Search

This study presents four specific news frames concerning the environment (eco-frames) applied to the media coverage of the energy issue. These stem from transnationally available cultural frameworks that serve as interpretative patterns. It examines how three Spanish newspapers (El País, ABC and Público) use the eco-indifferent, eco-efficient, eco-sustainable and eco-radical frames in the reporting of energy issue over ten years (2009–2019). Thus, this study aims to determine the extent to which sources and editorial lines influence frame building. The results of analysing 1095 news items confirm the relationship between the papers' editorial lines and eco-frames, though what stands out in all the papers is economics-based eco-indifference. In the economy section, neither the main sources (industry) nor the journalists consider the environmental angle while reporting on the energy sector. Energy as an issue is, above all, an economic topic, even in the global context of the fight against climate change. A correlation between a particular type of source and frame was found, thus expanding the understanding of the role sources play as framing devices in journalistic texts. From a constructionist perspective, this work contributes to framing research by linking news frames construction to a repertoire of global cultural echoes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study presents the results of a standardized content analysis comparing the use of Twitter as an information source on the websites of five news media types (quality newspapers, a tabloid newspaper, weekly magazines, broadcasters, and internet only). The theoretical assumption behind the study is that the adoption of Twitter as a source follows the established practices of a particular media type. All articles published online by ten German news media in a period of one month were collected (n = 21,823). A subset of articles containing Twitter-related keywords (n = 496) and 375 tweets cited in these articles was explored in detail. Our focal analysis of n = 287 articles using Twitter as an information source revealed systematic differences between both media types and article topics regarding the number and style of Twitter references as well as the types of accounts cited. We found that the tabloid paper incorporated the highest number of tweets per article, incorporated tweets primarily in articles on human interest and gossip and cited non-elite sources more often than other media types. Quality papers, weekly magazines, and broadcasters used tweets as sources primarily in articles on politics and economy and cited public actors, such as politicians or officials, more frequently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic was a major challenge for journalism. In the case of Germany, critics very early on voiced concerns over the quality of mainstream media coverage. Mainstream media were attacked for the intensity of their coverage, for reporting too much and unnecessarily frightening audiences, for not presenting a diversity of viewpoints on the pandemic and the measures taken to mitigate it, and for being one-sided and too close to the government. Against this background, this paper examines the intensity and viewpoint diversity of the coverage of 13 mainstream and two alternative media in Germany in 2020 and 2021. Based on a comprehensive manual content analysis of almost 9000 news stories, we conclude that the mainstream media did not cover the pandemic in a fundamentally exaggerated or one-sided way. However, they did not always report intensively when the pandemic was particularly severe, and they tended to warn against the pandemic rather than criticize the measures taken. In contrast, alternative media coverage tended to be more one-sided and generally biased against government measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines journalistic role performance in coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, based on a content analysis of newspaper, television, radio and online news in 37 countries. We test a set of hypotheses derived from two perspectives on the role of journalism in health crises. Mediatization theories assume that news media tend to sensationalize or to politicize health crises. A contrasting perspective holds that journalists shift toward more deferential and cooperative stances toward health and political authorities in a health crisis, attempting to mobilize the public to act according to the best science. Hypotheses derived from these perspectives are tested using the standard measures of journalistic roles developed by the Journalistic Role Performance Project. Results show that the deference/cooperation/consensus perspective is better supported, with media moving away from the Watchdog and Infotainment, and toward performance of the Service and Civic roles. We also explore differences in the pattern by country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critical reporting (piping-baodao) has long been considered one of the most important journalistic tools in China, exhibiting great democratic potential. However, the media environment for such reporting has become precarious over the past decade, raising the questions of how much space is left for critical reporting and how it is related to the media–state dynamics. Drawing on a 15-year longitudinal content analysis of how The Beijing News—an outspoken newspaper—reported corruption, this study explored the evolution of critical reporting in China. The results revealed that critical reporting is still a small-scale, non-routine journalistic practice. A detailed analysis was conducted to determine how media resources and power relations shaped critical reporting. The results showed that critical reporting has tended to take a resource-intense format and require non-official sources. Furthermore, critical reporting was more pronounced with respect to the coverage of low-ranking officials and officials outside the newspaper's parent region. Broader implications of these findings have been discussed. Overall, the present study advances the understanding of critical journalism in an authoritarian context and explores its relations with the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using survey and content analysis, this study investigates professional role conception and role performance among journalists in Vietnam, which offers a unique case to further our understanding of journalism ideals and practices in a socialist-communist country. This study combines the concept of professional