From Grand Narratives of Democracy to Small Expectations of Participation

This article critically examines the invocation of democracy in the discourse of audience participation in digital journalism. Rather than simply restate the familiar grand narratives that traditionally described journalism's function for democracy (information source, watchdog, public representative, mediation for political actors), we compare and contrast conceptualisations of the audience found within these and discuss how digital technologies impact these relationships. We consider how “participatory” transformations influence perceptions of news consumption and draw out analytic distinctions based on structures of participation and different levels of engagement. This article argues that the focus in digital journalism is not so much on citizen engagement but rather audience or user interaction; instead of participation through news, the focus is on participation in news. This demands we distinguish between minimalist and maximalist versions of participation through interactive tools, as there is a significant distinction between technologies that allow individuals to control and personalise content (basic digital control) and entire platforms that easily facilitate the storytelling and distribution of citizen journalism within public discourse (integrative structural participation). Furthermore, commercial interests tend to dominate the shaping of digital affordances, which can lead to individualistic rather than collective conceptualisations. This article concludes by considering what is gained as well as lost when grand visions of journalism's roles for democracy are appropriated or discarded in favour of a participation paradigm to conceptualise digital journalism.     

Television news in Bangladesh: intersection of market-oriented journalism and perceived credibility

The television medium has occupied a dominant place in Bangladesh. With the unprecedented expansion of the television industry, questions are being raised about a palpable rise in market-oriented journalism (MOJ) in the country. This article examines the theoretical and empirical relationship between MOJ and credibility of TV news. Three surrogate factors of MOJ including independence, social role, and objectivity, along with TV news credibility are analyzed for insights. The findings suggest that there is a complex relationship between the two constructs. To improve the perception of credibility of TV news, our findings suggest an important role of public journalism as an alternative to MOJ.     

STRUCTURING THE SCIENCE BEAT

Science journalism, as one specialisation within journalism, has undergone remarkable changes in the past two decades; not only in content but also in the way work in the newsroom is structured. This paper takes a closer look at science beats and their organisational variance. Observational studies conducted in German newsrooms are reviewed and concepts from organisational theory are discussed. Two heuristic concepts are introduced for the analysis of journalistic work processes in newsrooms, the beat concept and the mental editorial plan. The paper then constructs four ideal types of science beats to describe possible development trends within newsrooms: the current news science beat, the creative science beat, the audience- and business-oriented science journalism team, and the science beat as a specialised correspondents' office. The latter cooperates with various other beats or departments and is engaged in dynamic topic teams. For this new work-structure, the paper argues, a high level of journalistic proficiency is demanded of science journalists to sustain and improve the quality of science journalism in changing newsrooms.     

网络时代科学传播受众的"使用与满足"——一项关于上海社区居民网络使用的实证研究

本文运用“使用-满足”理论,通过基于对上海地区社区居民的实证调研,以揭示科学传播实践如何通过网络满足受众的需要：如何提高受众通过网络获取科技发展信息需求的满意度,以及解答受众通过“因特网”获得科技发展信息的比例相当的低的原因。     

日本新闻学与新闻事业

围绕“为什么搞新闻传播研究 ?为谁而搞 ?”等问题 ,新加坡《联合早报》特约评论员、日本龙谷大学教授卓南生先生 ,在日前为清华大学新闻与传播学院师生讲座时 ,发表了自己独到的看法。卓教授在介绍日本新闻学研究的盛衰和演变及日本新闻事业的现状和走向的同时 ,也对中国新闻传播学科的发展提出了很好建议     

Negotiating fragmented women's news: state,market and feminism in contemporary Chinese media

This study aims to explain the reasons for the transformation of women's news in contemporary China. It concludes that in comparison with women news's in the Maoist period, present-day women's news is represented in a fragmented way. This article analyses the differences among the individual, professional, and institutional aspects in news production, while emphasizing the complicated interaction among feminism, state, and market to illuminate the reasons behind women's news transformation. Due to the immanent masculinity of both state and market, feminism in China has to face a state–market complex, that is, double pressure. Comparing with state and market, the influence from feminism to journalism is quite weak and there is a long way to go before feminism realizes its own agenda for media transformation.     

WHO WANTS A VOICE IN SCIENCE ISSUES—AND WHY?

This paper makes a preliminary exploration of new opportunities for journalists and media to establish relevance and audiences through engagement with science issues. It looks at developments in the “democratisation” of science and, in the light of an analysis of a recent Eurobarometer survey, attempts to discover how a largely untapped active audience for the media may be attracted.     

Predicting policy: exploring news attention to policy issues in electoral debates

Despite news fragmentation, declining levels of voter knowledge, and waning interest in U.S. politics, debates attract mass audiences, reduce barriers of learning, and offer a greater focus on policy issues than that typically found in campaign news coverage. Nonetheless, debates are routinely driven by the same commercial, for-profit news journalists who routinely emphasize strategic campaign issues (e.g. the horserace) at the expense of policy content. As moderators, journalists have been scrutinized for the agenda they set in electoral debates. Using a multiyear dataset that treats debate questions as the unit of analysis, this quantitative content analysis explores news routines in the context of mediated debates while isolating media characteristics predictive of news attention to policy matters. The data show that journalists working for local news outlets and those working for commercial outlets are more likely to emphasize policy issues. Implications for debate sponsorship and campaigns are discussed.     

Protection or Participation?

