FROM “KNOWING HOW” TO “BEING ABLE”

In attempt to define a methodology, journalism scholars use the term “reflective” as a way to distinguish their critical study of journalism from that of a non-practitioner. The phrase “reflective practice in journalism” is now also used widely in higher education course literature and increasingly it is emerging in discourses relating to journalism research. However, the use of the term “reflective” in both cases has not been anchored in meaning. This paper will propose a number of definitions, and will discuss a number of potential approaches that seek to move towards a synthesis of journalism practice and theory. It will start by outlining the current scholarly context for undertaking journalism research, focusing on the rise of “journalist-academics” and the desire for recognition of the value and status of practice within the academy. It will then examine a number of critical models which may shed helpful light on how journalism might be viewed as “research-in-practice”.     

NewsCubed

As journalism navigates a new technological landscape, both researchers and practitioners need ways to innovate. Established methods of journalism research are designed to study practice and understand its importance, but they are not suited to solving problems or developing new ideas. This paper argues that design methods provide tools that allow journalism researchers to address problems in parallel with solutions and to invent new practice. The paper outlines the development of the NewsCube, an innovative storytelling tool. In doing so, it demonstrates how design produces artefacts that act as tools for reflection and knowledge production. The study contributes to discussion around practice-led research in journalism and shows how such research can provide perspectives on journalism that more conventional forms of enquiry cannot.     

Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Journalism Students’ Interpretive Repertoires for a Changing Occupation

ABSTRACT

Amid ongoing disruption, discourse about journalism increasingly emphasizes innovation within the newsroom and the rise of entrepreneurial initiatives outside it. This article uses the concept of interpretive repertoires to explore how students enrolled in journalism programmes in Britain and the Netherlands understand innovation and entrepreneurialism in relation to changing industry circumstances and long-standing conceptualizations of occupational norms and behaviours. We find shared repertoires that embrace technological change, but generally within an acceptance of traditional normative practice.     

Fantasy,Pragmatism and Journalistic Socialisation: UK Journalism Students’ Aspirations and Motivations

ABSTRACT

Despite the sustained growth in journalism as a choice of degree path for young people, our understanding of students’ aspirations and motivations remains relatively underdeveloped. At the same time, journalism careers appear increasingly uncertain, as the industry responds to digitalisation and convergence. In this mixed-methods study – employing 35 interviews and a survey of 837 UK journalism students – we ask what areas of journalism do students aspire towards, how do they feel about their future career prospects, and what is motivating them to study journalism in the first place? We find that intrinsic motivations (calling and talent, dynamic job) prevail over public service ones, with students drawn to soft news beats over hard news. Aspirations are also strikingly gendered, opening up questions of journalism education in this process. We also find that while students articulate an aspirational career in respected media outlets, they are pragmatic about their immediate career prospects. Here, journalism education appears to play a significant role in socialising students towards careers beyond journalism. Findings are discussed in the light of ongoing debates around journalistic socialisation and the future of journalism.     

新闻案例教学中缄默知识的显性化

新闻案例教学可以使教学双方的缄默知识实现显性化,缄默知识又是培养学生新闻敏感的重要载体之一。缄默知识与新闻敏感两者之间的这种内在联系,使得新闻案例教学成为培养新闻专业学生新闻敏感的有效教学方法。     

Are we teaching trauma?

Covering violence is an expected part of the daily job for many journalists in the United States; however, are college and university programs fully preparing students for what they may experience? This study surveyed accredited journalism schools in the United States. Of the 41 respondent schools, only one offered a course specifically aimed at teaching journalists how to protect themselves from psychological trauma and how best to interact with victims of trauma. Results show that although schools believe the topic of trauma is important and worth teaching to future journalists, the approach to the topic is mostly reactive and inconsistent. Implications for the future of journalism education are discussed.     

Reshaping the Borders of Journalism

The Saami and the Roma are both transnational peoples with robust journalistic practices. Although vastly different in socio-economic standing and relationship to the state, both groups choose to develop journalism and journalists to share their perspective of the world; and do so while remaining true to the distinction between journalism and propaganda. This requires access and ability to frame issues and actors, problems and solutions while maintaining professional journalistic standards. Media—both having one's “own” media and creating stories that appear in the “mainstream” media—is key to this practice. Saami and Romani journalists very clearly show there is a way to be objective without being neutral. By interviewing 45 journalists, journalism educators, funders, and evaluators across six countries, as well as examining primary source documents, I show that although emerging from radically different contexts, the Saami and Roma are both distinct nations stretching over two or more states—transnational—which allows, and indeed requires, a unique approach to journalism. I identify two distinct strategies in approaching the goals and practice of, “transnational peoples’ journalism”: nation building/speaking within and intervening/speaking outside.     

