Role Of Journalism Research Articles

Mapping audience analytics use in newsrooms a conceptual typology integrating individual and organizational influences

ABSTRACT Despite the pivotal role of audience analytics in journalism, frequency and intensity of their use vary. This paper utilises the Theory of Planned Behavior and journalistic role orientations to consider various influences on audience analytics use, taking into account their complex interplay. Drawing from a comprehensive literature review, individual and organisational influences are identified to inform a conceptual typology of audience analytics users in newsrooms. It distinguishes six types, encompassing Analytics Experts, Integrators, Enthusiasts, Followers, Opportunists and Skeptics. Each type is characterised by specific traits, offering a nuanced understanding of their relationships and positions within newsrooms. This paper offers a refined perspective on how journalism navigates technological changes and economic challenges, and informs media management strategies by providing a deeper understanding of analytics-related newsroom dynamics.

The geographic frame matters (too): How journalistic role performance varies in domestic, foreign, and mixed news

The growing body of comparative studies on journalistic role performance has generally neglected the geographic frame of the news. Based on a content analysis of 145,817 news items published in 365 outlets (print, online, radio, and television) in 37 countries, we compare the performance of six journalistic roles in four geographic frame categories: domestic, foreign, and mixed news (domestic news with foreign involvement and foreign news with domestic involvement). Findings show that the level of the four news categories is equal for the watchdog and civic roles but varies for the others: the service role is more dominant in domestic news; the infotainment role is higher in foreign news; and the interventionist and loyal-facilitator roles are more prevalent in mixed news than in purely domestic or foreign news. These results are moderated by the level of country freedom, which facilitates or constrains the journalists’ performance of the various roles in these news categories. Thus, our study connects the geographic frame to the political contexts of reporting countries, providing a more accurate picture of how journalistic role performance varies in the four news categories. The discussion presents possible explanations for, and theoretical implications of, the findings.

Journalistic Continuity and Variability in South Korea’s COVID-19 Coverage

ABSTRACT There have been contradictory observations and discussions on journalistic roles in covering public health crises, such as media hype/mediatization, politicization, and polarization or public mobilizers and educators. This paper investigates the journalistic roles and practices in South Korea during 2020, focusing on the differences and similarities between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 news stories. As part of the second wave Journalistic Role Performance (JRP) Project, we conducted a content analysis of news stories collected from television and radio broadcasts, newspapers, and online news media (n = 3959). The study found that while the tendency of media hype/mediatization and political polarization were partially persistent in COVID-19 stories, the public mobilizer and educator role became significantly higher in COVID-19 coverage. The results indicate that while journalists adhered to habitual journalistic practices structured within the highly competitive and politically polarized South Korean media system, they also adopted different practices when covering the pandemic, regardless of their ideological affiliations. This study contributes to understanding how journalists exhibit both continuity and variability in their roles and practices within specific contexts, such as during the pandemic.

Blockchain solutions for generative AI challenges in journalism

This study aims to identify and assess AI and blockchain solutions in relation to journalistic authenticity and integrity. Central to our exploration is the role of blockchain technology in verifying content provenance. As a key component of a global Web3 framework, blockchain could offer a foundation for authenticating the origins of content. In this article, we explore how blockchain, with its capacity for creating immutable and cryptographically signed data records, could be applied by journalists to verify photos, videos and documents. Our analysis identified nine blockchain-based solutions for content verification, with three platforms–Attestiv, OriginStamp, and Fact Protocol–showing particular promise for journalistic workflows. We conclude that while AI and blockchain solutions are currently available to journalists today, they require high-level technical expertise. Many media companies are now venturing into this field as well, thus affecting the professional role of journalists in general. In our study, it is evident that integrating AI and blockchain in journalism is not merely about adopting new tools but also about understanding their broader implications for journalism as a profession and the convergence in society. The focus must remain on enhancing journalistic integrity and public trust to ensure that these technological advances benefit the field of journalism and, by extension, the democratic processes it supports.

Exploring the Influencing Factors of Misleading Information Dissemination and Revealing the Truth: From the Perspective of Self-designed Game

In this day and age, people often blindly follow the information they pick up accidentally or intentionally on the Internet or in newspaper headlines, regardless of whether it is true or false. Because the media may lie, many times these sources of information are wrong, such as in modern elections, when politicians use emotional, ethical, and logical strategies to spread obvious misinformation but can easily provoke prejudice in the population. People are too busy to spend time exploring the truth, and they tend to immediately identify with the headlines that catch their attention. At the moment, most people blame the journalists and media who publish misinformation, but the underlying motives are unclear. This paper aims to study the factors affecting the spread of misinformation through a self-designed game, comprehensively explore both sides of the conflict between misinformation and truth, let people understand the possible truth hidden behind lies and ambiguous facts through interaction with virtual characters and game mechanics, and clarify the role and responsibility of freelance journalists in reporting major news events, as well as examine the public reaction.

