Beyond Objectivity: On Punditry and Legitimation

• In Event: 365 - Section on Sociology of Culture Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 03. Cultural Production

Abstract

Abstract
In recent years, the corporate news industry has with a variety of programs that blur the distinction between real/fake, information/entertainment and media/politics. This research argues that corporate news talk programs employ a variety of pragmatic strategies in order to establish a relationship with their viewer while giving their program a reified and natural value that states an ontological truth to their audience. Specifically, this research is concerned with displays of objectivity and critique that cite journalistic norms of credibility in order to reinforce dominant ideological cultural codes while reflexively self-legitimizing their own corporate program and network brand. Data for this study was collected by analyzing more than 300 individual news segments from The O’Reilly Factor, Countdown, The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. More than 300 individual segments were transcribed and then analyzed thematically and visually. Results of a comparative pragmatic analysis indicate that the traditional norms of journalistic integrity can no longer serve to evaluate the value of contemporary of news talk programs as these performative practices claim the legitimacy and “truth” of their ideological messages not simply by giving strong empirical evidence, but by creating a trusting relationship with the viewer through a variety of pragmatic effects.

Author

• Samuel Matthew Claster, Edinboro University-Pennsylvania