Showing papers in "Journalism Studies in 2000"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose that changing technology influences journalism in at least four broad areas: (1) how journalists do their work; (2) the content of news; (3) the structure or organization of the newsroom; and (4) the relationships between or among news organizations, journalists and their many publics.
Abstract: This article proposes that changing technology influences journalism in at least four broad areas: (1) how journalists do their work; (2) the content of news; (3) the structure or organization of the newsroom; and (4) the relationships between or among news organizations, journalists and their many publics. Although new media such as the Internet, World Wide Web and digital video are perhaps the most visible examples of technologies that are transforming journalism, the history of journalism is in many ways defined by technological change. The article concludes with a proposed research agenda for the study of journalism and technological change.
357 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue for the continued relevance of the propaganda model in explaining current media behavior and argue that it can be used to explain the media's behavior and performance, and present examples of media reporting that support this claim.
Abstract: This article describes the "propaganda model" of media behavior and performance, initially set down in the book Manufacturing Consent, and addresses some of the scholarly criticisms leveled against the model since its inception a decade ago. Drawing on contemporary examples of media reporting, the article argues for the continuing, if not increasing, relevance of the propaganda model in explaining current media behavior.
176 citations
TL;DR: A review of sociological and cultural approaches to the study of news access can be found in this paper, where the influence of two deep-seated paradigms -the sociological paradigm and the culturalist paradigm -has helped orientate the research field.
Abstract: At the heart of major theoretical approaches to the study of news and its relation to wider society are ideas about the mechanisms and meanings informing the patterns and processes of news access. This article reviews these efforts to theorize news access and notes the influence of two deep-seated paradigms - the sociological and the culturalist - that have helped orientate the research field. Sociological studies of news access approached as ?strategic action and definitional power? help to situate historically and understand the grounded play of power informing the interactions of news producers and news sources, but these tend to under-theorize important processes of ?cultural mediation? at work. Culturalist studies of news help to illuminate how cultural form - whether ?narrative?, ?myth? or ?ritual? - condition and shape the symbolic entry of news actors onto the news stage but, in the absence of empirical work attending to the complexities and contingencies of news production, tend to over-estimate ...
127 citations
TL;DR: In China, a number of important transformations in the political and media settings have contributed to the tentative institutionalization of a form of watchdog journalism that is both popular with media audiences and instrumental to the Party leadership in the post-Deng era as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Although investigative reporting is not new to journalism in China, a number of important transformations in the political and media settings have contributed to the tentative institutionalization of a form of watchdog journalism that is both popular with media audiences and instrumental to the Party leadership in the post-Deng era. While media organizations and journalists have commercial and professional imperatives, the central Party leadership has promoted a media watchdog role to reassert control over a dysfunctional bureaucracy and expose elements of bureaucratic capitalism that had become so ruthless that they have threatened the very existence of the state bureaucracy itself. By exposing officially denounced problems, calling individual transgressors to account, and drawing attention to the need for specific reforms, watchdog journalism promises to strengthen the Party's hegemony by smoothing the rough edges of the ongoing Chinese transformation and policing the political, economic, and social bou...
123 citations
TL;DR: The IABC Research Foundation's Excellence project as discussed by the authors found that the involvement of public relations in strategic management consistently was the best predictor of excellent public relations, and that both CEOs and communication managers in organizations with good public relations departments believed the function contributes more to organizational effectiveness than did those with less-excellent departments.
Abstract: This article establishes the case for public relations as a critical component of an organization?s strategic management processes and of the subsequent strategic management of public relations in an effective organization. The article begins with an elaboration of a theory of the value of strategic management in public relations. Qualitative and quantitative results of the IABC Research Foundation?s Excellence project, presented next, confirmed the importance of strategic public relations in helping make organizations effective. The involvement of public relations in strategic management consistently was the best predictor of excellent public relations in the 323 organizations studied. Both CEOs and communication managers in organizations with excellent public relations departments believed the function contributes more to organizational effectiveness than did those with less-excellent departments. However, the research also showed that ?strategic management? means different things to different practitio...