Journalists as individual users of artificial intelligence: Examining journalists’ “value-motivated use” of ChatGPT and other AI tools within and without the newsroom

ChatGPT and other AI applications have made the widespread use of artificial intelligence possible with their conversational interfaces and open accessibility – this “mainstreaming” of AI use has become concerning for news organizations as they grapple with the creation of appropriate AI-related guidelines and tools for their newsrooms. Even while such discussions are ongoing, the cultural shift among journalists has already begun. This paper highlights the role of journalists not simply as agents working within the confines of news organizations, but as actors with individual agency to enact change. Their use of AI has already gained significant momentum, with or without newsroom oversight and direction. This paper, supported by field theory, uses in-depth interviews with journalists and editors to uncover how journalists are themselves using AI in their day-to-day work, and how they ensure their values of “good journalism” are not compromised. Results show that journalists are already personally using AI in numerous tasks across all the stages of news production, namely in news gathering, news writing and presentation, news editing, and news promotion, and have three strategies to maintain their practice of “good journalism”. These results prompt the paper’s proposition of a new “value-motivated use” perspective to summarize journalistic adoption of AI – that it is the journalistic values that motivate their increased use of AI, as well as the values that motivate their limitations of this use; journalists will use the technology only to the extent that it aligns with the values of their profession.

Gentrificación? We know her

This article responds to Ben Gerlofs and Ernesto López Morales’ article, “¿Quién es gentrificación (‘who is gentrificación’)?” It explores the term “blanqueamiento,” which emerged from Mexico City housing activism, highlighting its ability to reveal the interlaced racism, corruption, and cultural erasure in urban transformation. The response discusses how “gentrificación nos queda corto” (“gentrification falls short”) and the necessity of new terms like “blanqueamiento” to address the complexities of urban development. By examining local discourses and the role of scholars, activists, and journalists, the paper underscores the importance of diverse terminologies in advancing urban spatial justice. It argues that while “gentrification” has facilitated global conversations, terms like “blanqueamiento” are crucial for highlighting different aspects of the process, thereby advancing efforts to dismantle structures of inequality and envision more just urban futures.

The role of journalists of the State Border Guard Service in military journalism in Ukraine

Modern Ukrainian media and communicators pay great attention to military journalism. Today, this field is gaining popularity in Ukraine and the world, as more and more media representatives work in conditions that threaten their health and lives. The challenges of hybrid warfare make scientists more interested in military topics, as the war is waged on two fronts — military and informational. The article considers the stages of formation and development of Ukrainian military journalism, focusing on its current state. Attention is drawn to the state of scientific research of modern military journalism. The role of journalists in the uniform of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (SBGSU) is actualized. We emphasized the need to popularize the military journalists, their contribution to the development of Ukrainian journalism. The main directions of activity of the SBGSU journalists are analyzed and determined their place and role in modern military media. The functions and tasks of military journalism, the rights and obligations of combatant journalists while serving both in the war zone and in peaceful areas of the Ukrainian border are separately considered. The main tasks include covering the activities of the SBGSU and preparing materials for the media; information support for the internal work of the service; prompt response to events; work with regional and national media; countering disinformation; coordination with other state structures. The results can be used in the development of educational programs in military and civilian educational institutions, as well as in retraining courses for civilian correspondents who plan to work in the war zone.

Reporting from the Outside While Looking In: Iranian Diaspora Journalists and #WomanLifeFreedom

Following the death of twenty-two-year-old Mahsa Jina Amini, tens of thousands of protestors took to the streets in Iran—and the whole world watched through their screens. Several Iranian diaspora journalists stepped up to cover the events in Iran for western news outlets. In this study, we interviewed fourteen Iranian diaspora journalists on how they define their role when reporting on Iran and how they navigate the balance between their personal experience and their reporting. Implications for this study include journalistic expectations for international news coverage and the role of the diaspora journalist within that coverage.

The Value of Independence: Making the Connection Between Quality Journalism and Editorial Control in Rwanda

This study evaluates which type of news outlets—independent or government aligned—produce higher quality stories in the East African country of Rwanda. A number of quality indicators are discussed in context, and hypotheses are proposed based largely on Scott, Gobetz, and Chanslor’s (2008) investment model. The data come from a global project —the Journalistic Role Performance Project— and specifically from a content analysis of 2,644 news stories published by Rwandan media in 2020. Findings reveal that independent news outlets outperform government-aligned outlets on the majority of quality indicators included in the study, especially in regard to story sourcing.

