A Follower-Centric Approach to Leadership in the Newsroom

This article analyses leadership in the newsroom of the Spanish newspaper El País as well as its impact on the craft of journalism more generally. Through 23 in-depth interviews, we try to elucidate how the newsroom constructs its leaders (in the newsroom, what does it mean to be a leader?), paying particular attention to the main skills considered to be necessary. According to our newsroom findings, not all heads of section or editors-in-chief are leaders, a fact that questions formal authority relations and proclaims expertise and know-how as discriminatory skills. This study emphasizes that the collective recognition of a leader is not an ultimate disposition, but can vary over time: consequently leaders who do not achieve the professional requirements of the newsroom can be denied the status, despite their expertise and experience. Our findings indicate that leaders at El País are those journalists (no matter what their positions) with strong capacities and skills (fundamentally experience, expertise and creativity) to manage form (relationships) and substance (contents) in the daily work of the newsroom. In short, journalists seen as leaders combine reiterated and strong qualities and merit, graphically reflected in the texts they have published for years in the newspaper.     

Media Convergence: A Case Study of a Cable News Station

Media convergence is happening around the world. This study looks at the current operation of a cable news station that produces 2 media products in 1 newsroom. It also explores the theoretical foundations of value creation in online news by examining how online news is selected, packaged, processed, and distributed. Observational results showed that media convergence still has a long way to go. More important, this study found several divides between the Web people and the news people, between the managers and the reporters, and between the news department and the advertising department. This article suggests that convergence would go more smoothly if stations would integrate Web producers into the newsroom; if reporters were given incentive to do extra work or if their daily work load were adjusted to give them time to file for the Web; and if the sales people better understood the value of the online product.     

QUALITY CONTROL

This study of local British newspaper journalists focuses on three aspects of entrenched newsroom culture—news values and norms, work routines and outputs, and occupational roles—to explore the boundaries that journalists see as distinguishing them from outside contributors. Findings suggest they view user-generated content (UGC) from a traditional professional perspective and weigh its benefits in terms of its contribution to the journalism they produce. While most are open to its inclusion on newspaper websites, particularly as a traffic builder and supplemental source of hyperlocal information, they believe UGC can undermine journalistic norms and values unless carefully monitored—a gatekeeping task they fear cannot fit within newsroom routines threatened by resource constraints of increasing severity.     

ELIMINATION OF IDEAS AND PROFESSIONAL SOCIALISATION

This article investigates and interprets social and cultural production and reproduction as we turn our attention to an important part of routinised practice in the newsroom: the early newsroom meetings. These meetings are essential sites for the building of the craft ethos and professional vision. Our aim is to study how this building of expertise takes place at meetings with a particular focus on the decision-making process concerning ideas for new news stories. In order to do this, we perform linguistic analysis of news production practices, as we investigate how the journalists' ideas for potential news stories are eliminated by the editor at the daily newsroom meetings. The elimination of ideas for news stories are not just eliminations; they are also corrections of culturally undesirable behaviour producing and reproducing the proper perception of an important object of knowledge—what constitutes “a good news story”—in this community of practice.     

Convergence Between Platforms in the Newsroom

Through ethnographic observation and content analysis, this study aims to classify the Al-Jazeera Mubasher (AJM) newsroom according to the Schantin model of newsrooms, describe the network’s convergence level based on the Dailey, Demo, and Spillman Dynamic Scale Model, and present a unique model elucidating how, specifically, convergence works at AJM. Based on the Schantin model of newsrooms, AJM can be classified as a second-generation newsroom, a “cross-media platforms newsroom.” Convergence among the different platforms of AJM is considerable, but still below full convergence level. Accordingly, the AJM newsroom can be classified into the fourth level of the Dailey et al. Dynamic Scale Model — “content sharing.” The unique AJM-specific model presented near the end of this paper depicts the ways in which different AJM platforms function and interact inside the newsroom, explains the degree of convergence between platforms, and classifies the newsroom in terms of its convergence level.     

Information-seeking behaviour and use of the Internet by French general practitioners: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies deal with the use of computers and the Internet in the health sector. Most of these studies show an increase in the use of the new technologies in searching for medical information-particularly by patients--but these uses remain very heterogeneous and depend on the studies. AIMS: The aim of this work was to consider the use of computers by French general practitioners (GPs) and to analyse the impact that computerization could have on their information-seeking behaviour. METHODS: The nature of the approach used is qualitative using interviews. RESULTS: Most of the GPs interviewed are equipped with a computer. The policies of the government were supposed to give financial incentives for GPs to start using computers for the management of administrative procedures, but many physicians do not know how to use the new tools properly. Their computers are, in most cases, underused for searching for medical information. Most of the time, the Internet sources are thought to be unreliable. CONCLUSION: This study sheds light on the use of computers and the preferences of GPs in searching for medical information.     