95 citations
TL;DR: A broader educational commitment to the professionalism of scholarship, as opposed to the more conventional view of media professionalism in the academy increasingly promoted by the media industry, is advocated in this article.
Abstract: Journalism education?s historical origins, intellectual tradition and media constituency have directed the field away from what could be a more lively engagement with the liberal arts, which are accepted in principle at least by academy and industry as a valuable foundation for professional journalism education. Yet students are increasingly disengaged from the democratic process, signaling a crucial need for promoting greater civic engagement. We urge a broader educational commitment to the professionalism of scholarship, as opposed to the more conventional view of media ?professionalism? in the academy increasingly promoted by the media industry. Meanwhile, the academic communication field ? the prevailing disciplinary identity of journalism ? has emphasized media effects and audience studies. As universities seek greater external financial support, this research is easily directed toward applied, or ?administrative,? research, leaving broader questions of journalism and democracy up for grabs. Our view...
91 citations
TL;DR: The authors found that much of the contradiction and ambiguity in Chinese journalism can be attributed to a struggle to reduce ideological dissonance as well as to the pulling forces of a burgeoning market economy.
Abstract: This study adopts an ideological dissonance perspective to examine Chinese journalism within the confines of a dying ideology. Based on data gathered from in-depth interviews, field observations and document analyses from 1995 to 2000, it finds that much of the contradiction and ambiguity in Chinese journalism can be attributed to a struggle to reduce ideological dissonance as well as to the pulling forces of a burgeoning market economy. In this struggle, Chinese journalists adopt one of five modes to cope with the inevitable ideological dissonance: (1) living with dissonance in the public discourse universe; (2) striking a consonance with Communist ideology; (3) consonance in the public discourse universe but independent expression in the private discourse universe; (4) pushing boundaries in public discourse universe while keeping independent expression in the private discourse universe; and (5) radical reduction of dissonance by aligning with a different ideology and expressing deviant ideas in a differ...
65 citations
TL;DR: The authors summarizes major avenues of research about online journalism, defined as journalism activities on and through the Internet and concerned with the use of such journalism products and services, including market analyses, product analyses, user studies, explorations of occupational changes, quality assessments, macro studies and experimental projects.
Abstract: This report summarizes major avenues of research about online journalism, defined as journalism activities on and through the Internet and concerned with the use of such journalism products and services. Seven trajectories or tracks of research about online journalism are identified: market analyses, product analyses, user studies, explorations of occupational changes, quality assessments, macro studies and experimental projects. Traditional approaches in the realm of public research are hardly compatible with the fast-evolving new technology. Most important research projects in the field are privately funded, not publicly accessible and tend to be market-driven. Some interesting new projects are on their way, but research about online journalism is only just beginning.
57 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that hard-hitting photojournalism is important in the daily press, and they stress that photographs might be used in evidence; the press does not have to be trivial; shocking photographs are a measure of the press's contribution to debate.
Abstract: Three problems present themselves to anyone who argues that hard-hitting photojournalism is important in the daily press. The first concerns the compromised nature of photography as a foundation for authentic eye-witness reports. Photography, even in its most realistic style, is no absolute guarantee or proof of events. The second problem derives from the poor state of the newspaper industry as a source of reliable public record. News has become more entertaining and trivial than concerned or controversial. The third problem, which is the main point of this essay, relates to how effective hard-hitting documentary record might be, given that readers are supposed to be quickly bored by images of suffering unknown strangers. The argument stresses that photographs might be used in evidence; the press does not have to be trivial; shocking photographs are a measure of the press's contribution to debate in a civilized society. What would it mean for everyday knowledge if images of horrible crimes ceased to circu...