Children’s status as a particularly vulnerable group in society implies a journalistic obligation to shed light on children’s stories and listen to their perspectives, but their vulnerable position also means they deserve protection from potentially harmful news coverage. Based on a close-reading of two extensively covered news serials concerning irregular migrant children facing deportation, and on in-depth interviews with journalists, editors, and key actors working on behalf of irregular migrant children, the present article sheds light on how journalists balance competing, ethical, professional, and organizational concerns when reporting on issues concerning children. The article shows that while journalists say they are aware of the ethical aspects concerning extensive media exposure of young children, they justify the reporting by foregrounding children as innocent victims of the immigration system and by highlighting the journalistic obligation of shedding light on the wrongdoings of this system. The potential burden of media exposure is relativized as less harmful than the alternative—deportation. Theoretically, the article contributes to the literature on children in the news media, human-interest stories and journalism, and the role of journalism reporting vulnerable groups.     

重视科学新闻提升期刊影响

科学新闻源于期刊所发表的优秀论文.西方科学新闻传播有成熟的网络平台及从事科学新闻传播的媒体及记者.我国缺乏科学新闻传播理念,为此,作者建议从重视科学新闻和提升期刊影响的角度,树立科学新闻传播观念,组织发表有新闻价值的论文,培养科学新闻的撰稿人,构筑科学新闻搜集、发布平台,开设期刊(或主编)博客.     

基于焦点团体的数字图书馆评价研究框架*

在分析国内外基于焦点团体的数字图书馆评价研究的基础上,构建基于用户、馆员和专家三个不同适用范围、三种类型的焦点团体评价研究框架,并应用于数字图书馆项目规划、管理和服务等领域,最后以资源规划和参考咨询工具为例,分析框架的具体实施和应用。     

Opportunity or risk? How news organizations frame social media in their guidelines for journalists

Guided by regulatory focus theory and framing, the present study analyzes how U.S. and British mainstream news organizations (N = 12) frame the current social media environment in their social media guidelines. The results indicate that news organizations dominantly frame the new environment as a risk to guard against, warning of the possible harm to their reputations and journalism norms such as accuracy and objectivity (prevention-focused), rather than as an opportunity to actively take advantage of (promotion-focused).     

科技期刊编辑要有新闻意识

从提高科技期刊编辑的综合素质出发,分析科技期刊编辑的工作条件.通过论证认为,科技期刊编辑不仅需要新闻意识,而且可以培养和育成新闻意识,还可把这种新闻意识很好地应用于科技期刊的编辑工作中.     

Taking Assessment on the Road

Abstract

This paper presents the results of focus groups conducted by Utah academic librarians at branch campuses in Utah. Librarians met with distance learners on-site to gain insights into their informationseeking behavior and to learn if they are using library services. Students rely heavily on the Web for information and also utilize known resources in friends and family. Marketing and publicizing library services through classes and at the delivery sites is vital. Students appreciate the services libraries offer and strongly prefer face-to-face instruction and direct assistance from a librarian.     

Building a Better M.I.C.E. Trap: Using Virtual Focus Groups to Assess Subject Guides for Distance Education Students

ABSTRACT

Subject guides are often used as an alternative to in-person library instruction for distance education students. However, when students are not on-campus, it can be difficult to assess if they are getting all of the relevant information they need. In an organization that serves students located across the United States and even outside of the country, a method was needed to assess the effectiveness of library information provided to distance learners on specific topics. The William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration (Hotel College) at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), offers a number of on-campus and distance education courses, including classes taught at a satellite campus in Singapore. With diverse course offerings via distance education, the conventions and exhibitions subject area was chosen as a case study. Often referred to as M.I.C.E., the study of meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions in a hospitality context is a major subdiscipline within the Hotel College. After researching different approaches to studying the effectiveness of subject guides, a virtual focus group was chosen to gather feedback from students. This paper will demonstrate how focus groups can be created and how the information gathered can be used to increase effectiveness of subject guides. Readers will discover effective techniques and pitfalls for using virtual focus groups in conjunction with subject guides assessment.     

Collaborating With Faculty to Assess Research Consultations for Graduate Students

Due to the time commitment on the part of the librarian to schedule, prepare, and execute effective research consultations, it is important to continue to evaluate how these consultations impact student learning. The purpose of this investigation was to assess graduate students' perceptions of their learning as a result of working individually with a librarian in a research consultation. A librarian and a member of the teaching faculty collaborated to embed required research consultations with the librarian in two graduate classes. Research journals and a focus group were used to assess the impact the consultations had on student learning.     

Conversations with Web Site Users: Using Focus Groups to Open Discussion and Improve User Experience

ABSTRACT

User feedback on Web site design can be vital to understanding what issues library users may encounter when visiting a Web site, but obtaining this feedback can be time consuming, difficult to structure, and expensive. In past years, staff working on the Cal Poly Pomona University Library Web site collected user feedback from surveys and usability testing. This team was interested in acquiring a more basic understanding of how users interact with the Web in general, whether for research or other purposes, and how such experiences could inform design decisions. This article will discuss what focus groups are, why libraries should consider conducting focus groups for Web site testing and development, how focus groups can complement usability testing, and if focus groups are worth the time and effort. Results from focus group sessions will also be shared and discussed including information that fueled design decisions and benefits that participants gained from the experience.     

我国图书馆学学科研究热点分析——基于2011年国家社科基金项目及课题指南的统计

随着社会信息化进程的不断加快,信息服务与信息需求的矛盾日益突出。作为以信息服务为主要功能的图书馆,其地位也得到了前所未有的提升。图书馆学作为一门研究图书、图书馆管理及信息资源管理学科得到了迅速的发展。本文根据2011年国家社会科学基金项目课题指南和2011年国家社会科学基金项目评审结果的对比分析,探索了当前我国图书馆学研究的热点,并对未来研究趋向予以适度预测。