Journalism Interprets, Sociology Scientizes

This chapter examines the paradox that, even as journalism became more professional and concerned with social structure, it became increasingly distant from social science after the 1920s. The boundary work carried out by both journalism and sociology to distinguish themselves from each other is described through a variety of content analyses of leading professional journals. The chapter points to some of the reasons why journalism and sociology grew apart, including the fact that data in journalism was primarily displayed visually and lacked causal claims. A discourse analysis of journals and newspapers shows that sociologists increasingly viewed journalism and fundamentally unscientific.