Impartiality

Impartiality is a key concept in journalism because the central purpose of the news media is the provision of information and knowledge necessary for political action and social integration. The idea of impartiality is recurrently rendered explicit in professional codes of ethics, according to which journalists ought to report the facts accurately and interpret them honestly, the facts must be proven, all the parties at stake deserve to be listened to, and finally, the difference between news and opinions should be made clear to the public.

These various dimensions are usually included in discussions of media impartiality, although each dimension is given different emphasis in different institutional contexts. This entry focuses on the evolution of the meaning of the term impartiality as it relates to the ...