Fact Checking:Engels'View of Journalism in Hundreds of Coverages of the First Italian War of Independence
This article takes as its subject the first-ever translation of a hundred reports by Friedrich Engels on the First Italian War of Independence from June 1848,discussing several key points of his view on journalism:he supports the Italian national independence war but does not allow his own biases to influence his judgment of reports on the Italian side;insists on having a broad rather than narrow range of sources;views the reporting of facts as a process of creating an accurate report;cites two or more sources,analyzes the reliability of these sources and distinguishes their biases;and possesses geographical and military knowledge relevant to war reporting.The author believes that Engels'understanding appears rudimentary but is actually a manifestation of adhering to the principles of journalistic work and aligns with the epistemology of historical materialism.In this sense,it is essential to research the historical origins of the Marxist view of journalism.
Friedrich Engelsreports on the First Italian War of IndependenceNeue Rheinische Zeitungjournalistic truthfact-checking