role and the hierarchy of influences model as its theoretical frameworks. Findings indicated that organizational factors (i.e., funding and audience orientation) exert stronger influences on journalists' role conception, performance, and the perceived-practiced gaps. Theoretical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within journalism studies, journalism theory and phenomenon in the Global North receive outsized attention, while studies of journalism in the Global South and by scholars in the Global South are infrequent and largely ignored. One response to geographic disparities in knowledge production has been to encourage more special issues that focus on the Global South. These calls are based on a belief that special issues provide a more welcoming venue for Global South research and scholars. Our study tests this proposition by examining whether and how the geographic representation of authorship differs between articles published in special issues and those published through general calls. We examine this through a content analysis of more than 4,000 articles published in five highly ranked journalism studies journals. Our findings reveal that special issues with a geographic focus on the Global South and global perspectives broadly lead to a more geographically diverse group of authors. At the same time, themed issues with a global or Global South focus are rare, and publications in these issues receive far fewer citations. Overall, these findings indicate that while special issues provide greater publishing opportunities for scholars from the Global South, enduring biases in the field limit their impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This mixed-method study examines the mindset journalists in the United States bring to their work in an effort to gain insight into emerging journalistic viewpoints and their relationship to established doctrines and roles. Study 1 (n = 167) asked professional journalists, journalism professors, and student journalists to rank statements on journalism ethics and norms from most to least like their mindset toward the profession. Using the factor analysis procedure common to Q methodology, we identified two distinct mindsets among the participants. One factor expresses a neutral journalistic mindset that favors dispassionate reporting. The other shows more concern with the impact of journalism on its sources and a desire for more engagement in political discourse. A participant pool larger than that of a typical Q study allowed for additional quantitative analysis that identified significant differences in mindset by age, gender, professional experience, and journalistic platform. Using an explanatory-sequential design, study 2 (n = 16) further explored the journalistic mindset—the underlying web of beliefs and attitudes about the profession's core values—with a textual analysis of follow-up interviews. The results have applications to research on journalistic norms, boundaries, and ethics, and may provide insight into the divisions generating conflict in many newsrooms today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the impact of President John F. Kennedy's (JFK) flag initiative for Latin America, known as the Alliance for Progress, on journalistic narratives in Venezuela's media. It contextualises this analysis within the broader efforts of political communication and propaganda. In so doing, it argues that this program helped to establish the discursive regimes that would come to define journalistic narratives and, consequently, public perceptions of the economy and development policy. The research is based on an examination of historical archives from the JFK library and conducting a content analysis of one of the most influential daily newspapers in that country. The research shows the effects that this initiative had upon journalistic narratives and how it helped change discursive regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As more newsrooms practice data journalism in this age of "big data", discussions on the forms and functions of data journalism continue to be Western-centric, focusing on its ability to conduct investigations, enhance democracy and empower the public. This study focuses on newsrooms in Asia transitioning into greater data journalism practice that may have an abundance of data at their disposal but operate within strictly regulated media environments, to uncover if data journalism takes on different forms and plays different normative roles in the region. Focus is placed on Singapore, a global city in Asia, and interviews with local newsworkers and a two-part content analysis of their "nomination-worthy" data stories and actual data stories produced were conducted. Results indicate a view of improving the audience experience as consumer rather than citizen, and a tendency for data stories on politics to be set beyond one's own borders. A lower data literacy among newsworkers may also have hindered the complexity and variety of data visualizations used and resulted in extensive reference to "official sources". To be deemed exceptional, data stories need not play a watchdog role either, or feature investigative elements, but may be informative in less adversarial ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While media ownership has often been studied, too little attention has been accorded to one aspect of news coverage—promotional economic instrumentalism (EI)—evident in a news organization's tendency to mention and praise its ownership interests (owners, investors, and associated economic interests). Such distorted news coverage may constitute an ethical conflict of interest and a failure to provide complete information needed by citizens in a democracy. Drawing on a sample of 19 U.S. news outlets, we compare promotional EI across ownership forms. Stock market-traded media mention their ownership interests most often, while conglomerates with substantial non-news media holdings combine relatively frequent mentions with a higher proportion of positive mentions than other media. Privately held media also engage in significant promotional EI. Thus, both profit maximization and amenity potential motives are at work. Journalistic professionalism appears most associated with neutral mentions rather than critical scrutiny. Case studies of competing news outlets show that ownership interests linked to one outlet may be critically exposed by a competing outlet, lessening the rival's capacity to engage in non-transparent promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]