How News Became Objective

One of the first demands for objective reporting rose from the penny papers of the 19th century. The economic model of the papers targeted mass audiences. The masses at the time were not highly educated, and thus would have found it difficult to follow opinionated commentary and critical essays. A larger audience was also more likely to have varied political tendencies and traditions, so articles free from specific political leanings were more popular. Thus articles became less opinionated and were based more on fact. They took on a story-telling format to cater to a people that sought entertainment in stories, and straight forwardness in reporting.

When newspapers joined together to become the Associated Press they were pooling resources to cut costs on getting news stories, and ended up changing the way news was released. They wanted to share the costs of receiving reports from far away, particularly from the Mexican-American war that was happening in the western United States at the time. The cooperative was a force to be reckoned with, benefiting all its members. The fact that newspapers began to share reporters and stories demanded an extra layer of objectivity in the way stories were reported and written. The newspapers' audiences were spread across a large spectrum of opinions, so the stories had to appeal to that variation of opinions by being more fact oriented. The Associated Press was also managed by Melville Stone from 1893 to 1921. He allegedly had high standard of integrity and impartiality which he demanded of reporters and other members of the press, furthering the advancement of objectivity through the media.

Newspapers grew in size and importance in American society. Literacy and education slowly improved, increasing readership. Business expanded and offered more money for advertising. Newspapers became the central source of information on everything from politics to culture until other medias began to push it out of the way. The potentiality for success in the newspaper industry created pressure for higher standards. There were more competitors, so papers had to be careful not to anger readers with over-opinionated articles or false facts. Advertisers became increasingly important for financing news organizations, whether on the radio, television or paper. As advertisers were attracted to large audiences, and gaining a mass audience required opinion, reporters were increasingly required to keep their sentiments out of stories. Facts was what culturally diverse, economy driven Americans wanted, so facts they were given.

Sources:
-Vivian, John. The Media of Mass Communication.
-http://www.ap.org/pages/about/history/history.html
-http://www.cpb.org/aboutcpb/goals/objectivity/whitepapers/cpb_BestPractices_Kaplan.pdf