Navigating constraints: news values and journalistic role performance in Chinese state media VR news

IntroductionThis study explores the intersection of virtual reality (VR) technology and journalism, with a particular focus on the application of VR in news productions by China Central Television (CCTV). The research aims to assess how VR enhances immersive storytelling, the prevailing news values it supports, and how journalistic roles are performed within these productions in China.MethodsA content analysis was conducted on 234 VR news productions by CCTV, examining the use of immersive elements, the representation of news values, and the roles of journalists in the context of VR news.ResultsThe findings indicate that, while VR enhances audience engagement through immersive experiences, its application in CCTV’s VR news remains limited in scope. The technology is primarily employed within traditional journalistic frameworks, often emphasizing the loyal-facilitator role.DiscussionThe study reveals that immersive journalism at CCTV tends to support state-aligned narratives, promoting positive news values and limiting the critical engagement typically associated with more interventionist journalistic models. By examining the news values and the nuanced performances of journalistic roles in the context of VR news, this research contributes to the broader understanding of how emerging technologies like VR are shaping journalistic practices in authoritarian media systems, offering insights into both the potential and limitations of VR in enhancing audience engagement while maintaining journalistic integrity.

Satire Between the Lines: Negotiating Genre Hybridity in the Satirical Newsroom of De Ideale Wereld

ABSTRACT The proliferation of political entertainment has internationally produced a wide variety of news satire formats which blend journalistic conventions with comedic storytelling. This paper investigates the production of the Belgian news satire show De Ideale Wereld through a genre theory lens, viewing genre as enacted practice. It reports on 23 interviews with the show's hosts and editorial staff and a three-week observation period in its “satirical newsroom.” The findings reveal how the creators of De Ideale Wereld engage in an on­going negotiation of comedic and journalistic roles inspired by irreconcilable genre identities, embodying conflicting intentions located on different ends of the spectrum between comedic absurdity and journalistic inquiry. Furthermore, by adhering to journalistic practices such as fact-checking and news values, the show's creators navigate perceived limitations to the subjectivity inherent to their roles as comedic professionals. This article contributes to the limited understanding of the production of news satire and the implications of hybridity on the understanding of comedic and journalistic practice.

Revictimization of women victims of intimate partner violence in the French press: A social representations approach.

This study aims to analyze how the press portrays cases of revictimization experienced by women in France, through the lens of social representation theory. An exploratory, descriptive study was conducted using a corpus of 157 online press articles. A total of 187,773 words and 5,240 segments were analyzed using Iramuteq version 7, employing top-down hierarchical classification and lexical similarity analysis. The analysis identified four classes: 1. Violent incidents (25.5%); 2. Political actions against violence (26%); 3. Institutional revictimization (26.6%) and 4. Violence and breaking the silence (21.9%). The findings illustrate how media portrayals contribute to the construction of social representations surrounding revictimization. Class 1 reveals a focus on extreme cases of violence, such as femicides, and highlights a potential gender bias in media reporting through the omission of terms like 'femicide'. Class 2 demonstrates the influence of ideological perspectives on the portrayal of political measures against violence, with conservative outlets framing such actions within traditional values, while progressive newspapers advocate for systemic reform. Class 3 shows a gap in the conceptualization of institutional revictimization in the French press compared to other countries, revealing how conservative portrayals can minimize systemic issues and perpetuate harmful stereotypes. Class 4 shows the role of female journalists in addressing various forms of violence, despite the limited impact of the #MeToo movement in recent coverage. Collectively, these findings elucidate how media representations shape public attitudes and institutional responses to gender-based violence through the lens of social representations.

Undergraduate students' attitudes towards the role of digital geographic journalism in promoting tourism in aseer region in Saudi Arabia

This study investigates undergraduate Students' attitudes towards digital geographic journalism in promoting tourism in the Aseer region of Saudi Arabia. The region, rich in cultural heritage and natural beauty, remains underdeveloped in tourism. Digital geographic journalism, which uses digital tools to create engaging geographical stories, could enhance tourism promotion efforts. The research assesses students' awareness, evaluates the perceived effectiveness of digital geographic journalism, and identifies factors influencing their attitudes. A quantitative survey was conducted with 225 undergraduate Students in the Aseer region. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics, cross-tabulation, and correlation analysis. Findings reveal a strong positive perception of digital geographic journalism's role in tourism promotion. Students recognized the importance of social media accounts as digital geographic journalism and highlighted the need for investment, effort, time, and modern technologies. Significant correlations between content quality and students' knowledge about tourist sites suggest that improved digital content can boost tourism engagement. The study underscores digital geographic journalism's potential as a tool for promoting tourism in Aseer. It offers insights for policymakers and marketers, emphasizing the importance of technological investment and high-quality content to attract tourists.