48 citations
TL;DR: The role of journalism has arguably become more important with the unfolding of the Information Age, and particularly with the changing democratic significance of the mass media in this epoch; but the democratic role of journalists needs to be distinguished from a developmental role as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The role of journalism has arguably become more important with the unfolding of the Information Age, and particularly with the changing democratic significance of the mass media in this epoch; but the democratic role of journalism needs to be distinguished from a developmental role. It should also be disentangled from the role of media qua institution. Conceptualizing what a democratic role entails is clarified by identifying four distinct species of democratic journalism. While these remain relevant, their context is dramatically different to what it has been, and it is also very different in both First and Third World countries.
47 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored developments in theorizing about media transition in Central and Eastern Europe between 1990 and 1999 and concluded that "nothing essentially has happened in media theory: no new theory, no new concepts,no new patterns emerged from the media's evolution in these countries" and argued that the study of media transitions must embrace the valuable findings derived from the scholarly tradition of cultural anthropology which greatly illuminate these complex processes.
Abstract: This article explores developments in theorizing about media transition in Central and Eastern Europe between 1990 and 1999 Although the systematic findings of scholarly research are limited, the discussion below provides an overview of existing analyses and critiques of developments in journalism and media in their legal, economic, political and professional settings in post-communist countries It is argued that the study of media transitions must embrace the valuable findings deriving from the scholarly tradition of cultural anthropology which greatly illuminate these complex processes The article concludes that while studies of post-communist societies have "generated an interesting corpus of works and a passionate field for theoretical debates we have to recognize that nothing essentially has happened in media theory: no new theory, no new concepts, no new patterns emerged from the media's evolution in these countries"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore to what extent public service news reporting in Sweden has undergone any significant changes during the last decade, when public service broadcasting became exposed to commercial competition, and the analysis employs a historical approach that serves to uncover the trajectory of news reporting and journalism from the early days of regular television broadcasting in 1956 until the 1990s.
Abstract: This article explores to what extent public service news reporting in Sweden has undergone any significant changes during the last decade, when public service broadcasting became exposed to commercial competition. The analysis employs a historical approach that serves to uncover the trajectory of news reporting and journalism from the early days of regular television broadcasting in 1956 until the 1990s. The article aims to resolve some of the complexities and apparent contradictions of the ?popularization? of news in Swedish television, and the analysis addresses changes in news format and news organization as well as the specific aesthetics and discourse that characterize news as a cultural form. The argument advanced is that the empirical evidence lends very little support to the suggestion of a linear and continuous trend from a serious, informative coverage of society towards more lightweight journalism geared to maximize ratings. The long-term development of television news in Sweden can not be unde...
TL;DR: The authors explored UK press reporting in the immediate aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 and the shootings at Dunblane primary school in 1996 and explained the divergent tone and style of reporting of both these traumatic events involves an examination of the complex interplay between issues relating to the political economy of news production, the role of official discourse, hierarchies of media access and regulatory mechanisms governing the press.
Abstract: This article explores UK press reporting in the immediate aftermath of the Hillsborough Disaster in 1989 and the shootings at Dunblane Primary School in 1996. Although the circumstances surrounding each tragedy were very different, both resulted in the death and injury of many innocent victims. However, press reporting of Hillsborough added to the burden of grief of the bereaved and survivors through its hostile portrayal of Liverpool football supporters and the clear suggestion of their culpability for events. By contrast, coverage of the Dunblane tragedy was markedly more compassionate in its response to those most directly affected. An explanation of the divergent tone and style of reporting of both these traumatic events involves an examination of the complex interplay between issues relating to the political economy of news production, the role of ?official discourse?, hierarchies of media access and regulatory mechanisms governing the press.
TL;DR: The history of South African journalism and mass communication (JMC) scholarship at university level stretches back to the 1960s and five primary paradigms could be distinguished between 1960 and 1990 as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The history of South African journalism and mass communication (JMC) scholarship at university level stretches back to the 1960s. Five primary paradigms could be distinguished between 1960 and 1990. These were the German and Netherlands tradition (Zeitungswissenschaft and Perswetenschap, i.e. media history, law, ethics), positivist, functionalist, interpretative and Marxist. The last four approaches corresponded broadly to three sociological paradigms, namely: the positivist, idealist and realist. Different academic departments combined elements of the three approaches in varying proportions and combinations, each developing a preferred paradigm. This article begins with a cursory historical sketch of South African journalism, followed by a brief overview of JMC departments. The main trends in scholarship are then discussed against the backdrop of a qualitative analysis executed for this article. The authors conclude that theoretical and political rapprochement rather than division is occurring and evolvi...
