Showing papers in "Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism in 2003"
TL;DR: This paper argued that the distinction between practitioner and layperson should be clearly recognized by all parties. But they also pointed out that people who claim membership in a profession and delineate its attributes do so at least in part to justify inequality of status, as well as to limit and control access to that status.
Abstract: The people who claim membership in a profession and delineate its attributes do so at least in part to justify inequality of status, as well as to limit and control access to that status. The key role of the professional can be fulfilled only by people with particular training, skills and judgment, and it is crucial that the distinction between practitioner and layperson be clearly recognized by all parties. This paper suggests that online news workers fundamentally challenge the already-disputed concept of journalists as professionals. It identifies and explores key aspects of that challenge across the cognitive, normative and evaluative dimensions of the sociological construct of professionalism, with the goal of laying the groundwork for empirical investigation into the issues raised.
315 citations
TL;DR: The role and status of alternative media has been examined in the context of economics journalism in this article, where the authors present contributions that critically assess the nature of alternative journalism and propose theoretical bases from which to explore both historical and current practices.
Abstract: The recent flurry of research into alternative media (most significant being the book-length studies by Atton, 2002, Downing, 2001, Rodriguez, 2001, and Part 3 of Couldry, 2000) has illuminated contemporary practices within alternative media that present ways of reporting radically different from those of the mainstream. Rodriguez (2001) has conceptualized such media as ‘citizens’ media’. By this she means a philosophy of journalism and a set of practices that are embedded within the everyday lives of citizens, and media content that is both driven and produced by those people. Approached in this way alternative media may be understood as a radical challenge to the professionalized and institutionalized practices of the mainstream media. Alternative media privileges a journalism that is closely wedded to notions of social responsibility, replacing an ideology of ‘objectivity’ with overt advocacy and oppositional practices. Its practices emphasize first person, eyewitness accounts by participants; a reworking of the populist approaches of tabloid newspapers to recover a ‘radical popular’ style of reporting; collective and antihierarchical forms of organization which eschew demarcation and specialization – and which importantly suggest an inclusive, radical form of civic journalism. Whilst recent scholarship has provided us with richly theorized empirical accounts of alternative media praxis (and, in particular, the use of such media by new social movement actors), it has had little to say about the historical conditions under which these media enact their journalism; it offers little understanding about the role and status of these alternative journalists; much less does it present what such journalism actually looks like. The aim of this issue of Journalism is to address these absences. Alert to the journal’s subtitle, we hope to present contributions that critically assess the nature of alternative journalism and propose theoretical bases from which to explore both historical and current practices. By way of laying some groundwork for what follows, let us begin with those dimensions of alternative media practice that have to do with economics Journalism
195 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe the factors behind the Indymedia news model and analyse how these can be understood as being different from or similar to the production of content in corporate news.
Abstract: In this article we describe the factors behind the Indymedia news model and analyse how these can be understood as being different from or similar to the production of content in corporate news med...
123 citations
TL;DR: There is a long and continuing tradition of alternative media being produced to challenge the discourse(s) of mainstream media as discussed by the authors, and the ways in which the journalism of the alternative media of alternative...
Abstract: There is a long and continuing tradition of alternative media being produced to challenge the discourse(s) of mainstream media. This article explores the ways in which the journalism of alternative...
112 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that journalism education can be regarded as a serious academic discipline and not simply a vocational training and argue that journalists must be equipped to make essential contributions as analysts and brokers of information.
Abstract: This article argues that journalism can be taught as, and should be regarded as, a serious academic discipline and not simply a vocational training. Trends in society and polity place new responsibilities on, and require a better education of journalists. They must be equipped to make essential contributions as analysts and brokers of information. Journalism education has aspects specific to it: the particular balance of academic, applied and occupational learning; simulations of real working experience and engagement with the world; the conformity to professional standards of behaviour; the involvement with local communities; the application of the competency concept in assessment criteria; the high degree of transferability of skills, particularly research and composition skills. This combination can make for stimulating courses which provide a useful base for many types of work in later life and which compare favourably with other social science and humanities disciplines.
87 citations
TL;DR: This article examined the coverage of the Sudanese "Lost Boys" as they were being resettled in the USA after enduring years of civil war and exile, finding that the refugees were presented as coming from a situation beyond understanding, vessels waiting to be filled by US material culture.
Abstract: This textual analysis of top US newspapers examines coverage of the Sudanese ‘Lost Boys’ as they were being resettled in the USA after enduring years of civil war and exile. I uncover some of the narrative elements employed in the text that perpetuate US myths such as ‘the rugged individualist’ and ‘the Promised Land’, even as a complex foreign news story is made palatable to local news consumers. I find that the refugees were presented as coming from a situation beyond understanding, vessels waiting to be filled by US material culture. As human-interest features, the stories provide a human face to far-away tragedy but also are unsuccessful at moving beyond surface explanations of complex international situations. This indicates that an authentic paradigm shift concerning international news coverage has not yet occurred.
