Iconic photographs possess broad social and symbolic significance, are widely replicated over time and circulated across media platforms, and fuel public discussion. In an era of digital memes, they have become generative resources for memetic performances that not only can draw on these images’ historic authority but can also undermine it. Based on the analysis of the ‘Accidental Napalm’ memes, our research leads to a fourfold taxonomy, from memes that expand or expound the meaning of the original picture to those that narrow and potentially destroy its significance. Assessing Hariman and Lucaites’ contention that appropriations of iconic images enhance civic engagement and public culture, we argue that some memes may actually dissolve the original significance of iconic photographs and potentially degrade, rather than enhance, public culture.

Historically, journalism as a profession emerged alongside the notion of objectivity. However, in the past decades, objectivity has been dismissed not only as an unattainable standard but also as an undesirable norm. Yet an analysis of the criticisms reveals that most scholars actually fail to define journalistic objectivity. This article tries to remedy this flaw and to suggest that journalistic objectivity is an evolving notion which can no longer be considered a synonym for neutrality or detachment. Objectivity is a standard that promotes truth, defined as a ‘correspondence, grounded in correctness, between thought and reality’ (Heidegger, 1943:1). Unlike alternative standards which are centered on personal moral values, objectivity conceives of journalism as a performance, with this term referring to three interrelated dimensions: the essential notion of practice, the existence of concrete and universal criteria of evaluation, and the openness to criticisms.

Historically, impartiality has been imposed as the norm of professional journalism. Yet, be it conceived in terms of non-partisanship or balance, it offers a limited approach to the evaluation of the quality of news. This article revises the traditional approach to bias: As neutrality is impossible and truth does not lie in the middle, accuracy is better served by fairness than by a delusive position of impartiality. An alternative model promoting fairness is thus proposed, which is based on the criteria of consistency and justification of position-taking. Based on the work of socio-linguist Labov, this model is not without methodological challenges. We apply the model to a newspaper article for illustrative purposes and as a starting point for discussion, showing that, unlike impartiality, fairness is altogether an attainable and desirable standard.

What are the values guiding the French practice of journalism? What is the place of objectivity among these values? These questions were asked of 13 war correspondents working for eight of the leading French newspapers. While objectivity is rejected as either an unattainable standard or an undesirable norm, it appears that a definition of objectivity is lacking and that this notion is often mistaken for neutrality. Three different conceptions of objectivity-as-neutrality emerge from the interviewees’ discourses: as a separation between facts and commentaries, as cautiousness in labeling and as a balance between the parties. Can or should one of these conceptions serve as a guideline in the daily practice of journalism? The interviewees seem to be divided on this question and several propose moral values such as honesty or modesty as alternatives. The reference to moral values in turn proves problematic insofar as the focus on the journalists’ attitudes or intentions fails to address responsibility for highly consequential actions. In the end, when discussing specific dilemmas that they themselves have faced, most of the journalists quote accuracy and fairness as criteria for the evaluation of journalistic performance. ‘ Etre juste’ — meaning both to be accurate ( justesse) and to be fair ( justice) — is what is expected of a professional journalist.

In May 2011, IMF chief and French presidential contender Dominique Strauss-Kahn was arrested on sexual assault charges and forced to do the 'perp walk' in New York. The French press vividly criticized this shaming ritual, thus triggering reactions of defense, but also of self-questioning, in the American press. This study evaluates the extent to which the French criticism led the American press to show distance from the norms of its own national community. It contends that, in our age of globalized information, shaming rituals, which served to legitimate the dominant order, can now generate what Shani Orgad called 'estrangement'.