Journalistic Independence Research Articles

French plan for improving science communication stirs up controversy

Government calls for 'science and media network' to promote reliable science, but critics worry about journalistic independence

THE PRACTICES OF NEWS AND SOURCE USAGE IN ETHIOPIAN TELEVISION

This paper examined the practices of news and source usage in Ethiopian Television (ETV). It assessed news and source selection criteria of the media organization. The study also focused on the major source of news and speakers in the news. Besides, factors affecting news and source selection was also another objective of the study. The study used mixed research method. As a result, quantitative content analysis and an in-depth interview were used as tools of data gathering. It employed purposive sampling to select key informants for the study. For the media content sample, the study focused on ETV’s prime time news at 8:00 PM. The findings of the study showed that the major criteria of news selection in ETV were based on the value of the news in building the image of the government. Sources of the news were government officials. The majority of the speakers in the news production by ETV staff reporters were government officials, especially those found at federal level. It was also found that there is lack of journalistic independence in the media. Journalists were influenced to report the positive sides of government and conceal the wrong doings of government officials. Therefore, in the way to the truth as diversified views are very crucial, Ethiopian Television should take the necessary measure to treat varies views in its news stories.

State Aid for Independent News Journalism in the Public Interest? A Critical Debate of Government Funding Models and Principles, the Market Failure Paradigm, and Policy Efficacy

This study critically reviews scholarly debates on state aid for independent, professional news journalism in the public interest, its funding models and principles, the market failure paradigm, and policy efficacy. State aid is handed out by government agencies which believe that their support can help independent, professional journalism thrive in the digital, mobile, and platform-dominated future. Government support mainly comes as direct financial grants or indirect tax offsets. It aims at engendering economic opportunity and prosperity, while safeguarding journalistic independence and quality of output. Ideally, this shall foster the production, distribution and consumption of original and high-quality news in the public interest, which, in turn, shall keep people informed, facilitate public debate, and hold power to account. Still, this study finds arguments that government funding models for independent journalism in the public interest are limited by several critical challenges that endanger their principles, do not avert failure in the news media market and prevent effective policy governance. These deficits may even be exacerbated in the digital era.

“It would be for the best to suspend publication”: The German–American Press and Anti-German Hysteria During World War I

During World War I, the German-American press became a lightning rod for anti-German sentiment. New rules required German-language papers to supply English translations, and many publications faced bankruptcy. Some of the most strident attacks came from English-language journalists. Analysis of content of German-language newspapers reveals how editors of those newspapers positioned their publications during World War I, responded to attacks from other journalists, and how they articulated their professional stance in relation to loyalty to the government. Questions about journalists’ obligations to expressions of patriotism and support of their government have arisen on a regular basis up to the present, and this research helps shed light on how notions of journalistic independence are reconciled with a sense of patriotic obligation.

Crossing the Line between News and the Business of News: Exploring Journalists’ Use of Twitter

Anglo-American journalism has typically drawn a firm dividing line between those who report the news and those who run the business of news. This boundary, often referred to in the West as a ‘Chinese Wall’, is designed to uphold the independence of journalists from commercial interests or the whims of news proprietors. But does this separation still exist in today’s age of social media and at a time when news revenues are under unprecedented pressure? This article focuses on Twitter, now a widely used tool in the newsroom, analysing the Twitter output of 10 UK political correspondents during the busy party conference season. It examines how they promote their own stories or ‘personal brand’ and whether they are stepping over a once forbidden line, blurring the boundary between news and the business. The research is complemented by interviews with political correspondents and analysis of editorial codes of practice on the use of social media. It draws on a conceptual framework of boundary work (Carlson & Lewis, 2015) to pose the question whether such practice has now become accepted and normalised. The findings suggest that the 10 political correspondents are highly individualistic in their use of Twitter but all have embraced its use to promote their own work plus that of colleagues both inside their own organisation and those working for rival news outlets. Their acceptance of Twitter as a tool for self-promotion and branding suggests that in this area of reporting the practice has become normalised and the wall has been breached.