55 citations
TL;DR: In fact, "nobody likes pack journalism -not the reporters who are members of the pack, not the readers who deplore the pack's intrusiveness and obtrusiveness even...".
Abstract: Nobody likes pack journalism - not the reporters who are members of the pack, not the objects of the pack's attention and not the readers who deplore the pack's intrusiveness and obtrusiveness even...
53 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored the role of community or ''public arena'' journalism in offering alternative frameworks for making sense of the world through the lens of local communities and their various networks, which suggests that they fulfil an important cultural role in providing communities with a local voice through what they have termed a ''community public sphere''.
Abstract: This article explores the role of community or `public arena' journalism in offering alternative frameworks for making sense of the world through the lens of local communities and their various networks. Our particular focus is on new research into Australia's unique community broadcasting sector, based on nationwide telephone surveys and focus group discussions involving a broad range of community journalists, which suggests that they fulfil an important cultural role in providing communities with a local voice through what we have termed a `community public sphere'.
45 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors compare public journalism and street newspapers in an effort to explicate the distinguishing features of each, and highlight the distinctions between liberal-minded media reform movements, such as public journalism, and far more radical alternatives to journalistic practice as represented by street newspapers.
Abstract: The 1990s witnessed two distinct but related trends in journalism: the rise of public journalism and the emergence of street newspapers. This article contrasts public journalism and street newspapers in an effort to explicate the distinguishing features of each. In doing so, it illuminates the distinctions between liberal-minded media reform movements, such as public journalism, and far more radical alternatives to journalistic practice as represented by street newspapers. Throughout it is argued that street papers are a unique form of communicative democracy. In their capacity as the voice of the poor, street newspapers seek to critically engage the reading public in ongoing deliberations over fundamental issues of economic, social and political justice. A brief assessment of Street Feat - a street newspaper in Halifax, Nova Scotia - provides an empirical basis for this discussion.
40 citations
TL;DR: The authors examines the role of journalism in constructing generational labels and articulating their meaning over time, through narrative and rhetorical analysis, and examines 20 years of cover stories about generational identity in leading American newsmagazines.
Abstract: This article examines the role of journalism in constructing generational labels - such as the Baby Boom, Generation X, Generation Y and the ‘Greatest Generation’ - and in articulating their meaning over time. Through narrative and rhetorical analysis, it examines 20 years of cover stories about generational identity in leading American newsmagazines. The study contends that, even while they situate particular people within particular historical contexts, such ‘special reports’ employ common narrative devices and themes of youth and nostalgia, blending the stories of individual groups into broader notions about generational and national identity. This kind of reporting extends journalists’ cultural authority and is a matter of memory as well as ‘news’, offering not just definitions of current social identity but also future understandings of a shared past.
40 citations
Abstract: This study, based on a mail survey conducted in early 2000, investigates the professional norms and values, personal backgrounds, daily routines and work-related problems of foreign correspondents ...
TL;DR: The reporting of disasters or other traumatic, unusual events involving loss of life presents its own particular problems as mentioned in this paper, focusing on press reporting of the tragedy which took place at Dunblane Primary School, Scotland, in 1996.
Abstract: The reporting of disasters or other traumatic, unusual events involving loss of life presents its own particular problems This article focuses on press reporting of the tragedy which took place at Dunblane Primary School, Scotland, in 1996 Issues raised are considered primarily from the perspective of editors and journalists Professional pressures on journalists working amidst disaster situations are immense Consideration is given to the operation of the emergency press facilities; ethical concerns in respect of doorstepping the bereaved; editorial guidance and finally the personal costs of reporting tragedy The article is based on interviews carried out in 1997 with English and Scottish journalists and editors Other sources consulted include those involved in journalism training and PressWise, which acts with and on behalf of those who feel they have been treated badly by the media All unattributed quotations are drawn from these interviews Unless otherwise indicated journalists quoted are employ
TL;DR: The authors examines the understanding of newswriting within British print news journalism and, in particular, the practice's management of the role of language in the news, and concludes by suggesting that the habits of thinking about writing in British journalism stand in the way of any substantive reflexivity within British news practice or any reorientation of the practice in response to critiques of the active role of journalism in constructing understanding of society.
Abstract: This article examines the understanding of newswriting within British print news journalism and, in particular, the practice’s management of the role of language in the news. Its material comprises journalists’ reflections on their practice in metatexts such as memoirs and textbooks. The article draws on phenomenological sociology and Bourdieu’s theorization of the censorship of ways of speaking within the journalistic community to show how writing tends to appear in journalists’ discussions of the job in ways that reduce the force of its challenge to journalism’s self-understanding. It concludes by suggesting that the habits of thinking about writing in British journalism stand in the way of any substantive reflexivity within British news practice or any reorientation of the practice in response to critiques of the active role of journalism in constructing understanding of society.
