Date of Award

9-23-2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Mass Communication

First Advisor

Christopher Etheridge

Abstract

Documentary films and journalistic work share many common attributes. At their foundation, both tell stories about communities and important topics to people in those communities. Yet, when asked about trust in the medium, individuals generally show a significantly higher respect for documentary films than journalism. One way to understand how a media product may be trusted is through its objectivity, a concept that is important to journalists but not as crucial to documentary films. This thesis considers how the principles of objectivity may manifest in observational documentary film through a qualitative content analysis. Findings indicate that some measures of objectivity are common, while others are not often reflected in the work. Findings are discussed within the context of how objectivity may indicate how individuals conceptualize trust in documentary films.

Download

Share

COinS