JOURNALISM EDUCATION IN BRITAIN

The number of undergraduate journalism students in Britain has risen fivefold since 1994/95 as journalism education undergoes the rapid expansion previously seen in other countries. This study analyses this expansion in Britain, demonstrating that it has led to a growing proportion of journalism graduates in newsrooms, despite residual, industry concern that journalism is not the best first degree subject for would-be journalists. The study examines findings from a survey of British journalism undergraduates concerning what motivated them to become journalists. Its first phase was conducted when, or soon after, 661 students arrived at 10 British universities. Students were also asked about ambitions regarding specialisms in journalism. A similar questionnaire was administered to a “completion” sample of 234 students shortly before these university programmes ended. This asked why some had by then rejected journalism as a career. Findings are contextualised with international studies of journalism students.     

“MAYBE YOU NEED TO HAVE AN EARTHQUAKE”

This study explores whether the US media, particularly television, radio, and newspapers, met the expectations of international journalism educators concerning the coverage of world news. Four focus groups with 34 journalism educators from 29 countries were conducted in the United States. A critical discourse analysis shows that most journalism educators' expectations were not met because they found world news coverage to be deviant from the reality in their respective countries or regions. Discussion focuses on how the discourse could help us to understand how to coalesce international journalistic practices and information gathering in a new global hi-tech era, not only for the US media, but for other media systems around the world.     

When News is Everywhere

This article contends that not only journalism but also journalism studies can benefit from a stronger commitment to the public. While the bodies of literature on “popular journalism”, “public journalism” and “citizen/participatory journalism” have, in different contexts and from different angles, made a strong case in favour of a public-oriented approach to journalism, it is remarkable how few of the empirical studies on journalism are based on user research. As the control of media institutions over the news process is in decline, we should take the “news audience” more seriously and try to improve our understanding of (changing) news use patterns. Besides this rather obvious theoretical point, there are also societal and methodological arguments for a more user-oriented take on the study of journalism. Starting from a reflection on the key trends in news use in the digital age—participation, cross-mediality and mobility—this article attempts to show the theoretical and societal relevance of a radical user perspective on journalism and journalism research alike. Furthermore, we look at new methodological opportunities for news user research and elaborate on our arguments by way of an empirical study on changing news practices. The study uses Q-sort methodology to expose the impact a medium's affordances can have on the way we experience news in a converged and mobile media environment. The article concludes by discussing what the benefits of a radical user perspective can be both for journalism studies as for journalism.     

What is Slow Journalism?

In an era of fast and instantaneous journalism and concerns about the deleterious effects of speed, it can be easy to lose sight of the other kinds of journalism being practiced, other temporalities for its production. There has been little scholarly work on slow journalism, so the first aim of this article is, if not to define, then at least to describe some key characteristics of what slow journalism might be. It will look at how the term has been used on blogs, websites, public forums, and in the minimal scholarly literature available. It will also explore some examples by producers who identify with the term to see what slow journalism looks like in practice. The proliferation of independent journalism using Slow as a way of thinking about production suggests that we are witnessing a new alternative emerging in the mediascape.     

“Moving” the Pyramids of Giza: Measuring the Effects of Ethics Education in a Visual Communication Curriculum

As mass communication scholars and educators, we should be greatly concerned about how we teach ethics to our students. This research posits improving the quality of mass communication education with the intention of producing top-notch journalists who are dedicated to raising the credibility of the profession. Specifically, the research assesses the effects of integrating ethical content within a visual communication course, focusing on two critical and timely issues in visual journalism: the acceptability of graphic photographs and image manipulation. Findings showed significant differences in how participants viewed selected ethical issues in visual journalism from time 1 to time 2.     