Editorial comment: American bar association journal*

A controlled experiment studied the effects of decision-makers in the newsroom by studying television journalists from across the country. Participants were presented with three hypothetical stories in one of two conditions; one in which a consultant's market research was relied upon to make news judgments, and another in which a news director's judgments were used to make decisions. The experiment was designed to determine if the newsroom condition motivated participants to choose the consultant or manager as the one in control of story selection. When participants were placed in a situation in which the consultant ruled, they were more likely to agree with consultant decisions versus managerial ones.     

Intrapreneurial Informants

As newspapers continue to wrestle with diminishing resources, they have, in part, turned to freelance journalists to help fill holes in content production. In light of this amplified reliance on freelancers, some media scholars have examined the ways in which they fit into the news process, arguing that they have the potential to override traditional journalistic norms in ways that can enhance news work and audience engagement while possibly breathing new life into news organization business models. Semi-structured interviews with 19 freelance journalists and nine newspaper editors in the United States help reveal that freelancers are harnessing social media to engage with and build audiences and individual brands. Freelancers frequently immerse themselves in social media experimentation that editors monitor and often incorporate into organizational strategies that may help inform newsroom practices and audience engagement. This hints at a shift for freelance journalists from the timeworn role of newsroom outsider to one of “intrapreneurial informant.”     

The Bricks That Build the Clicks: Newsroom Investments and Newspaper Online Performance

As the world embraces the Internet for media consumption, the concept of a hybrid newspaper—a printed newspaper with a companion Web site—is becoming more prevalent. Many hope that online advertising revenue (OAR) will help newspapers make up for losses in print (offline) revenue. However, there is little research that has empirically investigated whether and how investment in the “bricks” (i.e., the newsroom staff and resources that produce news content) will help to build “clicks” (i.e., more online visitors and, subsequently, OAR). This article examines the issue via an econometric analysis of 12 years of longitudinal data from a hybrid newspaper. The results show that the basic success of the clicks model depends on the investment in the bricks of the newspaper (i.e., its newsroom). Specifically, although news gathering is a very expensive part of the news business, it is also a creator of value and directly brings in OAR in addition to print advertising revenue. Therefore, as newspapers seek to capture more OAR, they may need to increase, rather than decrease, investment levels in the newsroom.     

Use of laptop computers in an academic medical library

Who borrows laptop computers in an academic health sciences library? Why do they choose to check out laptops? In a survey, laptop computer users responded that the laptops were used most frequently to do class-related work. Laptops were most often checked out because they could be taken to a quiet area of the library or to where the user had more room to work. The majority of such borrowers were satisfied or very satisfied with the laptops and the service from the library. The majority of those completing the survey were medical school students and graduate students. The circulation of laptop computers at this academic health sciences library is a very successful and popular program.     

A computer literacy skills profile of pharmacists residing in two counties of England

Background: Pharmacy is an information intensive profession and a pharmacist has to be proficient in health care information management. The advance in information technology and the use of computers to access, retrieve and analyse this information is increasingly important. Yet little is known about pharmacists’ computer literacy or information technology skills. Objectives: To gain a better understanding of pharmacists’ basic computer skills and their ability to use standard software. Methods: Self‐administered postal survey to 747 registered pharmacists residing in two counties of England. Results: A total of 386 (52%) pharmacists responded after two mailings. Most responding pharmacists used computers at work and at home. They believed their basic computing skills to be high, although acknowledged that they were skill deficient in using certain software packages. Internet use at work was low (43%) as too was awareness and use of online medical databases; this was reflected in online medical database training being identified as of greatest need. Conclusions: Pharmacists were confident in operating computer systems but identified a training need for particular software applications. Of concern is the limited knowledge they possessed and access they had on medical databases.     

Politics and Poster Children: A Historical Assessment of Radio Outcomes in the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967

Just over half of the noncommercial radio stations in the United States contributed in some way to the lobbying campaign that led to the inclusion of radio in the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. Most of these stations were associated with educational institutions, and were uniformly represented to federal authorities as “educational radio,” though the universe of noncommercial stations in the late 1960s was more nuanced and diverse. When federal financial assistance was finally achieved, the programs proved to be too exclusive or too expensive for some of the parties who had helped to move the Act from conception to reality. In the decades following enactment, activists for community, low power, and part time stations endeavored to correct the problems that grew out of the original legislation. For audiences, the primary consequence has been a public radio system that is less inclusive and diverse than it could have been.     