TL;DR: In this paper, a distinction between unidimensional and multidimensional conceptions of media participation is made, and the implications of specific cultural forms and media practices which refashioned media participation from medieval into modern forms are explored.
Abstract: This article seeks to begin to recover the multiplicity of media participation by focusing on its remaking during the spread and consolidation of a capitalist economy in early modern England. It develops a distinction between unidimensional and multidimensional conceptions of media participation, and uses this to identify and explore the implications of specific cultural forms and media practices which refashioned media participation from medieval into modern forms. The article concludes by arguing that current critical/radical efforts to challenge dominant media practice must confront the entire complex of forms and practices that enable and support modernist conceptions and practices of media participation.
TL;DR: The American press no longer reports events but explains them, inadvertently enhancing the cultural authority of journalists as mentioned in this paper, revealing how a prominent news provider exercises influence over poli......
Abstract: The American press no longer reports events but explains them, inadvertently enhancing the cultural authority of journalists. To discover how a prominent news provider exercises influence over poli...
TL;DR: This article investigated whether projects and movements designed to change the norms of local television journalism have succeeded, through the case of Best Practices 2000 (BP2K), a foundation-funded organization aimed at improving local television public affairs coverage.
Abstract: This research investigates whether projects and movements designed to change the norms of local television journalism have succeeded. It explores this question through the case of Best Practices 2000 (BP2K), a foundation-funded organization aimed at improving local television public affairs coverage. This research compares BP2K to two other recent attempts to improve or increase local television public affairs coverage - civic journalism and the Wisconsin Collaborative Project. Stations working to improve public affairs coverage are compared to traditional market-driven journalism stations. This study explores the extent to which these efforts can change news coverage, and in doing so deepens our knowledge of the norms of market-driven news routine, which these projects, at least implicitly, question.
TL;DR: The authors examines through a questionnaire and content analysis how reporters who covered Vietnam's final withdrawal of troops from Cambodia in 1989, staged as a pseudo-event, dealt with the opposing interpretations by Vietnam, an international outcast, and its opponents, who said the pullout was a fake.
Abstract: As proxy information-gatherers for their audiences, journalists often cover ‘pseudo-events’, whose purpose is to present to the world a version of reality set up by the organizers. These are usually people with links to wealth and power but they can also be out-groups trying to get their ‘real’ news noticed. For reporters the challenge is whether to cover these events at face value or delve deeper to find the truth. This study examines through a questionnaire and content analysis how reporters who covered Vietnam’s final withdrawal of troops from Cambodia in 1989, staged as a pseudo-event, dealt with the opposing interpretations by Vietnam, an international outcast, and its opponents, who said the pullout was a fake. The power of the pseudo-event was such that nearly all journalists accepted the Vietnamese version as it was shown to them but most also used their knowledge of the international situation as a reinforcement.
TL;DR: The authors argues that complaints about journalism follow from the societal ideal regarding the media as an institution of direct democracy expected to present us with a true picture of the e.g. world.
Abstract: The contribution argues that complaints about journalism follow from the societal ideal regarding the media as an institution of direct democracy expected to present us with a true picture of the e...
TL;DR: A recent wave of radio documentaries has been credited with sparking a new approach to American journalism as mentioned in this paper, but their work has been criticized for irresponsibly perpetuating racist stereotypes and is limited in the degree to which they counter stereotypes and demand accountability and justice.
Abstract: A recent wave of radio documentaries has been credited with sparking a new approach to American journalism. This article critically examines two seminal documentaries, Ghetto Life 101 and Remorse: The 14 Stories of Eric Morse. They were co-created by independent producer David Isay and two African American teenagers from inner-city Chicago, LeAlan Jones and Lloyd Newman. While their work won a raft of awards, it also was criticized for irresponsibly perpetuating racist stereotypes. This article suggests that such documentaries are limited in the degree to which they counter stereotypes and demand accountability and justice. However, as a form of autoethnography, they make room for other voices in promoting social solidarity and empathy while serving as a model for journalism as a whole.
TL;DR: The relevance and importance of these ideas and themes to the present global era are discussed in this paper, where the authors analyze related themes that appeared in statements issued by Third World journalists, and in selected scholarly articles published at that time.
Abstract: Journalism and communicative democracy in general were debated intensely on a world scale a quarter of a century ago, during the debates over a New World Information and Communication Order. In this article, I demonstrate that during this period, theory and reflexive practice in journalism were envisioned through radical ideas freely deliberated in intergovernmental, professional and scholarly spaces. I analyze related themes that appeared in statements issued by Third World journalists, and in selected scholarly articles published at that time. Analysis reveals that these themes articulated an alternate, more democratic world order. I conclude by discussing the relevance and importance of these ideas and themes to the present global era.
