Contextual objectivity is a principle with roots in
quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistr ...
that was adapted and applied to explain and describe the operations of
news media
The news media or news industry are forms of mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public. These include news agencies, print media (newspapers, news magazines), broadcast news (radio and television), and ...
organizations during times of
war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
. Proposed by
Adel Iskandar and
Mohammed El-Nawawy in their analysis of
Al-Jazeera as a case study, the term expresses the attempt "to reflect all sides of any story while retaining the values, beliefs and sentiments of the target audience". The concept has been applied by some scholars to explain
Fox News Channel's news programming in the 2002–2003 run-up to the
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror
, image ...
. Other studies used contextual objectivity to describe differences between
mainstream media and alternative ethnic media's coverage of post-
Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
References
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* Al-Jazeera: The Story of the Network that is Rattling Governments and redefining modern journalism, Adel Iskandar and Mohammed El-Nawawy
The Minotaur of 'Contextual Objectivity': War coverage and the pursuit of accuracy with appeal*
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Journalism
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