Peer-Reviewed Journal Details
Mandatory Fields
Fahy D.
2018
January
Environmental Communication
Objectivity as Trained Judgment: How Environmental Reporters Pioneered Journalism for a “Post-truth” Era
Published
()
Optional Fields
Environmental journalism objectivity post-fact post-truth science controversies science journalism
© 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Amid debate about the role and practices of journalism in the era of Presidents Trump and Putin, this commentary argues that environmental journalism offers a conceptual model and guide to action for all journalists in the “post-truth” or “post-fact” era. Since the specialism was formed in the 1960s, environmental journalists have reported on politically partisan issues where facts are contested, expertise is challenged, and uncertainty is heightened. To deal with these and other challenges, environmental journalism, this commentary argues, has reassessed and reconfigured the foundational journalistic concept of objectivity. The specialism has come to view objectivity as the implementation of a transparent method, as the pluralistic search for consensus, and, most importantly, as trained judgment. By developing these definitions through the reporting of several science policy controversies, environmental journalists have pioneered journalism for the “post-truth” era.
1752-4032
10.1080/17524032.2018.1495093
Grant Details