TL;DR: The tension between the sacred and the secular in the modern press, by examining the role of the holiday literary supplements, has been investigated in this paper by analyzing a sample of 1050 supplements published in seven main newspapers in Israel over a period of 52 years, since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.
Abstract: This article investigates the tension between the sacred and the secular in the modern press, by examining the role of the holiday literary supplements. It analyzed a sample of 1050 supplements, published in seven main newspapers in Israel over a period of 52 years, since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. In addition, a dozen interviews were conducted with present and former editors of the literary supplements. The main argument is that the literary supplements constitute a secular ritual. Speaking broadly we may call these literary supplements `The Secular Holy Scriptures'. This argument stems from the timing of publishing these supplements (every holiday eve); the writers featured (first-rank authors); the themes and subjects dealt with ('festive' and `high culture' topics); and the significance they acquire, over and above the weekday issues and other sections of holiday editions.Although the case study focuses on Israeli daily newspapers, we believe that, with some adjustments, the mai...
Journal Article•
TL;DR: The Watergate scandal holds a mythic status within the history of American journalism as discussed by the authors, and whether individuals consider Watergate the beginning of modern investigative journalism is open to debate, but no one knows.
Abstract: Thirty years after the initial break-in, Watergate holds a mythic status within the history of American journalism. Whether individuals consider Watergate the beginning of modern investigative jour...
TL;DR: In this article, a case study illustrates attempts to identify elements of ''the alchemy of news'' while reviewing the logistics of coverage of one of the top international news stories of 2003.
Abstract: Quality control mechanisms exist in leading international news agencies Monitoring the news output day-by-day or news-cycle by news-cycle so as to help improve performance `to-morrow', they are `hands-on' exercises in dissecting failures and comparing output with that of rival news-feeds and organizations - whether via text (in the form of figures and words), sound or image (news-films, still photos, computer graphics, etc) Working from the assumption that journalists are their own severest critics and observing how they seek and note feedback from customers (both media and non-media), we look at Reuters' control mechanisms The period observed is that of the Iraq `regime change', the US/UK offensive against Saddam Hussein, in March-April 2003 This case study illustrates attempts to identify elements of `the alchemy of news', while reviewing the logistics of coverage of one of the top international news stories of 2003
TL;DR: In this article, the authors demonstrate how an underlying knowledge of education is relied upon and reproduced in a number of television presentations of a specific education scheme in Denmark, the Free Youth Education scheme.
Abstract: This article demonstrates how an underlying knowledge of education is relied upon and reproduced in a number of television presentations of a specific education scheme in Denmark, the Free Youth Education scheme. Employing post-structuralist analysis of discourse, the media’s critical presentations of the education scheme are shown to draw upon and recreate a conception of education as a non-leisure preparation for work, which should focus on obtaining specific, factual and immediately ‘useful’ skills and knowledge, and as an ‘un-free’ activity that does not contribute to personal development. In a Habermasian approach, the analysed news features could be viewed as instances of a responsible public service media fulfilling its role as the warning system in a ‘context of discovery’. In contrast, the post-structuralist perspective reveals the particular mechanisms and implications of a power-knowledge constellation.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a broad media history that gives more space to Martin Luther than to Lenin and more space for Charles Dickens than to Disney, and the authors in combination seem to prefer works from around the 1960s by Habermas, McLuhan, De Sola Pool and Schramm.
Abstract: centuries. The two authors in combination seem to prefer works from around the 1960s by Habermas, McLuhan, De Sola Pool and Schramm. No central theme or argument runs through the whole book. For the earlier centuries we are told a good deal about how print combined with religion and public performance; another focus is upon the point that one printed copy could ultimately reach a much wider listening (or looking) public. This theme subsequently fades away, although high numbers of readers-per-copy and users-per-gadget were important for most 19th and 20th century ‘new media’. For this reader, two of the weakest areas are advertising and commercial forces generally (in competition or alliance with ‘public’ media of various kinds). Advertising agencies are scarcely mentioned, either as late Victorian pioneers or as late 20th century media globalizers. American readers will find some howlers (for instance on Associated Press) and other familiar errors (for instance on Hollywood and Washington DC). But it will not be easy to write a better broad media history. This book has numerous virtues, including an annotated bibliography of 550 books. There are many astute insights and observations. It is refreshing to read a media history that gives more space to Martin Luther than to Lenin and more space to Charles Dickens than to Disney. In particular, I believe, the authors are correct in their stated goal. Most historians are ignorant of the media, while some historians are absurdly reluctant to admit their own heavy reliance on newspapers. Many media researchers know more about soap operas than they do about the serial media products of the past. This readable book deserves a wide readership.