Journalism Education Research Articles

Exploring the Impact of Constructive News on Student Perceptions and Behavioral Changes

With the rise of constructive journalism, there is a growing recognition of the importance of focusing on positive aspects in news reporting rather than solely highlighting negative events. The prevalence of negatively framed news, particularly in the era of social media infodemic, has led to low engagement and negative perception among the public. To fulfil the educational function of news, it is crucial for the news industry and education sector to embrace constructive journalism practices. This study aims to investigate the impact of problem-solving elements in constructive news on student perceptions and behavioural changes. Using a quantitative approach, 390 respondents were surveyed, and descriptive and correlational analyses were conducted using SPSS to examine the relationship between student behaviours and problem-solving elements in constructive news. The results indicate a significant relationship between the two variables. These findings highlight the importance of implementing constructive journalism in both journalistic practice and education. Additionally, this study serves as a foundation for future researchers to conduct more comprehensive investigations in this field.

Boundary Work, Journalism Education, and the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938

This article examines how the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 became a catalyst for specialized accreditation in journalism. It analyzes the rhetoric and boundary work of the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the American Association of Schools and Departments of Journalism as they sought professional status for journalism. When the newspaper industry challenged the FLSA in court, these groups intensified efforts to develop an authoritative accrediting body. This study utilizes historical and archival documents to explore the dynamics surrounding journalism’s professionalization project. It demonstrates how regulatory pressures transformed soft power claims into institutionalized standards for journalism education.

“Glorified Minute Takers”: Journalists’ (Mis)handling of Scientific Uncertainty During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study examined how journalists handled scientific uncertainty in their reporting of the COVID-19 pandemic. We performed interviews with U.S. journalists who reported on the entirety of the COVID-19 pandemic and a content analysis of the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) COVID-19 vaccine pause as one discrete scientific event during the pandemic. Results showed journalists were largely parroting public health officials instead of engaging in critical reporting, interrogating, and/or explaining the science associated with COVID-19. There was a lack of emphasis on uncertainty, indicating the need for a stronger focus on science news within journalism education.

Threats to Journalism Practice in South America Due to Lack of Trauma Literacy in Professional Training: Results of a Survey in Brazil and Colombia

This discussion is part of the work of the Research Group on Education in Journalism and Trauma (JETREG), focusing on the exposure of Brazilian and Colombian journalists to risks in the exercise of their profession. The article analyzes responses of 50 Brazilian and Colombian professors who participated in the web survey on traumatic coverage and the inclusion of this topic in journalism teaching. The method involves survey. The fact that in Colombia and Brazil most journalism schools are private results in avoiding talking about risks of traumatic situations that the profession involves, as this can affect the demand of young people who want to graduate for this job and have great impact on already offering and distributing dispersed classes in the curriculum. The study pointed: i) gender attacks; ii) coverage of human rights; and iii) attacks on press freedom.

Towards a Converged Post-Covid Journalism Training in Africa: A Case Study of South Africa, Zimbabwe and Eswatini

ABSTRACT Our study on the experiences of selected African journalism educators during the Covid-19 pandemic period offer valuable insights into the future of journalism education in Africa, where convergent learning holds prospects in an increasingly digitised world. A convergent teaching and learning approach, combining face-to-face and online teaching, is crucial for the delivery of quality journalism training during periods of macro shocks in Africa. This qualitative study used three country case studies of Zimbabwe, South Africa and Eswatini to understand the reconfigurations accompanying convergence in teaching and learning and offering prospects for the future. Our findings show that the most affected learning aspects were courses involving practical learning as well as the internship component that requires students to be seconded to media houses of choice to develop a practical feel for the newsroom. We learnt that journalism’s practical components make it hard for instructors to conduct convergent learning because of resource constraints and limited literacy in some technology. However, and far from the discourse of scarcity and impoverishment, educators displayed high levels of creativity, adaptability and agency beyond the structuring influence of deprivation, presenting prospects for convergence in teaching and learning in post-Covid Africa.

Covering migration and forced displacement – ethical challenges for journalism education in the Arab world

Covering migration and forced displacement – ethical challenges for journalism education in the Arab world

(Life) Lessons beyond the Lecture Hall: Alumni Reflections on Their Work-Readiness after Completing a South African Postgraduate Journalism Degree

