Navigating the White Credential: How Journalists of Color Disrupt Tradition Through Acknowledging Race Within the Newsroom.

• In Event: Race, Gender, and Class Roundtables Session
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): 8) Identities: Race, Class, and (Other) Inequalities

Abstract

Since 2020, American journalism has faced public and internal turmoil over its commitment to journalistic objectivity (Schmidt 2023). Critiques of the once-considered “golden standard” have largely come from journalists of color since its inception in the early 20th century. In this study, I interviewed 52 American journalists about their experiences engaging with journalistic objectivity after 2020. The findings illustrate that for respondents who are not white, their journalistic identity and role represent an entirely different experience than those of their white colleagues. For this study, journalists of color argue that a lens is needed to navigate the contradictions of journalistic objectivity and how dominant whiteness is embedded as a credential within the everyday requirements of presenting their journalistic identity, both within and outside the organization.

Author

• Chad Rhym, University of Iowa