TL;DR: This article explored the liberating and empowering potential of social theories for China's authoritarian-bureaucratic journalistic practices by relating them to empirical studies and analyzes the sociology of knowledge-cognitive interests, social positions and politico-economic contexts.
Abstract: This article explores the liberating and empowering potential of social theories for China's authoritarian-bureaucratic journalistic practices. By relating them to empirical studies, it analyzes the sociology of knowledge-cognitive interests, social positions and politico-economic contexts-of (a) liberal-pluralism, (b) the reformist Chinese ''Old Left'' of the 1980s and (c) the radical-critical Chinese ''New Left'' of the 1990s. These social theories converge on the central importance of democratizing China's party-state, but diverge on the role of the market in this process. While liberals empower the market to foster ''negative freedom'' for journalism, radicals attack the anti-democratic tendencies of media commercialization. Among the Chinese intelligentsia, the ''New Left'' is sharply critical of both liberal-pluralism and the ''Old Left''. New democratic discourses must explain the relationships between China's journalism and the state-market nexus in the context of globalization, thereby balancing ...
TL;DR: The authors examines the historical trajectory and significance of the conceptual change from "masses" to "audience" in China's media reform and examines the role of audience surveys in this process.
Abstract: This article examines the historical trajectory and significance of the conceptual change from ''masses'' to ''audience'' in China's media reform. This change eroded Mao's ''Party-masses model'' of propaganda and its prescribed political and ideological relationship between the press and readers in both the discursive and practice domains of Chinese journalism. In journalistic discourse, the de-politicized conception of the audience as a new media ideology as well as a rhetorical device, coupled with the political and economic dynamics of marketization, circumvents the established interpretation of the roles and functions of the media to ''educate, agitate and organize the masses''. In journalistic practice, the ideational change makes it possible to incorporate audience surveys into media organizational routines. As an institutionalized practice, audience surveys promote and stabilize the notion of the audience and bestow it with currency in the routine operations of the media. The process of ideational ...
TL;DR: In this paper, questions and answers about public journalism are asked and answered using a question-and-answer format, and answers are provided by the authors, with references from the authors.
Abstract: (2000). Questions and Answers About Public Journalism. Journalism Studies: Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 679-683.
TL;DR: The authors presented a more positive evaluation of contemporary political journalism and its contribution to the democratic process, and suggested an argument for the broadening and reinterpretation of normative standards in public communication.
Abstract: This article challenges what it characterizes as the pervasive pessimism, and narratives of decline, which dominate current scholarly debates on the relationship between journalism and democracy. Drawing on original ESRC-funded research, and examples drawn from recent political news stories such as the Monica Lewinsky scandal, the article presents a more positive evaluation of contemporary political journalism and its contribution to the democratic process, and suggests an argument for the broadening and reinterpretation of normative standards in public communication. This argument is developed from the identification of key economic, technological and communicative trends in the political journalistic environment which, it is argued, change the terms on which traditional normative criteria have been based.
TL;DR: This paper explored some institutional, technical and cultural factors that influence the media's disposition in the coverage of the conflict and some ways in which the role of the media and Greek and Turkish journalists, in particular, can become more constructive.
Abstract: Greece and Turkey have long been in conflict. The national media have been among the many factors that have contributed to the aggravation and perpetuation of tension between the two countries. In this context, this article seeks to explore some institutional, technical and cultural factors that influence the media's disposition in the coverage of the conflict and some ways in which the role of the media and Greek and Turkish journalists, in particular, can become more constructive. As an integral part of investigating the role of the media in the Greek-Turkish conflict, but also to search for possible solutions, the authors draw upon 30 unstructured interviews with journalists, media executives, conflict resolution-orientated NGOs who work with the national media, as well as diplomats and academics from both countries. Interviewees identified commercialization of the media, changes in media ownership, the interlocking interests between the media, politicians and the business sector, the inherent media id...