ABSTRACT Higher education institutions are increasingly faced with the challenge of producing graduates ready to enter the world of work—a continuously evolving world that can be unceremoniously upended by global events such as Covid-19. Journalism educators share in this dilemma—especially given the upheaval faced by the media industry. Through an exploratory pilot study, this paper aims to provide insight into what knowledge and skills graduates themselves value once they have entered the world of work. Focus groups were conducted with 38 alumni from a South African postgraduate journalism programme to explore their understanding of the ways in which their studies prepared them to adapt to the workplace. The findings indicate alumni are grateful to have been exposed to a variety of practice-orientated applications in which they could later choose to specialise. More importantly, however, alumni were vocal about the fact that they were taught—sometimes implicitly—skills that transcend disciplinary boundaries and that have stood them in good stead in a variety of careers. These skills include being comfortable networking with peers and colleagues; the ability to meet deadlines; knowledge about how to build contacts; an understanding of the need for lifelong learning; the ability to tell a story with any information at hand; time management skills; and related generic life skills such as resilience. The findings of this pilot study seem to suggest journalism educators should be cognisant that they are training students for the workplace, not just for newswork or mediawork, and that soft skills should be prioritised.

Fact check: Still not core journalism curriculum

Fact-checking has become a global industry, with more than 417 fact-checking outlets in 100 countries operating in 69 languages (Stencel, Ryan & Luther, 2023). According to the Duke Reporters’ Lab, half of the world’s fact checkers are associated with media outlets, but there are also 24 affiliated with academic institutions. Although the work is time consuming and resource intensive, fact-checking has increasingly been introduced to journalism programmes at universities and in professional settings. This expert article brings together some insights from a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Journalism Education Council (WJEC) roundtable event ‘Fact-Check and Verification as Core Journalism Curriculum’ hosted by RMIT University in Australia in 2021, alongside relevant literature exploring the nature and presence of fact-check based education approaches at that time. It concludes that while fact-checking and verification are important skills for student journalists, fact checkers do not necessarily need to be journalists, nor indeed have journalistic training. However, more students are needed who are excellent journalists and the authors argue that fact-checking is just part of that training.

Fact check: Still not core journalism curriculum

Fact-checking has become a global industry, with more than 417 fact-checking outlets in 100 countries operating in 69 languages (Stencel, Ryan & Luther, 2023). According to the Duke Reporters’ Lab, half of the world’s fact checkers are associated with media outlets, but there are also 24 affiliated with academic institutions. Although the work is time consuming and resource intensive, fact-checking has increasingly been introduced to journalism programmes at universities and in professional settings. This expert article brings together some insights from a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Journalism Education Council (WJEC) roundtable event ‘Fact-Check and Verification as Core Journalism Curriculum’ hosted by RMIT University in Australia in 2021, alongside relevant literature exploring the nature and presence of fact-check based education approaches at that time. It concludes that while fact-checking and verification are important skills for student journalists, fact checkers do not necessarily need to be journalists, nor indeed have journalistic training. However, more students are needed who are excellent journalists and the authors argue that fact-checking is just part of that training.

Media plurality, independence and Talanoa: An alternative Pacific journalism education model

The shrinking mainstream media plurality in Aotearoa New Zealand provides a context for examining publication of campus-based media where student and faculty editorial staff have successfully established an independent Asia-Pacific digital and print press over the past two decades. New Zealand’s largest city Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) has the largest urban population of Pacific Islanders globally—more than 300,000 people in a total of 1.7 million (Pasifika New Zealand, n.d.), earning the moniker ‘Polynesian capital of the world’. The presenter has had a pioneering role with four university-based journalism publications in the Pacific region as key adviser/publisher in Papua New Guinea (Uni Tavur, 1993-1998); Fiji (Wansolwara, 1998-2002); and Aotearoa/New Zealand (Pacific Scoop, 2009-2015; Asia Pacific Report, 2016 onwards), and also with two journalism school-based publications in Australia (Reportage, 1996, and The Junction, 2018-2020) (Robie, 2018). In early 2021, he was co-founder of the Asia Pacific Media Network | Te Koakoa Incorporated which has emerged as a collective umbrella for academics, student journalists and independent reporters producing innovative publications, including the research journal Pacific Journalism Review and a strengthened Asia Pacific Report, which draw on a cross-disciplinary range of media contributors and scholars in other professions. These contributors are mindful of the challenges of reportage about the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This article explores an independent journalism model drawing on professional outlets for Asia-Pacific students and how an investigative and storytelling model like ‘Talanoa Journalism’ can be an effective bridge to alternative media careers and addressing ‘blind spots’ in legacy news media.