Navigating conflicts of interest: Ethical policies of 12 exemplary Asian media organisations

While research into non-Western media systems and professional norms are growth areas in journalism studies, little is known about the policies of news organisations beyond a few celebrated global brands. This exploratory study is situated in that gap. It examines 12 reputable media organisations in seven territories – China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines and Taiwan. Through interviews with top-level editors and executives, the study analyses their stated policies with regard to commercial conflicts of interest. In particular, how they deal with pressures from owners and advertisers who want favourable news coverage and how they respond to the demand for commercial deals that blur the boundaries between editorial and advertising. The study responds to recent calls in media ethics scholarship for critical-empiricist research on the ‘possible’ world, focusing on actually existing exemplars rather than abstract ideals. The 12 organisations have adopted a range of responses to these pressures. In general, most have policies aimed at preserving their editorial integrity even as they become more accommodating to the market. Our interviewees point to the importance of organisational culture, more than written policies, in maintaining professionalism: most of the organisations were founded by journalist-publishers whose ethos continues to exert a strong influence. While these organisations have lessons for others, it may be unrealistic to expect their culture of journalistic independence to diffuse beyond a small set of principled media outlets.

The new voice of America: Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act

Just before the 2016 Christmas holiday weekend, President Barack Obama quietly signed the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law. Deep within the act is a controversial provision called the Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act (CFPDA), which establishes a Global Engagement Center under the State Department and consolidates the power of several federal broadcasting entities under one authority. This center will coordinate efforts to counter foreign propaganda, mainly from Russia and China, that is aimed at undermining the United States’ national security interests. The consolidation of power creates some concerns regarding journalistic independence and credibility for media outlets such as the Voice of America. The new Trump administration’s perceived amicable relationship with Russia also generates uncertainty around the commitment to fight Russian disinformation and propaganda. This essay argues that the US does in fact need some kind of governmental entity devoted to the creation of counter-propaganda, and then concludes there are deficiencies and vulnerabilities with the CFPDA, especially a lack of adequate administrative oversight. Based on this conclusion, as well as on lessons gleaned from how other nations have dealt with Russian disinformation campaigns, the essay offers tentative recommendations as to what an effective governing structure would look like.

Attribution of global ethical norms: Perceptions of journalistic independence and integrity in Serbia, Macedonia and Croatia

This study examines, by comparative thematic analysis, public perceptions of global journalistic norms of independence and integrity by studying perceptions of news media corruption in three Eastern European countries: Serbia, Macedonia and Croatia. In-depth interviews with 61 representatives of the three nations revealed that, in the public eye, the breaches of journalistic independence and integrity are frequent and take different forms. The participants from Serbia, Macedonia and Croatia thought that journalists from their countries often succumb to pressures from politicians, owners and advertisers; that they receive direct bribes for positive coverage and even extort money from people; and that news media are engaged in hidden advertising and journalists are engaged in nepotism. The results show similarity of public perceptions of breaches of journalistic independence and integrity with academic and professional findings and are discussed from the point of view of the cross-country examination of the attribution theory in the context of audiences’ use of situational and trait characteristics in understanding journalistic ethical norms.

Media freedom and responsibility in South Korea: The perceptions of journalists and politicians during the Roh Moo-hyun presidency

This article analyses the perceptions of media freedom and responsibility by journalists and politicians in South Korea during the Presidency of Roh Moo-huyn (2003–2008). It draws on in-depth interviews with 10 journalists and 10 politicians with different political affiliations and interests. Findings suggest that both groups had positive appraisals of the country’s media democratisation. For them, the media could function as a watchdog on political power without having to fear direct political reprisals for doing so. However, the political press remained partially shackled to specific legacies and economic conditions. The most pressing example is the way the paternal power of conservative media owners challenged the editorial independence of journalists. While the Internet media offered some hope to rebalance the power relationship between the conservative and progressive forces, the sensational and hyper-adversarial media motivated by market and political competition emerged as more worrying concerns for the consolidation of democratic political communication in post-transition South Korea. Setbacks in press freedom since 2008 have undermined some of the positive evaluations of the political communication in South Korea, suggesting that the democratic transition in this country resembles ‘a circle rather a straight line’.

