Summary :
This book brings a philosophical and historical perspective to the study of journalism ethics. As a work in the philosophy of journalism, the book is a systematic attempt to understand the editorial standards espoused by journalists since the invention of the printing press. The result is a theoretical framework for conceptualizing the evolution of journalism ethics and a new concept of journalism objectivity. I call the framework a rhetorical theory of value change in journalism. It views the ethical assertions of journalists as a form of persuasive, rhetorical speech. Journalists appeal to ethical norms as part of a rhetorical strategy to defend their practices. The aim of editors’ ethical rhetoric is to establish, maintain, or enhance their own credibility and that of their publications. Ethical rhetoric is a crucial factor in the maintenance of a healthy communicative relationship between journalist and reader or between journalism and society. Without a solid, credible, communicative relationship, journalists run afoul of social critics and regulators and lose the support of readers. My rhetorical theory asserts that this communicative relationship largely determines in any era the kind of ethics that defines journalism – the norms to which editors appeal rhetorically. In turn, a number of factors shape this communicative relationship: the available technology, accepted practices, and economic, social, and political conditions.

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