ABSTRACT
In the US, journalists and others have been deliberating the merits of objectivity and advocacy since the days of Benjamin Franklin and the flat-bed press. The issue was severely tested in the 1950s when Sen. Joseph McCarthy successfully manipulated the press and its extremely rigid definition of fairness and objectivity. Some conservative organizations have accused another nonprofit, Climate Central, of being an advocacy organization. Mainstream journalists operate under different rules than those who report for alternative news organizations or activists producing journalism for traditional advocacy organizations. Environmental journalists have a passion for the environment, the same way good sports reporters care about sports, education writers believe in learning, and business journalists thrive on the events of economic commerce. While it is important to report accurately about the science of an environmental issue, journalists also write about the political and public policy issues related to environmental initiatives.