关于观众排斥电视广告现象的思考

虚假广告、广告形式媚俗、表现手法雷同与重复、创意单调与生硬等是人们对电视广告产生排斥的主要原因。观众排斥电视广告将使广告主投资失去效应,影响电视广告行业的发展。     

Just Getting By? Francophone Belgian Journalists Dealing with Dutch-language Sources in Their Public Broadcasting Service

ABSTRACT

In this article, we examine how the Dutch language is used when francophone Belgian journalists prepare and produce their reports—during all stages of the process—up until the actual broadcast. We conducted 16 qualitative interviews with TV news journalists employed by the Belgian French-speaking public broadcaster. Taking as a starting point the highly variable level of Dutch in the newsroom, we highlight four practices used by journalists when they have to cover a news story in Flanders or interview a Dutch speaker: avoidance, mutual assistance, specific efforts to deal with linguistic difficulties and what we call a “tactical use” of Dutch with the sources. This study reveals practices that are by no means a demonstration of excellent language skills. Journalists’ frequent lack of knowledge is compensated by a certain pragmatism: they aim to illustrate how their daily routines tackle a concrete problem in a relatively informal, flexible, and collective manner. Finally, we explore to what extent these practices impact journalistic performance and how the use of the Dutch language in the newsroom reflects the language divide in Belgium’s journalistic landscape.     

Personal and Organizational Predictors of Compassion Fatigue Symptoms in Local Television Journalists

Compassion fatigue is a form of traumatic stress that results from repeated encounters with victims of trauma and traumatic situations. Most often studied in counselors, nurses, and first responders, this study applies the concept to journalists who often encounter the same victims and traumatic scenes. Seventy reporters from different television markets were measured for the personal and professional factors that contribute to compassion fatigue symptoms and its components of secondary traumatic stress and burnout. Results showed personal traumatic events and perceived peer support were the strongest predictors of compassion fatigue symptoms in television reporters. Implications for reporter self-care and newsroom protocols are discussed.     

CORRECTING THE RECORD

Contemporary journalists are, on a daily basis, adopting new work practices to remain relevant in the changing media environment. This study examines these changing practices to determine if, and how, they have been accompanied by changes in journalists’ abilities to enact traditional ethical standards in the newsroom. It posits that by examining the performance of ethics by news actors, as opposed to ethical standards themselves, the importance and impact of changing news practices can be realized and addressed. To illustrate these changes, I explore the use of news corrections as a means for maintaining journalistic accountability. The findings suggest that key attributes of the contemporary news environment, including the rapid speed with which online information is transmitted, and the increasing participation of news consumers in the media environment, can help journalists in their quests for accountability. However, other changes associated with the online news environment, such as the ease with which online information can be erased from history, and the continuous evolution of newsroom technologies, highlight the need for journalists’ ongoing pursuit of new techniques to ensure that the standard of accountability is maintained.     

Navigating the ‘invisible nets’: challenges and opportunities for women in traditionally male-dominated South Asian newsrooms

‘Invisible nets,’ ‘labyrinths’ and ‘glass ceilings’ are a sampling of the metaphors used to describe the impediments and challenges women face along their paths toward professional advancement, including those in media settings. Expanding on previous research, this article investigates newsroom management expectations and experiences related to communication and teamwork as managerial competencies among a sample of female journalists in Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Using a quantitative research design, the researchers outline opportunities and challenges for women in navigating the various obvious and subtle obstacles they face as they seek to advance professionally in traditionally male-dominated South Asian newsrooms.     

Library tools at the nurses' station: exploring information-seeking behaviors and needs of nurses in a war veterans nursing home

Objectives:Analyze the information-seeking practices and identify the information and education needs of nurses in a war veterans nursing home. Develop an online toolkit for use at the nurses'' stations to meet nurses'' health information needs.Methods:Investigators employed mixed methods to determine the health information needs of the participating nurses at the skilled nursing facility using an online questionnaire and in-person observations. Resulting data was compared to determine how nurses'' self-reported data corresponded with investigator observations.Results:Twenty-seven out of a total of thirty-five nurses responded to the online questionnaire. The study principal investigator also observed a total of twelve nurses working across all shifts. The online questionnaire asked nurses to identify when they need health information for an acute clinical scenario. Nurses self-reported feeling most confident in assessing falls and pain, followed by medication adherence and skin integrity. Issues most frequently encountered during observation of nurses were falls, interventions surrounding cognitive ability or dementia, and use of antibiotics. Nurses reported and were observed to consult colleagues most frequently, followed by drug handbooks and relying on nursing experience.Conclusion:Nurses in skilled nursing facilities will benefit from ready online access to current drug handbooks as well as information resources surrounding commonly encountered clinical issues and stated needs. An outcome of this project is an online toolkit site using a LibGuide created specifically for this purpose. Researchers purchased laptop computers that were installed at each of the nurses'' stations to provide ready access to the toolkit site.