Journalism and criticism:The Philadelphia inquirerNorplant editorial

Abstract

At the end of 1990, The Philadelphia Inquirer was the site of a heated controversy over an editorial that asked whether poor, black women should be given incentives for using the contraceptive Norplant. Editors, reporters, and readers engaged in bitter debate in the pages of the paper. Through a case study of the controversy in The Inquirer, this article looks at arguments for criticism of the press by the press in the press, and it reflects on the authority that routinely precludes but sometimes admits such criticism. The passion and often privileged position of the criticism gained keen insights into what Tuchman called “the sociology of the newspaper”—“the territorial, institutional, and topical chains of command.” Yet the criticism failed to take on systemic, structural weaknesses in the newspaper industry and editorial process, weaknesses at the heart of the Norplant debate. The lack and gain of The Inquirer criticism leads finally to a reevaluation of arguments in support of press‐sponsored criticism and takes up a larger discussion of the strategic use of reflexivity and the symbolic functions of press criticism in and by the press.