"Improving the Race": The Discourse of Science and Eugenics in Local News Coverage, 1905–1922. Issue 4 (1st October 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Grant, Rachel; Mislán, Cristina
• Is Part Of: American journalism. Volume 37:Issue 4(2020)
• Page Start: 476
• Page End: 499
• Publication Date: 2020-10-01
• Subjects: Journalism -- United States -- History -- Periodicals; Journalism -- History -- Periodicals; Journalism -- United States -- Periodicals; Periodicals; 071.309
• DOI: 10.1080/08821127.2020.1830627
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0882-1127

Abstract

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.