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.

中文翻译：

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“改善种族”：地方新闻报道中的科学和优生学话语，1905-1922

在 20 世纪初，新闻业在优生学运动达到全国和全球显着性之前就为它做出了贡献。当地报纸在撰写密苏里州哥伦比亚的优生学方面发挥了作用，将“科学”话语与有关社会和文化构成的问题相结合。查看密苏里新闻学院的报纸《哥伦比亚密苏里人》和该市的报纸《哥伦比亚论坛报》，可以看出媒体的论述集中在三个主题上：1）“种族自杀”及其对指定社会价值的影响；2）通过纯洁和种族差异提升“上等种族”；3) 促进体面政治。