TL;DR: The authors examines the historical development of mass media in the US and explores contemporary research directions, and argues that the era of mass communication is over, and proposes new communication theories to cross traditional boundaries of scholarly research.
Abstract: Media can be classified broadly into four historical ages: the ages of newspapers and place, magazines and class, broadcasting and mass, and Internet and space. During the rise of each of these new media, diverse groups strive to gain access to it so they can voice and further their particular agendas. As communication technology develops, however, media tend to evolve from being shared by many receivers to being used primarily on individual levels. As the Internet connects more people globally and provides opportunity for unparalleled diversity in space, it also has the capacity to isolate users who form communities online only with others like themselves. This article examines the historical development of mass media in the US and explores contemporary research directions. Future communication scholars can draw upon past communication theories, but it is argued that the era of mass communication is over. Hence, those theories - and new ones - must be crafted to cross traditional boundaries of scholarly ...
TL;DR: Public journalism says there are other ways to bring a genuine public alive, even within the highly restricted environment in which most journalists labor as mentioned in this paper. But neither can those who, still inspired by the ideal of a free press, adopt their profession's current understanding of public service as the true and only way.
Abstract: public-spirited journalists, it is said. Yes, but there is no secure place for public-spirited journalists outside a democracy that is reasonably healthy, generally inclusive, and alive in the imaginations of the people it is supposed to serve. “No more journalism for journalists!” is as close as the movement comes to any radical shift in outlook. Journalists who are “for” the media and seek only to advance its fortunes can never do the job. But neither can those who, still inspired by the ideal of a free press, adopt their profession’s current understanding of public service as the true and only way. Public journalism says there are other ways to bring a genuine public alive, even within the highly restricted environment in which most journalists labor.
TL;DR: Li et al. as mentioned in this paper argue that the rise of these semi-independent media, which reflect the relaxation of media regulation post-Mao, has generated significant structural and operational changes in Chinese newspapers.
Abstract: Many scholars acknowledge the substantive changes in Chinese media in the post-Mao period, but regret that these have not resulted in western-style press freedoms. Significant among these changes has been the emergence and rapid development of what is termed the semi-independent media that now constitute a prominent feature of China's ''socialist'' media industries. Focusing on a case study of the Chengdu Business News, this article argues that the rise of these semi-independent media, which reflects the relaxation of media regulation post-Mao, has generated significant structural and operational changes in Chinese newspapers.
TL;DR: A shift to national control of newspapers, a beginning of broadcast privatization and emergence of satellite systems and the Internet have been observed in Asia since the early 20th century as mentioned in this paper, where media-controlling governments have been forced to balance market and national media goals, including wars, colonialism, communism, globalization and economic and technological developments.
Abstract: Asia began the twentieth century under widespread colonial rule with print-based mass communication. It emerged with independence and a competitive news environment. Events and issues affecting journalism included wars, colonialism, communism, globalization and economic and technological developments. Significant changes were a shift to national control of newspapers, a beginning of broadcast privatization and emergence of satellite systems and Internet. Media-controlling governments have been forced to balance market and national media goals.
TL;DR: In this article, a critique of a new model of journalism known as public or civic journalism is presented, where public journalism asserts that public life is in crisis, and that journalism, as it has come to be practiced, is partially responsible.
Abstract: This article offers a critique of a new model of journalism known as public or civic journalism. Public journalism asserts that public life is in crisis, and that journalism, as it has come to be practiced, is partially responsible. Public journalism is an attempt to revitalize public life. The model is analysed by identifying and examining public journalism's largely implicit theoretical underpinnings, namely the communicative theory of American pragmatist John Dewey and German philosopher Jurgen Habermas. The connections between public journalism and these two philosophers are made explicit before turning to an analysis of public journalism in light of critiques made against Dewey and Habermas's communicative theories. Public journalism is, to a significant extent, an attempt to put Habermas's vision of discursive politics (the theory of communicative action) into practice. Public journalism is then assessed in light of its theoretical and practical connections to the theory of communicative action. Giv...