A Decade of Literature Roadmap on Religious Tolerance Education: A Bibliometric Study Using the Scopus Database

In multi-religious countries, integrating tolerance education into the curriculum, particularly religious tolerance, is essential to fostering a mindset of tolerance and encouraging harmony amidst diversity. To achieve this, it is necessary to review research development on religious tolerance education conducted by academics from various countries. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the research development on religious tolerance education in Scopus-indexed journals over the last decade through a bibliometric study. This study carried out in four stages, including searching for articles in the Scopus database, filtering, validating metadata, and analyzing bibliometrics with the help of VOSviewer. The results of this bibliometric study present seven main findings, as follows: The publication trend on tolerance topics increased from 2013 to 2022; Indonesia emerged as the leading contributor to publications on religious tolerance; The United Kingdom had the highest number of cited publications in the citation analysis; authors commonly used six terms related to religious tolerance in titles; author collaboration was prominent among only three authors, keyword analysis identified 16 dominant terms, and abstract analysis mapped 5,219 terms into five clusters. To conclude, there is still an opportunity to develop research related to religious tolerance education in the context of multiculturalism, character education, and learning methods or models, in primary, secondary, and tertiary education, in addition to cross- disciplinary and cross-country author collaboration. This study contributes to providing a comprehensive overview of research in the field of education related to the topic of religious tolerance in Scopus-indexed journals in the last decade.

Artificial Intelligence in Journalism: A Ten-Year Retrospective of Scientific Articles (2014–2023)

Academic interest in AI in journalism has been growing since 2018. Through a systematic review of the literature from 2014 to 2023, this study discusses the evolution of research in the field and how AI has changed journalism. The aim is to understand the impact of AI on journalism, based on a review of academic papers and a qualitative analysis of the most cited articles. This study combines: a systematic review of scientific articles extracted from Web of Science and Scopus (n = 699) and a qualitative approach with categorical content analysis of those with more than 50 citations (n = 59). The results (n = 699) highlight the prominence of authors from the Universities of Amsterdam and Santiago de Compostela. The United States has the largest number of authorships: 261 distributed across 99 institutions. The categorical content analysis (n = 59) shows a focus on issues like the work of the journalist, because AI is replacing journalists with repetitive and monotonous tasks, raising several questions about the role of the journalist. The findings show the rise of computational methods, highlighting the pervasiveness of AI in research, which has not been explored in previous work. Ethics, regulation, and journalism education remain under-discussed in research.

Reimagining Through Crisis: How the Covid-19 Pandemic Changed the Fortunes and Futures of Journalism Schools and Graduates

ABSTRACT The Covid-19 pandemic changed the viability of the commercial journalism landscape, through wave after wave of retrenchments and, in some cases, wholesale closures of media outlets. For young students and aspiring journalists, this meant reconsidering their passions and adjusting their expectations. Journalism schools in South Africa have for years been the de facto “factories” that create credible graduates able to man newsrooms when they complete their studies, but the changed landscape and the country’s unemployment statistics make it necessary to reassess curricula shaped around this driving imperative. Particularly for programmes that were designed for the sole purpose of creating “newsroom ready” journalists, what happens when newsrooms can no longer take in that potential labour force? What have recent graduates encountered in the working world and how do these experiences speak to their formative journalism education? Through their experiences and an analysis of the curricula of the full-time postgraduate Honours in Journalism and Media Studies programme offered at the Wits Centre for Journalism, the cross-sections of industry and teaching will be explored in this paper.

Beyond the Classroom: Evaluating Solutions Journalism Education From the Perspective of University Graduates

This study examines how solutions journalism education translates to professional practice, through in-depth interviews with current media professionals who encountered solutions journalism when they were in college. Findings suggest that solutions journalism education resonates powerfully with students, and incorporating the practice in J-school curriculum may have the potential to reengage disenchanted students. Whereas there remain significant barriers to practicing the approach in the workplace, participants revealed that their encounters at university with solutions journalism positively affected their reporting style, interview skills, and perspective of journalism’s role in society.

Forensic journalism: A sistematic literature review

This article provides a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) on forensic journalism. This is a field which combines the areas of journalism and forensic investigation and plays an essential role in crime report and journalistic investigation, in connection with the legal system and advocacy of justice. The SLR considered a corpus of 90 scientific articles, from four databases: Web of Science, B-On, Communication Abstracts and Scopus. The authors demonstrate a particular interest in discussing the framing of crime news, as well as their effects on audiences. The idea that runs through is that of the relevance of quality journalism. An investment in journalism education and in the specialisation of journalists comes out as a possible path towards enhancing the quality of the news. Even though this is a well established area, “forensic journalism”, the concept itself, is yet to be widely adopted by researchers.

Peningkatan Skill Wawancara Narasumber Melalui Pelatihan Jurnalistik Teknik Wawancara Narasumber Pada Siswa SMA 02 Masehi PSAK Semarang

Improving journalistic skills, especially in the context of source interview techniques, is essential in the current digital information era. Journalism training in high school can be an effective means of improving these skills. This research aims to explore the effectiveness of journalistic training in source interview techniques conducted by Communication Science students at Semarang University for students at SMA 02 Masehi PSAK Semarang. The Participatory Action Research (PAR) method was used in this research, which involves observation, planning, action and evaluation. The research results showed a significant increase in students' understanding of various aspects of interview techniques, as well as students' enthusiasm during the training. The evaluation results showed a significant increase in students' understanding of interview techniques. This training makes a significant contribution to improving the quality of journalism education in schools and preparing students to face the demands of the professional world.