Political Parallelism and Journalistic Roles in Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan

ABSTRACT Media and journalism scholars in East Asia have focused on media partisanship and political polarization, especially in Taiwan and South Korea. However, journalistic roles and practices in relation to political parallelism in the media have not been fully explored. This study questions how media systems with different degrees of political parallelism function with different journalistic roles and practices in East Asia—Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan. As part of the second wave of the Journalistic Role Performance project, this study conducted content analyses of news stories collected in 2020 from television, radio, newspapers, and online news media in South Korea (n = 3,959), Japan (n = 3757) and Taiwan (n = 6790). The content analysis reveals that media systems with higher political parallelism showed higher performance of the interventionist (in particular, “content-driven” interventionism), watchdog, and civic roles. We also found that the watchdog role showed slightly different features, such as “exposing/publicizing” watchdog in Taiwan, “criticizing” watchdog in South Korea, and “doubting” watchdog in Japan. Although media systems with higher political parallelism can contribute to active civic engagement and a lively public sphere, it can be detrimental to building a democratic consensus if there are no moderation mechanisms.

‘Big Lies’: understanding the role of political actors and mainstream journalists in the spread of disinformation

Much of the scholarly attention on disinformation has focussed on the role of social media, thus overlooking the political actors who themselves propagate disinformation and the mainstream news outlets that report on them. In this article we argue that disinformation has now become so widespread because outright lies are an effective way for political actors to attract and manage public attention. Political strategists have likewise worked out that cognitive biases and social factors are strong enough to overcome the ‘rational’ impulses of citizens who should, notionally, reject obvious lies. And, finally, journalists, who should be a bulwark against such behaviour, have mostly failed to address this problem because of an overly cosy relationship with those in power, and because of a lingering fealty to ‘objectivity’. We conclude the article by arguing that journalism needs to significantly re-think how it approaches the political field.

Interlopers by choice, or interlopers by circumstance? Alexey Navalny and alternative journalistic projects in contemporary autocratic Russia

In February 2024, Russian opposition activist Alexey Navalny died in a Western Siberian prison aged just 47. Known as a vocal opposition leader in Russia in the 2010s, he was regularly trying to be elected but also organised the largest mass anti-establishment and anti-corruption protests in Russia before his untimely death. Deprived of access and coverage in the Russian mainstream media, Navalny and his associates established their own media channels, including personal YouTube channels and online media outlets such as Navalny LIVE to avoid censorship and expose the corruption and abuses of power of high-ranking officials in Russia. However, at the same time, Navalny and his colleagues cannot be labelled as ‘journalists’ in a normative sense. They were not professional journalists and had not gone through the processes of journalistic socialisation, but rather ‘tried on’ journalistic roles and investigative journalism practices to expose corrupt elites. In this sense, Navalny and his team can be called (explicit) interlopers who adopt journalistic identities and force a reconsideration of what journalists are and journalism is. In this study, we look at the case of Navalny and his team and their investigative documentaries on YouTube. We relate his practice to the journalistic concept of (explicit) interlopers, analyse how their unique and alternative journalistic project has diversified a largely monopolised and authoritarian Russian public sphere, and propose extending the notion of interlopers by differentiating between interlopers by choice, and interlopers by circumstance.

Introduction: Journalistic Role Performance in Times of Change

Introduction: Journalistic Role Performance in Times of Change

Examining Journalists’ Adoption of Social Media Tools in Contexts of Precarity

ABSTRACT Digital technologies have changed journalists’ work practices and their roles with far-reaching effects for news production. While many studies focus on the ways social media transforms editorial processes, much of this research examines fully democratic Western countries. We examine how journalists in Turkey, who occupy particularly precarious social positions, incorporate social media tools into their routines, and the effects of these tools on journalistic role conceptions. To understand this, we analyzed 10 interviews with Turkish editors and reporters from popular Turkish news outlets. These journalists say their roles are shifting from active news formation to passive information relay — they are becoming aggregators rather than reporters. And while social networking sites increase the volume of newsworthy ideas that journalists encounter, they also increase the pressure on editors and reporters to compete with other news outlets. The organizations we studied did not employ separate fact-checking teams or software for news verification, leading to workflow challenges around verifying large quantities of information collected from social media. Our findings suggest that journalists in precarious positions might be especially reliant on social media logics in their daily work since they lack the social, political, and occupational security to improvise or resist new practices and values.

Públicos imaginados: la concepción de los periodistas mexicanos sobre sus audiencias desde de los roles profesionales

How do Mexican journalists conceive their audiences and how does this impact their work? This study, based on a survey of journalists in Mexico (N = 486), conducted within the framework of the Worlds of Journalism project, analyzes the perceptions that journalists have about their audiences, highlighting how these perceptions influence journalistic roles. Findings indicate that the orientation ranges from educating and offering relevant content to disseminating exciting stories to increase consumption metrics, but this is conditioned by region, type of media, and journalists’ age.