"Stephen Ward goes back to the partisan English newsbooks of the seventeenth century to pinpoint the origins of journalistic ethics. He demonstrates that concern for objectivity gained momentum in the late 1800s and discusses the many factors that motivated journalists to construct their own ideas of objectivity. Ward's theory of pragmatic objectivity draws on studies in epistemology and philosophy of science to construct a richer, more adequate conception of objectivity to guide journalism today."--Jacket.