Newspaper Workers Research Articles

Newspapers Published by the Employees Against Their Employers in Turkey: Haber and Basin

Takvim-i Vekayi started to be published in 1831 and was the first Turkish newspaper published in the Ottoman Empire period. The number of newspapers published in the Ottoman Empire started to increase after 1860. As a result of the increase in the number of newspapers, conflicts between newspaper owners and employees increased. In such cases, newspaper employees often went on strike to protect their interests and ensure that their demands were accepted. However, due to the lack of legal regulations to protect their rights, newspaper employees sometimes adopted different methods of struggle. One of these methods was to publish newspapers against newspaper owners in order to fight against them with the same medium. In the history of the Turkish press, newspaper workers were able to publish their newspapers against their newspaper owners twice, in 1923 and 1961. In 1923, the typesetters published a newspaper named Haber (News). In 1961, the journalists published a newspaper called Basın. As journalists gained relative legal security in 1961, they did not take such an action again in Turkey.

The electronic press and its role in political awareness

The study aimed to activating knowledgeable impact role of electronic press in developing the political awareness readers and how it effected and they caring with political issues with applying the analytical description method which as adopted the questionnaire and meeting as tools of gathering the data information, while the questionnaires divided among the Alrakooba newspaper workers through electronic connection to allowed meeting and applied on the electronic and newspaper specializing and various pressing colleges lecturers.
 The study resulted as greatest and genus role to improving and developing political awareness among readers’ especial females most readers than males in handling the electronic press and political awareness topics which it refereed to naturalizing females more readers than males.
 The study recommended to activated electronic press and newspapers rules as equalization with newspaper as the same as to controlling adjustments and watching out contains cure of electronic press.

Identity(ies) Explored: How Journalists’ Self-conceptions Influence Small-town News

ABSTRACTExisting literature on community journalism suggests it is worthwhile to theoretically and conceptually examine journalists in small towns. These reporters and editors always wear multiple hats, including news worker, community member, and booster. Therefore, drawing on newsroom observations and interviews, and applying the interpretive lenses of sociology and identity theory, this study examines the self-perceived identities of weekly newspaper news workers, and how those identities influence their news production. Findings across three organizations show that for these journalists, professional identity is intertwined with personal identity as a church member or baseball coach. Simply put, these journalists see themselves as members of the community that their newspaper covers. Their interactions with friends and neighbors are also interactions with sources – and with advertisers. This sense of personal connection further serves as a key motivation to produce meaningful news for their communities, which the author suggests has served as a safeguard to declines in readership for many small-town weekly newspapers.

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.

The ideological challenge for the regional press; reappraising the community value of local newspapers

Abstract Existing for the good the community has been an established claim to legitimacy for the English regional press since the nineteenth century. Expressed varying as a localized version of the fourth estate or ‘parish pump patriotism’, this article understands this notion as a discursive position which underwrites claims by the local newspaper to act as a watchdog on behalf of those readers it seeks to serve. As such it serves an ideological function and justifies the normative practices of the industry. However, interviews with newspaper workers suggest that while the good of the community remains a key professional value, increasingly they feel compromised in their ability to uphold it due to the economic environment in which they are operating. It concludes with the proposition that the political economy of the local newspaper needs to invest in real terms in the good of the community if its normative function is to be retained.

Survey finds differences on preserving born-digital news

A survey of newspaper workers, librarians, archivists and researchers in Maine reveals that preserving digitized newspapers is deemed most important, followed by born-digital news articles; however, they differ about who should be responsible for preserving this digital news content.

HOW AND WHY JOURNALISTS CREATE AUDIO SLIDESHOWS

Almost all newsroom staff now create content specifically for the Web. Only a handful of studies address aspects of multimedia news production, and no studies have focused on the increasingly popular audio slideshow format. This paper reports the results of an exploratory, qualitative survey of 38 newspaper workers who produce audio slideshows to understand better how and why journalists use them. Although videos are published by a greater percentage of newspapers than audio slideshows, the survey respondents by-and-large prefer the latter as a storytelling medium. Many reported newsroom contention regarding how video verses audio slideshows should be used and feel pressure to focus on the quantity, rather than quality, of multimedia news stories.

De-skilling Effects on Journalists: ICTs and the Labour Process of Taiwanese Newspaper Reporters

Through in-depth interviews with Taiwanese newspaper workers, this paper illustrates the “de-skilling" effects of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on journalists. In recent years, Taiwanese reporters have experienced an increase in workload and an intensification of managerial control due to the introduction of new technologies in the newsroom. Using ICTs in the workplace consequently has harmed journalists’ working conditions and autonomy. Moreover, ICTs have led to a trivialization of reporting tasks and devaluation of reporters’ experience and knowledge. The degradation of reporting work resulting from the use of ICTs has enabled managers at Taiwanese newspapers to hire young employees to fill the jobs of experienced reporters and to reduce salary costs.