TL;DR: In the media, the perception is that newspapers are to blame for this, that and the other, and the reality is that they always will be blamed as discussed by the authors, and therefore, many journalists do feel they are giving away the franchise.
Abstract: reality. The perception is that newspapers are to blame for this, that and the other, and the reality is that they always will be blamed. We all should remember this: newspapers should be careful about being too well liked, or they will be much less feared, and much less respected. Many veteran, reasonable and wary practitioners feel that if good fences make good neighbors, then good walls make newspapers even better. Indeed, many journalists do feel they are giving away the franchise. Many of them do not understand the principles of the debate, let alone the nuances. It is not because they are pig-headed or incapable of change or “dinosaurs”; they simply have not been included. (Of course, once it is explained, they might not buy it, or might want to modify it, a change that business plans usually aren’t exible enough to accommodate.) You do not have to think too hard, or look too far, to nd a current-day parallel for what happens when ill-conceived, unexplained, get-out-of-theway or get-out-of-the-building change railroads traditional thinking. Mark Willes’ scheme at the LA Times “broke down walls” between newsrooms and advertising, and brought down much more with it. There are very real fears, very reasonable fears and very logical fears. As newsrooms chip off pieces of the franchise and hand it out in chunks of good will and good intentions, will the other guys end up wheeling away more of the wall in their wheelbarrows than is left standing in our own yard? Indeed, change is dif cult. Newspapers are supposed to champion it, but they have a hard time accepting it, adopting it and explaining it in their own universe. Change is hard—but also seductive—especially for newspapers that are told they can become heroes by focusing on those “solutions”, not “problems”. “Great”, they said. “Let’s get started”. Where? By having their newsroom leaders take the time to re ect and to risk an exchange with the newsroom rank-and- le, newsroom “traditionalists” trained to be a little bit suspicious (now known as “cynical”). Do not blame them if they are good at it. Do not blame them if they are slow to consider, much less unquestioningly adopt, new principles that seem at odds with what they have learned (at great expense) and practiced (with great success) for years. Their suspicions are not only understandable, but they are well advised. They are the kind of suspicions we have praised them for, and given them pay raises for. It takes a great deal of time and effort—and so, of course, money—to investigate and understand civic journalism, and then explain and teach it to newsroom staffs, from the top down. It takes patience (again, money) to allow for meaningful discourse and debate and customizing for the local market. It takes longer still to gure out how to implement such change in a meaningful way, so that neither reader nor writer, salesperson nor circulation representative is left out. No one really wants that, especially the readers who love us when they agree with us and who hate us when they do not. That should not change, in the name of public journalism or anything else. That equal measures of love and hate will be heaped upon us should not be feared, but expected. Newsrooms must “budget” for meaningful debate, and especially for dissent. The result will be the worthiest brand of work, no matter what the zeitgeist.
TL;DR: Delano summarizes findings from his long-standing research concern to chart the many developments in journalism by exploring: the burgeoning numbers of journalists; the impact of new technology on journalism; the shifting age, gender and ethnic minority composition of journalists, as well as the changing patterns of education and training for journalists.
Abstract: Journalism has changed radically in Britain since the early part of the 20th century when Mencken described it as ?a craft to be mastered in four days and abandoned at the first sign of a better job?. Delano summarizes findings from his long-standing research concern to chart the many developments in journalism by exploring: the burgeoning numbers of journalists; the impact of new technology on journalism; the shifting age, gender and ethnic minority composition of journalists; as well as the changing patterns of education and training for journalists and the emergence of journalism as a graduate profession. In some respects, the position of journalists has changed little across the last 100 years. At the end of the twentieth century journalists face similar problems to those that confronted them at its beginning: divided views on how their occupation might be organized and regulated and powerless to influence the increasing concentration of the media that employs them in the hands of omnipotent and indif...
