle C. Belton A decimated media rededicates itself to truth
Rachel Schallom The rise of nonprofit journalism continues
Parker Molloy The press will risk elevating a Shadow President Trump
Sumi Aggarwal News literacy programs aren’t child’s play
Joshua P. Darr Legislatures will tackle the local news crisis
Sara M. Watson Return of the RSS reader
Nikki Usher Don’t expect an antitrust dividend for the media
Loretta Chao Open up the profession
Tim Carmody Spotify will make big waves in video
Benjamin Toff Beltway reporting gets normal again, for better and for worse
Masuma Ahuja We’ll remember how interconnected our world is
Rodney Gibbs Zooming beyond talking heads
Linda Solomon Wood Canada steps up for journalism
Burt Herman Journalists build post-Facebook digital communities
Francesco Zaffarano The year we ask the audience what it needs
Moreno Cruz Osório In Brazil, a push for pluralism
Samantha Ragland The year of journalists taking initiative
Shaydanay Urbani and Nancy Watzman Local collaboration is key to slowing misinformation
Tanya Cordrey Declining trust forces publishers to claim (or disclaim) values
Marie Shanahan Journalism schools stop perpetuating the status quo
Francesca Tripodi Don’t expect breaking up Google and Facebook to solve our information woes
Pia Frey Building growth through tastemakers and their communities
Jean Friedman-Rudovsky and Cassie Haynes A shift from conversation to action
Taylor Lorenz Journalists will learn influencing isn’t easy
Nonny de la Pena News reaches the third dimension
Nabiha Syed Newsrooms quit their toxic relationships
Andrew Donohue The rise of the democracy beat
Zainab Khan From understanding to feeling
Kristen Muller Engaged journalism scales
Stefanie Murray and Anthony Advincula Expect to see more translations and non-English content
Natalie Meade Journalism enters rehab
Marissa Evans Putting community trauma into context
Tonya Mosley True equity means ownership
Nicholas Jackson Blogging is back, but better
Bo Hee Kim Newsrooms create an intentional and collaborative culture