Promise and Reality: The Integration of Print and Online Versions of Major Metropolitan Newspapers

Newspapers that seek first-mover advantage too often have expended financial capital and personnel resources on new media initiatives without fully appreciating the obstacles or the potential outcomes, an approach that may be understandable in an increasingly competitive marketplace fueled by the explosive growth of the Internet. Newspaper editors still question whether and how to integrate their Internet editions into existing newsrooms in hopes of leveraging the strengths of each. A survey of 63 major metropolitan U.S. newspaper editors showed that these managers have a high level of commitment to integration. In addition, a statistically significant relationship was found between multiple procedural or policy factors and management perception that integration had met management objectives. If integration between the newspaper and its online service is the desired outcome, the most important factors appear to include having a partnership with other media, instituting a converged news desk that handles stories regardless of medium or distribution method, having management commitment to integration, equalizing perceptions of status between newspaper workers and online workers, empowering online staff to actively participate in planning meetings, utilizing the online service for breaking news that occurs off-publication cycle, and encouraging print-side staff members to generate content for exclusive use online.

Transitions in self-reported musculoskeletal pain and interference with activities among newspaper workers.

Active surveillance of symptoms and disability due to musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) in working populations can map individual transitions in symptom intensity or disability level. Using repeat surveys, this study examined if aetiological risk factors for new symptoms or disability, measured by interference with activities, were similar to prognostic risk factors for subsequent outcomes of symptoms and disability. This paper reports on 379 Toronto newspaper workers who completed questionnaires in 1996 and 1997. Questions on pain/discomfort during the last year, episode frequency and duration formed the basis for constructing three mutually exclusive symptom levels: noncases (Level 1); mild cases (Level 2); and more severe or frequent pain cases (Level 3). A similar construction of overall interference levels was based on the frequency with which musculoskeletal pain/discomfort interfered with daily, recreational, social and family activities, or ability to do one's job during the previous 12 months. The last was also examined as work interference alone. Levels of symptoms were cross-tabulated by overall and work interference at the two time points and Markov models of transitions between states were formulated. Results indicate that period prevalence of symptoms and overall interference increased between phases, though only significantly for symptoms (Levels 2 and 3, 65.7-70.7%, p = 0.04), while work interference was unchanged (17.9-17.0%). Equivalent proportions of workers improved as worsened in symptoms (21.1 and 22.4%, respectively), overall interference (16.7 and 17.8%), and work interference (7.4 and 6.6%). The only significant predictor for those without work interference at time one was job tenure, which was protective against work interference (Odds Ratio (OR) 1.06, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.01-1.12). Among those who had more severe/frequent symptoms at time one, lack of improvement over time was predicted by longer job tenure (OR = 0.92 per year, CI: 0.87-0.97), greater psychological demands of work (OR = 0.65 per point, CI: 0.51-0.84) and marginally by greater upper extremity disability score. At time one, women with work interference were more likely to have persistent interference at time two (OR = 7.22, CI: 1.57-33.20). Suggestive findings included opposite effects of social support at work: reduced risk of development of new symptoms but increased risk of persistence at the highest symptom level.

Health care utilization and workplace interventions for neck and upper limb problems among newspaper workers.

Data on the use of various therapeutic interventions among working populations at risk for musculoskeletal disorders are rare, despite the need for such information in assessing adherence to best practices. Using the results of a cross-sectional survey of newspaper workers who reported neck and upper limb pain or discomfort (n = 309), we describe the prevalence of a wide range of clinical and workplace interventions. Information/education, exercises, and physical treatments were the most common interventions, and work changes were less prevalent. Those with more frequent, longer-duration, and/or more severe symptoms more commonly reported visits to physiotherapists and health practitioners at work and use of physical treatments, medications, and devices. The multiplicity of interventions used pose evaluation challenges for occupational health practitioners and researchers.

The Opening of South America's First Needle Exchange Program and an Epidemic of Crack Use in Salvador, Bahia-Brazil

By 1998, 21% of cumulative AIDS cases in Brazil had occurred among injection drug users (IDUs). After a protracted political battle, the first needle exchange program (NEP) in South America opened in Salvador, Bahia. This paper uses a variety of quantitative and qualitative data sources to describe the opening of the NEP and the impact upon it of a crack cocaine epidemic that swept the region shortly after the NEP opened. Quantitative data sources include 3 cross-sectional studies conducted in various districts of Salvador before and after the NEP opened, and process measures from the NEP. Qualitative data sources include participant observation in Pelourinho, a heavy drug-use area of Salvador, the field notes of outreach workers, and newspaper articles from the most widely read local newspaper. The initial cross-sectional study demonstrated a 58% HIV seroprevalence and a similar percentage of IDUs reported needle-sharing. These data were used to support the need for a local NEP, which ultimately opened in March 1995. Use of the NEP in Pelourinho dropped precipitously with the arrival of a crack cocaine epidemic, documented clearly in the newspaper and outreach workers' field notes. The data permit an analysis of when the epidemic arrived and the geographical spread of the drug through Salvador. They also clearly document how drug users switched from cocaine injection to crack in large numbers and how the NEP was forced to adapt to these changes in drug-use patterns. Reductions in injection risk behavior are documented in Pelourinho, but are difficult to ascribe with certainty to the NEP because of the limited numbers of persons still injecting and the consequent selection bias. There are now 30 NEPs throughout Brazil.

