Neutrality and impartiality in Midwestern U.S. newspapers: community-oriented newspaper journalists reporting of environmental water problems in agricultural and ranching states

ABSTRACT

Background

U.S. journalists embedded in rural and agricultural communities could adversely affect the health of residents if they avoid alerting and engaging their readers – farmers, ranchers, and community members – on environmental and health issues. We expected reporters would maintain community status quo and inaction by framing local water pollution and quality issues neutrally deemphasizing threats and solutions to maintain their own credibility as unbiased informational sources.

Method

In a content analysis of local water quality newspaper articles from five farming and cattle ranching states in the west central U.S. Midwest, we employed seven variables to investigate whether journalists practiced neutral, detached forms of journalism (i.e. dissemination versus interpretative role enactment, government-frame) as well as whether they deemphasized water pollution as a concerning issue (i.e. problem, threat), water pollution solutions, and readers’ efficaciousness.

Results

The results showed these journalists relied heavily on government-driven narratives presenting water quality issues from an impartial, straight reporting lens in which they primarily followed the journalistic dissemination role enactment, while neglecting to provide readers with interpretative, threat, efficacy, or solution’s information.

Conclusions

The study seeks to help communicators understand the information diet people living in this part of the country likely receive on environmental and health risks in the context of water pollution. Communicators seeking to reach and affect audiences in this region should understand local information practices to navigate how to craft culturally specific public health messages.

KEYWORDS:

• Health communication
• journalists
• mass media
• newspapers
• public health
• media
• rural journalism
• water quality

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the contribution of Sydney Wilson and her paid work assisting with populating the sampling frame.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical approval

This study didn't involve human participants and therefore didn't require an ethics review.

Authors contributions

The authors confirm contributions to the paper as follows: (a) study conceptualization, design, and instrument selection by Jessica Walsh and Serena Miller; (b) manuscript preparation and editing by Serena Miller, Jessica Walsh and Mildred Perreault (c) data coding by Jessica Walsh, Mildred Perreault, and Endurance Lawrence; and (d) statistical analyses and interpretations by Serena Miller. All authors reviewed the results and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Data availability statement

Email the corresponding author for the data file.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska.

Notes on contributors

Jessica Walsh

Jessica Walsh (M.A., University of Nebraska-Lincoln) is an Assistant Professor of journalism at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her research interests include rural journalism, environmental journalism, leadership in newsrooms as well as instruction of editing and AP Style in college classrooms. Her work has been published in Journalism Practice, Newspaper Research Journal, and Mass Communication and Society. She worked as a journalist for 13 years.

Serena Miller

Serena Miller (Ph.D., Michigan State University) is an Associate Professor at MSU, former Methodology Associate Editor for Review of Communication Research, and a former Associate Editor for Journalism Studies. Informed by mixed methods research, her general research interests include social science theory building, metascience, and alternative forms of journalism. She enjoys targeting concepts in need of conceptual and empirical specification. Miller teaches scale development; survey research; content analysis; social science theory building; and multimedia, data, and digital journalism.

Mildred Perreault

Mildred Perreault (Ph.D., University of Missouri) is an Assistant Professor at the University of South Florida. Perreault studies journalism, social media, and public relations in crisis and disaster. She is the co-editor of Crisis Communication Case Studies on COVID-19: Multidimensional perspectives and applications with Sarah Smith-Frigerio. Perreault worked in journalism and public relations in Washington, D.C. and south Florida. Perreault has been published in Mass Communication and Society, American Behavioral Scientist, Disasters, and Communication Studies.

Endurance Lawrence

Endurance Lawrence (BDS, University of Nigeria, Nsukka; M.P.H., East Tennessee State University) had his undergraduate training in dental surgery at the University of Nigeria and practiced clinical dentistry and dental public health. Recognizing the occupational hazards faced by dental professionals, including ergonomic risks and exposure to blood borne pathogens, he transitioned to pursue a master's degree in public health at East Tennessee State University. Endurance's research interests include water and noise pollution and occupational health.