Abstract
Campaign journalism is a distinctive but under-researched form of editorialised news reporting that aims to influence politicians rather than inform voters. In this it diverges from liberal norms of social responsibility, but instead campaigning newspapers make claims to represent the interests or opinions of publics such as their readers or groups affected by the issue. This could be understood as democratically valid in relation to alternative models such as participatory or corporatist democracy. This essay examines journalists' understanding of the identity and views of these publics, and how their professional norms are operationalised in their journalistic practice in relation to five case studies in the Scottish press. The campaigns are analysed in terms of four normative criteria associated with corporatist and participatory democracy: firstly, the extent to which subjective advocacy is combined with objectivity and accuracy; secondly, the extent to which civic society organisations are accorded access; thirdly, whether the disadvantage of resource-poor groups in society is compensated for; and finally, to what extent the mobilisation of public support for the campaigns aims to encourage an active citizenry.
Highlights
Campaign journalism is a distinctive but under-researched form of editorialised news reporting
Research to date has suggested that campaigns aim, quite conventionally, to construct a consensus by othering deviant groups (Aldridge, 2003, Cross and Lockyer, 2006), but for commercial rather than ideological purposes – in particular to mark out a continued market for the local press (Aldridge, 2003), and take an oppositional stance toward government because they are distant and inaccessible as sources (Cross and Lockyer, 2006)
It analyses the democratic implications of campaign journalism, with reference to case studies in the local andnational press in Scotland, where it was hoped that devolution would bring greater civic participation, taking inspiration from Scandinavian corporatism rather than American neo-liberalism (Arter, 2004)
Summary
Campaign journalism is a distinctive but under-researched form of editorialised news reporting. Research to date has suggested that campaigns aim, quite conventionally, to construct a consensus by othering deviant groups (Aldridge, 2003, Cross and Lockyer, 2006), but for commercial rather than ideological purposes – in particular to mark out a continued market for the local press (Aldridge, 2003), and take an oppositional stance toward government because they are distant and inaccessible as sources (Cross and Lockyer, 2006) Both of these studies noted newspapers’ claims to represent some form of public or “public opinion”, but the interrogation of these claims was not central to their analysis. It analyses the democratic implications of campaign journalism, with reference to case studies in the local and (quasi-)national press in Scotland, where it was hoped that devolution would bring greater civic participation, taking inspiration from Scandinavian corporatism rather than American neo-liberalism (Arter, 2004)
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