Citation

Grant R, Mislán C. American Journalism 2020; 37(4): 476-499.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020)

DOI

10.1080/08821127.2020.1830627

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In the early twentieth century, journalism contributed to the eugenics movement before it reached national and global saliency. Local newspapers played a role in writing about eugenics in Columbia, Missouri, that integrated "scientific" discourse with questions about the social and cultural makeup. Examining the Missouri School of Journalism's newspaper, the Columbia Missourian, and the city's newspaper, the Columbia Tribune, shows that the media discourse focused on three themes: 1) "race suicide" and its implications for designating social value; 2) elevating the "superior race" through purity and racial difference; and 3) promoting the politics of respectability. This article contributes to previous research on early journalism by analyzing how local news production incorporated "objectivity" as a practice that in turn elevated eugenics as a legitimate form of science. © 2020 American Journalism Historians Association.

Language: en