The Literary Construction of Journalism Education: A Review of the Course Literature in the Nordic Academic Journalism Programmes

ABSTRACT

This article investigates the course literature in the curricula of 12 major journalism schools at Northern European universities. This analysis of the course literature listed in documentation of bachelor programmes traces how journalism education institutions constitute their knowledge base on journalism. It is found that Nordic journalism students are required to read almost four books per study credit on average. Undergraduate academic journalism programmes are professionally oriented, and professional literature by non-scientific publishers occupies a major place in the course literature. A strong emphasis is placed on professional books written in the domestic language, with an average age of seven years. Though the Scandinavian languages show high degrees of similarities with each other, there is very little circulation of literature across the countries within the Nordic area. This analysis of the literature points to a relatively homogeneous educational culture with small differences and raises questions about the qualitative dimensions of instructional design.     

对当前新闻学研究中几个认识问题的思考

本文对当前新闻学研究中存在的如何看待“新闻无学论”、如何理解新闻学研究同政治的关系、如何认识新闻学研究同实践的关系、如何在新闻学研究中处理传统继承与理论创新的关系等几个认识问题阐述了自己的见解。     

新课标下的初中语文教学反思

随着新课标的实施和进一步推进,教师加强对教学理念、教学方法、教学手段、教学过程和教学效果的反思十分必要。作为初中语文老师就应该在前进中摸索、在实践中反思,钻研教材,了解学生,把握语文教学的特点,制定合理的教学策略。     

对本科阶段新闻传播专业文学教育的教改思考

本科阶段新闻传播专业文学教育的改革是新闻传播专业教改的重要内容。它要求培育学生的审美与思维能力,使之具有较为深厚的人文精神。相应地,在本科阶段新闻传播专业的文学课程上,应树立文学作品与审美体验的中心地位,调动多元的教学手段,加大写作能力的培养,以及考核方式的改革。     

Contesting Communities

This introductory article to the combined special issue of Journalism Studies and Journalism Practice provides an overview of some of the key contemporary approaches to studying journalism and social order. It argues the need to step beyond a functionalist framework when considering the news media’s central role in shaping social connections, community and cohesion. To advance our understandings of social order, our paper suggests a greater emphasis of the significance of journalism’s relationship to the wider social sphere along with three other key considerations, including (1) a critical focus on the relationship between media, politics and social order, especially in defining and/or negotiating “anti-social” practices and social disintegration; (2) a more refined focus on the “imagined” and geographic boundaries of news audiences in digital spaces; and (3) the changing relationship to norms and conventions of journalism practice from trust and legitimacy to the role of journalists as arbiters and connectors across social spaces.     

The Promise of the Transparency Culture

In 2013, with the introduction of the Transparency Law in Spain, a number of Spanish newsrooms started working with data journalism methods. In Sweden, which has one of the oldest Freedom of Information acts in the world, newsrooms invested in the skill development of data journalism at approximately the same time. Because previous research suggests that access to public data has been one of the key driving forces for the development of data journalism worldwide, it is important to understand how legislation is actually shaping the practice of data journalism. Based on a survey of 66 key informants in Spain and Sweden and ten in-depth interviews with data journalists from five media companies in each country, we conducted a comparative study, building on the frameworks of media systems to explore data journalism practices in these two countries. The differences found indicate that the national and EU legislation in both nations shape journalistic strategies for accessing data, turning journalists at times into activists fighting for the right to access public data. Beyond the law, data journalists advocate for a transparency culture among the civil servants, in order to secure public accountability.     

Naturalizing negativity: how journalism textbooks justify crime,conflict, and “bad” news

This critical analysis of U.S. journalism textbooks from 1894 to 2016 shows how texts across decades have (re)constructed a discourse of damage through news values emphasizing and rationalizing conflict and bad news. Findings are reported in the context of literature suggesting that negative news values foster a distorted sense of social relations, increase fear, and depress civic participation. Literature also indicates that non-journalists often view news through less conflict-oriented, and more value-laden, frames, suggesting that journalistic values are not natural or inevitable but subject to change. The discourse in journalism textbooks can be a key site for understanding and influencing journalism culture. Constructive alternatives to the dominant discourse are suggested.     

新闻与传播之别——解读凯里《新闻教育错在哪里》

本文是对詹姆士.W.凯里(James W.Carey)《新闻教育错在哪里》的解读和评论,主要集中于三个问题:(1)如何解读来自美国(推而广之,即西方)的文本,(2)美国(西方)的问题与我们的问题之间有什么相互参照的意义,(3)凯里所提出的新闻与传播、新闻教育与新闻研究、新闻实践与传媒工作之间的关系对我们思考学科建设的基本问题有什么启发。