Impartiality is a journalistic norm that requires journalists to not express their opinions within factual-based news stories and to report fairly and balanced on opinions and viewpoints from others (e.g., Bentele, 1988; Donsbach & Klett, 1993; Hackett, 2008). Based on the impartiality standard, journalists should only express their own opinions in news formats that are intended for this purpose and appropriately labelled (e.g., commentaries).
Field of application/theoretical foundation:
The journalistic norm of impartiality is often analysed in the context of studies on media performance (e.g., Fahr, 2001; Maurer, 2005; Seethaler, 2015). Here, elite media outlets are often compared with popular media outlets. An increasing convergence between these types of media may also be a sign of an increasing tabloidization of elite media. However, increasingly opinionated news stories can also be regarded as an indicator of a more interpretive journalism.
References/combination with other methods of data collection:
Content analyses can be combined with survey data on the editorial policy/ ideological orientation of the respective media outlets (e.g., see Kepplinger, 2011 with his research on instrumental actualization).
Example study:
Seethaler, 2015
Information on Seethaler, 2015
Authors: Josef Seethaler
Research question: The study is a cross-media analysis of media performance in Austria. Furthermore, media performance indicators are evaluated from the standpoint of different models of democracy (representative liberal, deliberative, participatory).
Object of analysis: 1) newspapers (paid press: Standard, Presse, Kleine Zeitung, Kronen Zeitung, Kurier, Oberösterreichische Nachrichten, Salzburger Nachrichten, Tiroler Tageszeitung, Vorarlberger Nachrichten); 2) newspapers (free dailies: Heute, Österreich); 3) public service/commercial and national/regional radio stations (Ö1, Ö3, FM4, KRONEHIT, ORF – Radio Niederösterreich, Radio Oberösterreich, Radio Steiermark, Radio Wien, 88.6 Wien, Antenne Steiermark, Life Radio Oberösterreich, Radio Arabella Wien, Radio Energy Wien); 4) national public service (ORF eins, ORF 2, ORF III) and commercial (ATV I, ATV II, PULS 4, ServusTV) TV stations; 5) online (derstandard.at, krone.at, oe24.at, orf.at, gmx.at)
Time frame of analysis: four artificial weeks (without Sundays) in 2014
Info about the Variable
The degree of the appearance of the journalist’s point of view (in factual news formats) is evaluated on a 5-point-scale ranging from “explicitly personal” (1) to “purely distanced-impartial” (5).
Variable name: Unparteilichkeit "Impartiality"
Level of analysis: article
Values (in German): 11) explizit persönlich gefärbt; 2) eher persönlich gefärbt; 3) sowohl persönlich gefärbt als auch distanziert-unparteiisch; 4) eher distanziert-unparteiisch; 5) ausschließlich distanziert-unparteiisch
Level of measurement: ordinal
Reliability: six coders, Fleiss’ Kappa: 0.97
Codebook (in German) available under: https://www.rtr.at/de/inf/SchriftenreiheNr12015/Band1-2015.pdf
see also DFG-Project “Media Performance and Democracy” (https://en.mediaperformance.uni-mainz.de/)
References
Bentele, G. (1988). Wie objektiv können Journalisten sein? [How objective can journalists be?]. In L. Erbring (Ed.), Medien ohne Moral. Variationen über Journalismus und Ethik (pp. 196–225). Berlin: Argon.
Donsbach, W., & Klett, B. (1993). Subjective objectivity: How journalists in four countries define a key term of their profession. Gazette, 51(1), 53–83.
Fahr, A. (2001). Katastrophale Nachrichten? Eine Analyse der Qualität von Fernsehnachrichten [Disastrous news? An analysis of the quality of television news]. München: R. Fischer.
Hackett, R. A. (2008). Objectivity in reporting. In W. Donsbach (Ed.), The International Encyclopedia of Communication (pp. 3345–3350). Malden et al.: Blackwell.
Kepplinger, H. M. (2011). Journalismus als Beruf. Wiesbaden: VS.
Maurer, T. (2005). Fernsehnachrichten und Nachrichtenqualität: Eine Längsschnittstudie zur Nachrichtenentwicklung in Deutschland [Television news and news quality: A longitudinal study on the development of news in Germany]. München: R. Fischer.
Seethaler, J. (2015). Qualität des tagesaktuellen Informationsangebots in den österreichischen Medien. Eine crossmediale Untersuchung [News media quality in Austria: A crossmedia analysis]. Rundfunk und Telekom Regulierungs-GmbH. Retrieved from https://www.rtr.at/de/inf/SchriftenreiheNr12015/Band1-2015.pdf
News Releases and Public Service Announcements
