“I Did What I Do” Versus “I Cover Football”

As athletes added their voices to the fall 2014 protests against police violence, in-house reporters, that is, content producers paid to produce stories for team websites, were part of the press pack describing these actions. Despite working for teams, many view themselves as sports journalists, despite working for teams, view themselves as sports journalists. This collision of sports and politics posed a challenge to the professional identities they try to maintain. Using interview data and textual analysis, this case study examines the ways that in-house sportswriters understood and operationalized their professional identities at a moment when they came into potential conflict with their employment situations. Their answers reflect boundary work on the part of in-house media members, who stressed their independence and news judgment in explaining their choices around this story even if their actions diverged. The work raises questions for understanding how journalistic identity translates to new contexts such as brand publishing.     

Fake News

Much has been written about the alleged “crisis” of journalism, with narratives of cultural pessimism centred on the decline of legacy news media, and print media in particular. Whilst factually accurate in parts, such narratives offer an incomplete picture not just of how journalism is declining, but also evolving as it transitions in the digital age. This paper is funded by a major Australian Research Council-study of “Journalism beyond the crisis”, a project which seeks to evaluate the emerging assemblage of journalistic forms, practices, and uses in a transnationally comparative study across four different countries. The present study is a first step in investigating how journalists perceive their roles at a time in which the legitimacy of factual accounts of current events is increasingly put into question. To do so, it draws on in-depth interviews with senior journalists based in London and Sydney, providing topical insights into how these practitioners understand their role in an era of “fake news”. The findings indicate that journalists are particularly concerned about a decrease of public trust in the media, and urge colleagues to adapt more rigorous fact-checking techniques – particularly at times when the role of journalism as a “watchdog” over society appears to be most crucial.     

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.     

Commercialization of Technology News

While technology news has become a major news genre, the coverage of high-tech products has raised concerns regarding the commercialization of journalism. Drawing on salience transfer and exemplification theory, this study explores how The New York Times and USA Today covered Apple products along quantity and quality dimensions. A content analysis documented a landslide in the amount of coverage on Apple products in both newspapers. Both iPhones and iPads were disproportionately over-covered in relation to their market share. Over one-third of the headlines about the iPhone covered the product favorably. The New York Times published more stories about these gadgets than USA Today did, while USA Today was twice as likely to portray iPhones in a positive light. These findings have raised questions about the commercialization of technology news and its impact on journalism.     

Newsroom Workers’ Job Satisfaction Contingent on Position and Adaptation to Digital Disruption

A survey of journalists in the United States (N?=?1181) finds that job satisfaction during the era of digital disruption varies across job titles. Previous studies have examined job satisfaction of these job titles individually, but this study compares job satisfaction among four primary occupations in the newspaper newsroom. Desk workers demonstrate lower levels of job satisfaction than non-desk workers, while sports journalists report higher levels of job satisfaction than non-sports workers. Furthermore, online responsibilities appear to be negatively received by desk workers, yet positively received by sports journalists. Open-ended explanations and the quantitative survey results discuss the implications of the demands, adaptation skills, and autonomy of newspaper workers on job satisfaction.     

“They Go for Gender First”

There have been many recent media reports about the online harassment of women journalists working in technology, particularly the video gaming industry. However, little research has focused on this aspect, by looking at specific occupations, or analysing the implications for women and society. This paper is a feminist study of the experiences of sexist abuse of a sample of women journalists writing about technology. It is a commentary on the results of a questionnaire-based study of 102 women (and their approximately 300 comments) that work in what has emerged as one of the frontlines of the struggle for gender equality. The research looks at the extent of the abuse, the harm it causes and how women are reacting to it. Most of the participants have experienced abuse, many have changed their working practices and some have disguised their identity to avoid it. An examination of their comments suggests that sexist abuse is now often normalised, alongside a new kind of “invisible” feminism. It also reveals a mood of defiance and an appetite for radical change to address the problems of exclusion and loss of identity. Overall, results indicate that the abuse is damaging women’s lives and impacting journalism and society in a negative way.     

“Tightening the Knots” of the International Drugs Trade in Brazil

Much academic analysis of media representations of drugs-related violence in Brazil has focused on their role in perpetuating violence and societal divisions. There is less research on how the country’s traditional news media can shape information in order to foster dialogue between people and potentially resolve conflict. This article aims to address this gap by exploring the possibilities and challenges for printed news media to acquire “mediated” social capital. The concept is understood here as a specific resource of power that has the potential to connect people from diverse social, cultural and economic backgrounds. In order to do so, we analyse how a popular Rio newspaper has used its symbolic power to produce social capital with an investigative series about Brazil’s involvement in the international drugs trade. It is argued here that the series paints a complex picture of its causes and consequences and is an important step towards a deliberative process about possible solutions to drugs-related violence in Rio and beyond.     

Fact-Checkers as Entrepreneurs

This study considers fact-checkers as innovators and entrepreneurs. It explores funding models as well as perceptions about three core aspects of a successful journalistic enterprise: audiences, value propositions, and resources. Findings indicate particular attention to media literacy and civic engagement, independence, and transparency. In addition, many fact-checkers see their role as not merely extending traditional journalism but also correcting some of its shortcomings.