TL;DR: This article reported "Humanitarian" Warfare: propaganda, moralism and NATO's Kosovo war, focusing on the media's role in the war and its effect on public opinion. But their work focused on humanitarians.
Abstract: (2000). Reporting 'Humanitarian' Warfare: propaganda, moralism and NATO's Kosovo war. Journalism Studies: Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 365-386.
TL;DR: The authors argues that the field of cultural studies is both educationally corrupting and professionally embarrassing for journalism education, in particular it contradicts three of the central tenets of journalism: the pursuit of truth and objectivity, the ethical regard for media audiences and the promotion of good writing.
Abstract: Over the last 20 years, many journalism educators have thought they needed media theory to make their courses sufficiently academic and scholarly. Media theory over this period, however, has been dominated by a number of highly politicized perspectives that have eschewed traditional ideas of academic scholarship. Under the general label of "cultural studies", they have included Althusserian Marxism, structuralist semiotics, poststructuralism and postmodernism. This paper argues that the field of cultural studies is both educationally corrupting and professionally embarrassing for journalism education. In particular it contradicts, by both argument and example, three of the central tenets of journalism: the pursuit of truth and objectivity, the ethical regard for media audiences and the promotion of good writing. The paper also shows that academics within cultural studies are ignorant of many of the basic working practices of contemporary journalism and draw their beliefs about the profession from radical ...
TL;DR: For instance, the authors argues that if public journalism continues to steer clear of substantive agendas of its own making, it forfeits the opportunity to combat what Michael Sandel describes as the "fragmented, storyless condition" of our times.
Abstract: tive journalists they interviewed said the “impact” of their work on “public opinion or government policy making” is important for determining whether their work wins a major prize or award. To be sure, submissions to the Pulitzer Prize board, as well as the award itself, often celebrate precisely the particular “outcomes” that public journalism would have us believe are irrelevant to the success of good journalism. The predicament of public journalism, then, is more or less the predicament of American journalism: how to reclaim a political purpose for a thoroughly depoliticized press, a press so far and for so long removed from politics that it can now barely imagine, even in the name of reform, anything but the thinnest of roles for itself. In broader terms, it is also the predicament of American democracy: how to restock a narrow and unimaginative public agenda, an agenda so driven by private interests that free and open markets now imply free and open societies. If public journalism continues to steer clear of substantive agendas of its own making, it forfeits the opportunity to combat what Michael Sandel describes as the “fragmented, storyless condition” of our times. Stories can serve democratic ends, Sandel points out; as a form of political communication, they can “situate us in the world and give our lives their moral particularity”. But stories of this kind require what public journalism remains reluctant to provide: a political agenda. Sandel did not have public journalism in mind, but his warning hits the mark: “Absent a political agenda that addresses the moral dimension of public questions ... political discourse becomes increasingly preoccupied with the scandalous, the sensational, and the confessional as purveyed by tabloids, talk shows, and eventually the mainstream media as well.” Public Journalism: the case against
TL;DR: This article explored the narratives of China Central Television's Oriental Horizon -a television news magazine show on Chinese television with high audience ratings - through the roles of reporters and their various relationships with the characters in the stories.
Abstract: This article explores the narratives of China Central Television's Oriental Horizon - a television news magazine show on Chinese television with high audience ratings - through the roles of reporters and their various relationships with the characters in the stories. Using content analysis and interviews, the article examines how Chinese journalists position themselves between the state and the audience in a changing social environment. The author categorizes the patterns of narratives in the programs through three distinctive roles assumed by the reporters: the advocate of state objectives, the voice of the victim and that of social commentator. It seems that by adopting a watchdog role and assuming clear standards of right and wrong, television reporters manage - at least to a certain extent - to provide the audience with a mechanism of accountability in an age of disillusion and ideological crisis in China. By presenting issues as local cases and defining them as moral choices, the programs avoid a cri...