The Jeremiad Over Journalism

opposing statements will serve as the definition of objectivity in the subsequent analysis. 171
Conclusion
In summary, the above section has shown that the journalistic ideal of objectivity is defined by
scholars and reporters, as factual, balanced, descriptive and commercially independent coverage.
The ideal of objectivity played a significant role in the spread of American discursive practices and
as such it is a important variable in any historical or content analysis of American influence. This
section has shown that the ideal of objectivity emanated in the United States and therefore fulfills
one of the prerequisites for a discussion of Americanization as identified in van Elteren‘s definition,
which emphasizes processes ―emanating from America or Americans‖ which impinge on non-
Americans. 172
The following section will define the second key independent variable used for the subsequent
content analysis; namely commercialization which is also identified in the Americanization
literature as a key driving force behind American influence.
2.3 Commercialization
As became apparent through the literature review on Americanization, commercial influence, is
viewed as one of the ―core values‖ or driving forces behind American influence around the
globe.‖ 173 Commercial influence is also a fundamental concept in studies of American journalism
and its influence on Europe. "The history of the American press from the 1970s to the present is
economic history,‖ writes communications scholar James T. Hamilton and adds, ―news is a
commercial product." 174 The prominence of the market also plays a significant role for Hallin and
171
For a discussion of the journalistic propensity of balancing opposing statements see Tom Goldstein, Journalism and
the Truth: Strange Bedfellows, ed. David Abrahamson, Visions of the American Press (Evanston: Northwestern
University Press, 2007). Page 63-76.
172
Elteren, Americanism and Americanization: A Critical History of Domestic and Global Influence. Page 103.
173
Ibid. Page 103 and Schröter, "Economic Culture and Its Transfer: An Overview of the Americanisation of the
European Economy, 1900-2005." Page 333.
174
James T. Hamilton, "The Market and the Media," in The Press, ed. Geneva Overholser and Kathleen Hall Jamieson,
Institutions of American Democracy (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005). Page 351. ―Although journalists may
not explicitly consider economics as they cover the day's events, the stories, reporters, firms, and the media that
ultimately survive in the marketplace depend on economic factors. The decisions of producers and editors are driven by
supply and demand.‖
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