Coerências e contradições no lançamento do Brasil Post, o HuffPost no Brasil

Em seu discurso institucional, o pure player norte-americano The HuffPost, anteriormente Huffington Post, se coloca no mercado como um veiculo que pratica um jornalismo digital “independente” e com grande participacao do leitor. A versao brasileira do site jornalistico e agregador de blogs comecou a ser publicada em janeiro de 2014, como a decima edicao internacional da marca globalizada. O lancamento nacional foi o resultado de uma parceria de negocios entre o The Huffington Post Media Group e a Editora Abril, e suscitou interrogacoes quanto as possiveis contradicoes entre a pratica de um jornalismo independente (plural e polifonico), idealizado pela marca, em contraponto a sua associacao ao grupo Abril, cuja publicacao mais conhecida e a revista Veja, que sustenta um posicionamento notadamente conservador e arbitrario em suas concepcoes politicas e sociais. Neste artigo, discorre-se acerca dessa alianca e analisam-se, qualitativamente, alguns conteudos midiaticos decorrentes do lancamento da marca no Brasil. Busca-se entender o conceito de independencia jornalistica, uma definicao que faz parte dos chamados principios do jornalismo, bem como seu papel na construcao da imagem do HuffPost no Brasil.Palavras-chave: jornalismo digital, HuffPost Brasil (BrasilPost), independencia jornalistica.

Protección de la independencia de los profesionales de la información en las televisiones públicas autonómicas

The lack of confidence with which a large segment of the public views the neutrality of regional public broadcasters makes it necessary to deploy internal measures of professional control aimed at promoting objectivity, balance and veracity of news content. Achieving these objectives requires professional bodies that defend the independence of journalists from pressures from within their own organization as well as from external political and economic powers. Editorial charters are well suited to furthering these objectives, because they recognize the rights and obligations of journalists and the news media companies they work for. By signing these charters, both parties pledge to uphold these rights and obligations. These charters call for the creation of newsroom councils, which can be effective at monitoring compliance. The present study examines newsroom councils at three Spanish regional public broadcasters that have adopted editorial charters (TV3, EITB and Canal Sur). Detailed interviews were conducted with members of those councils, leading to some proposals for reinforcing their role of supporting journalists’ autonomy and news quality.

Protecting the independence of journalists in public media: the case of Spain’s regional public broadcasters

Protecting the independence of journalists in public media: the case of Spain’s regional public broadcasters

News Information Censorship and Changing Gatekeeping Roles

Journalists have faced increasing challenges as the result of police forces in different regions switching to digital radio communications. Drawing on gatekeeping theory and the journalistic practices literature, interviews with non-routine news journalists and a content analysis of news stories in newspapers were conducted to illustrate non-routine news coverage and understand how reporters’ routines have changed. The results suggest that police forces’ ability to control information technologically reduces the amount of non-routine news coverage and changes the ways in which news sources are used. Journalists have had to alter their reporting routines to retain journalistic independence.

An Investigation of the Practice of Journalism in Ethiopian Television

The main focus of this study was to investigate the practice of journalism in Ethiopian Television (ETV). The study assessed how journalists in ETV see the discrepancies between journalism and public relations and the impact of public relations on the real practice of journalism. It was the main objective of this study to investigate the factors that affect news and source selection in the media institution. Data was collected using qualitative and quantitative content analysis as well as in-depth interview. A total of 147 news stories ETV broadcast were selected purposely from the first two weeks of three months news stories (December, 2012 up to February, 2013). The findings of the study showed that most of the news was event and development oriented. As a result, very few news stories were critical of the government and most news dealt with success stories. The selected news stories revealed that most of the news stories were presented not from the public interest point of view, but from the government interest view. The study further revealed that ETV’s journalists were cognizant of the differences between journalism and public relations. However, due to the lack of journalistic independence in the media, journalists were coerced to select news and sources which served government interest. Journalists were influenced to report the positive sides of government and conceal the wrong doings of government officials. The findings of the study also indicated that ETV’s use of public relations professionals as one of their sources of news tainted the real practice of journalism. Overall, the study concluded that the principles of journalism, like; the obligation to the truth and loyalty to citizens were, not portrayed in ETV. Rather the media served as the major rhetorical tool for the government. Therefore, ETV may be advised to look into these and other principles to produce news and to maintain credibility in front of public. Keywords: Journalism, Practice, Public relations and Media

Political Editor and Public Man in the Time of Roosevelt and Wilson: The New York World's Frank I. Cobb

Frank I. Cobb, chief editorial writer of the New York World from 1904 to 1923, was a transitional figure in the changing meaning of liberalism, both as a concept of government policy and as a measurement of journalistic independence. Although he recognized that some government involvement in the economy was needed to control the actions of malefactors of wealth, Cobb militated against an enlargement of federal power over economic affairs. He established a unique identity tied to the forcefulness of his rhetoric, the persistence of his causes, and the connections he made to public men. As a result, the World's editorial page attracted the attention of presidents, diplomats, business magnates, and academics, all of whom had a stake in the positions the newspaper took on domestic and foreign affairs.