Bibliometric analysis of technology readiness and education in high-impact journals of social sciences

In this bibliometric study, the close relationship between technology readiness and education is explored, particularly within the realm of social sciences. The main objective is to identify global trends and behaviors associated with these concepts. A qualitative scientometric review methodology was employed, focusing on the Web of Science (WoS) database, with 1366 articles analyzed. The application of various laws revealed the fundamental importance of Technology Readiness and Education for the long-term success of organizations in the digital age. Investing in the development of Technology skills strengthens competitiveness and fosters innovation. However, a minimal representation of educational topics in Social Sciences was observed, accounting for only 0.03% of the total articles. This knowledge gap is crucial to address, as training in technology and education is essential for both professional and scientific success. Having the appropriate competencies in technology and education is imperative to achieve greater productivity and professional success across various domains.

Tensions between the professional and academic worlds of journalism: Paradoxes of the Brazilian reality

For 40 years, Brazil was one of the few places in the world in which the regulation of journalistic activity was based on the requirement of a university degree, which associated being a journalist with having an academic qualification and not necessarily a professional one, unlike other countries that established or not licensing/accreditation systems. In the light of historical sociology, this article aims to scrutinize this intricacy of relationships between the professional and academic worlds of journalism, based on the case of the largest media market and scholarship in Latin America. It is shown how, between 1969 and 2013, there was tension and resistance on the part of international press associations, national news media companies and renowned journalists in relation to the mandatory diploma defended by the unions; as well as there were disputes and demands, within the community of professors and researchers, for the emancipation of journalism education in relation to communication studies.

A cross-sectional analysis of reporting guideline and clinical trial registration policies in nephrology journals.

To determine the extent to which nephrology journals recommend and require reporting guideline adherence and clinical trial registration. Despite a rising disease burden, research published on chronic kidney disease (CKD) and the field of nephrology has failed to keep pace and is limited. To improve the quality of research in the field of nephrology, reporting guidelines have been developed to minimize such deficits in research quality. However, the extent to which nephrology journals require and use reporting guidelines in addition to clinical trial registration is unknown. Sixty-two Nephrology journals were selected through the 2021 Scopus CiteScore tool. Each journal's Instructions for Authors was assessed to determine endorsement of study design-specific reporting guidelines or clinical trial registration. Researchers used R (version 4.2.1) and RStudio to create data summaries of descriptive statistics for nephrology journal reporting guidelines. Clinical trial registration was required by 52% (32/62) of nephrology journals within our sample. The reporting guideline for clinical trials, CONSORT, was required by 17.74% (11/62) of journals. The EQUATOR Network was mentioned by 46.77% (29/62) of journals, while 9.67% (6/62) failed to mention the ICMJE. The reporting guideline for systematic review, PRISMA, was only required by 12.90% (8/62) of journals. When contacting journal editors, 9.67% (6/62) responded and 4.83% (3/62) provided clarifying information. Reporting guidelines and clinical trial registration are suboptimally required and recommended by nephrology journals. Their adoption may decrease bias and increase research quality. Thus, nephrology journals should consider a more complete endorsement of these safeguards.

High-Impact Educational Practices (HIEPs) in Educational Media: Towards a Proposed Vision for the Sustainability of Egyptian Specifiic Education

Abstract Sustainable education and teaching excellence in Egypt remain significant challenges due to the persistent reliance on conventional and theoretical curricula, highlighting the dire importance of innovative practices for educators. Specific education should be encouraged at higher education levels, particularly in educational media. However, its adoption remains challenging due to unclear objectives and ineffective practices. High-impact educational practices (HIEPs) would provide an incentive for improved learning among the students. Thus, the current study focuses on the high impact of educational practices in exploring the importance of HIEPs in higher education in general and the educational media for specific education at Mansoura University in particular. Fifty faculty members in the field of educational media from specific educational colleges across various Egyptian universities participated in the survey. The study identifies the government’s focus on quantity over quality, poor teaching standards, and social inequalities as critical factors necessitating the implementation of HIEPs. In turn, all these practices add to deriving improved engagement, delivery of transferable and elementary skills, or synthesizing learning from related courses. The study concluded that it is important for the Department of Educational Media and its sub-specialties, including Drama, Educational Theatre, Radio, Television, and Educational Journalism, to integrate HIEPs and foster innovative practices in theatre education, in light of the 21st-century skills, skills gaps, ICT implementation, and support of teachers to increase the sustainability, particularly in educational media.