Fake News? A Survey on Video News Releases and their Implications on Journalistic Ethics, Independence and Credibility of Broadcast News

The traditional lines between journalism and public relations are now intertwined and public relations practitioners have an influential role on the content consumers see every day in newspapers and on news broadcasts. This survey looked at video news releases and their implications about journalists' ethics, integrity, independence and credibility. 533 participants from three different populations (average viewers, communication college students, and journalists) responded to a 54-question survey that employed two predictors (i) level of experience and (ii) years of journalism experience. The results indicated that average viewers found the use of video news releases (VNRs) more unethical than journalists and communication students, although experienced journalists believed VNR use is having an impact on journalistic independence in news. Implications are discussed.

News Media Framing of Negative Campaigning

News media coverage of election campaigns is often characterized by use of the strategic game frame and a focus on politicians' use of negative campaigning. However, the exact relationship between these two characteristics of news coverage is largely unexplored. This article theorizes that consumer demand and norms of journalistic independence might induce the news media outlets to cover negative campaigning with a strategic game frame. A comprehensive content analysis based on several newspaper types, several election campaigns, and several different measurements of media framing confirms that news coverage of negative campaigning does apply the strategic game frame to a significantly larger degree than articles covering positive campaigning. This finding has significant implications for campaigning politicians and for scholars studying campaign and media effects.

Media Ownership and the Coverage of the 2013 General Election in Kenya:Democracy at the Crossroads

T his research explores the relationship between journalistic freedom and media concentration in Kenya through the lens of the propaganda model (Baker, 2007) as well as the Media Ownership Theory, as propounded by Shoemaker and Reese (1991). It concludes that media ownership and media concentration have led to a constriction of the diversity of viewpoints in Kenya . The research is based on two surveys: (1) a survey of the public’s confidence in the conduct of journalists during the 2013 general election in Kenya, and (2) a survey of journalists' perceptions of the influence of media ownership on journalistic independence in Kenya. The findings indicate that 71% of journalists believe media diversity in Kenya is at risk, whilst 69% of the respondents believe that the risk is occasioned by unhealthy media ownership trends in Kenya. While almost every journalist surveyed agreed that independence of the media is important to democratic life, more than half (52%) of journalists said media owners had direct editorial influence on their work. The perceived climate of distrust dogging the mainstream media in Kenya and the resultant viewpoint constriction explain why more Kenyans are turning to citizen journalism as an alternative source of information. This survey raises further questions about future implications for journalistic independence given the emergence and dominance of media concentration in Kenya .

The Mediatization of Political Accountability

This study investigates how political accountability, as a key democratic principle, is performed in the media and how the practices and representations of accountability are transformed over time by the influences of mediatization. The implications of mediatization are analyzed with a focus on how aspects of media dramaturgy and independent journalism influence news reporting of political responsibility and how politicians are held to account in the media. The effects of mediatization are understood as conditioned by other structural changes in political life, in particular depoliticization. The empirical study is designed as a comparison of news reports on two national industrial crises in 1980–1982 and 2008–2011, and is based on content analyses of daily morning newspapers, evening tabloids, and regional and local newspapers. The study provides evidence for a non-linear understanding of mediatization. Significant aspects of media dramaturgy are shown to be rather stable between the two time periods whilst the journalistic independence and interpretations increase as expected. The hypothesis of depoliticization receives some support although the results are not unambiguous.

Competition, Collaboration and Cooperation: Swedish Provincial Newspaper Markets In Transition

A wave of mergers has reshaped the Swedish newspaper market over the past decade. Competition has been gradually replaced with collaboration, block-building and alliances. In 11 out of 15 cities with more than one daily newspaper, a single owner controls the entire market. Based a mail survey and a short case study, this paper asks how newspapers on these markets balance professional areas of competition and collaboration, without compromising strategic differentiation, customer confidence and journalistic independence.