Describing the Burden of Upper-Extremity Musculoskeletal Disorders in Newspaper Workers: What Difference do Case Definitions Make?

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) of the upper limb are of growing concern, although there is no consensus on how to define a “case” of MSD. Varying the case definition has been shown to alter the description of the prevalence of the disorder. The purpose of this study was to compare the symptom description as well as the burden (disability costs, time off work) of MSD across four different published case definitions. A survey was conducted at a large urban newspaper, and 1003 (84% response rate) people responded. The questionnaire included measures of pain (intensity, frequency, duration), disability, work disability, and absence. Case definitions permitted creation of four overlapping samples, which were compared descriptively on the various measures of burden of MSD. The case definitions led to different descriptions of burden associated with MSD. Contrasting between the two extremes (Hunting and NIOSH), differences were found in prevalence (55% vs. 20%), overall disability (14.6 vs. 23.2/100, 100 = more disability) and difficulty at work (8 vs. 15.5/100), and proportion reporting pain interfering with work (27.3 vs. 16.2%). The various case definitions drew samples that were described by different experiences in terms of burden. Studies using different case definitions therefore lack comparability. The definition to use may depend on the study goals (primary or secondary prevention for example). However, consensus on a common definition would allow comparability across studies.

Job Satisfaction among Newsworkers: The Influence of Professionalism, Perceptions of Organizational Structure, and Social Attributes

Organizations stress routinized activities that contribute to profitability. Professionalism stresses ethical performance that contributes to social responsibility. When the organization prevails, autonomy, authority, and control, the hallmarks of professionalism, weaken. This leads to a decrease in the intrinsic meaning of work and, ultimately, less job satisfaction. Using a stratified random national sample, these assumptions were explored among Canadian newsworkers. More professionalism, a less formal and smaller organization, media sector, and several social attributes lead to more job satisfaction. Newspaper workers were most satisfied due to a combination of intrinsic factors, such as autonomy, authority, and control of work, and extrinsic factors, such as job security and income.

Active surveillance for the control of cumulative trauma disorders: a working model in the newspaper industry.

Health and risk factor surveillance is a critical aspect of an effective ergonomics process. Physical therapists are becoming increasingly involved in many components of the ergonomics process, including health and risk factor surveillance. The purpose of this study was to develop and implement a multistaged active surveillance program for the management and control of cumulative trauma disorders. The surveillance program was established at three newspaper companies consisting of 1,150 employees. This study focused on the first three stages of the multistage surveillance model, which incorporates the use of symptom and job factor questionnaires, specific anatomical surveys, and clinical detection tests. The results of the study indicated that 1) musculoskeletal symptoms in the back, neck, and hands accounted for the majority of reported missed work among the newspaper workers; 2) production workers had a higher prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms than office workers; and 3) the prevalence of probable carpal tunnel syndrome among the newspaper workers was 1.5%.

Occupational Skin Disease in Newspaper Pressroom Workers

Studies of printing industry tradespeople have reported an increased problem of dermatologic abnormalities, including contact dermatitis and dermatitis attributed to solvent exposure. The current cross-sectional health survey of dermatological conditions were conducted in a follow-up of perceived skin abnormalities among newspaper pressroom workers. We surveyed 215 pressroom workers and 34 compositors at a large northeastern US newspaper printing facility. Our findings indicate that printing pressroom workers reported skin condition symptoms at a significantly higher rate than did the compositor referent group. Pressroom workers also were found to be at a significantly elevated risk of developing dermatitis after self-reported exposure to certain commonly used solvents. This emphasizes the need for proper work practices, product substitution where possible, and appropriate protective glove use by newspaper pressroom workers.

The Bourgeois Orientation of Wen-Hui Pao During a Certain Period

Abstract The article reprinted below, entitled "Lu i pei-k'ao" [Noted for the Record] (1), appeared in the Wen-hui pao on June 10. In the past, Shanghai's Wen-hui pao and Peking's Kuang-ming jih-pao [Kuangming Daily] have published great quantities of excellent news reports and articles. The fundamental political orientation of these two papers, however, over a certain period has become the orientation of the bourgeois press. For a period of time, these two papers have taken advantage of both the slogan "Let a hundred schools of thought contend" and the rectification campaign of the Communist Party to publish a great quantity of articles which expressed, but failed to criticize, the bourgeois viewpoint, as well as news reports of an inflammatory nature. This can be verified in the papers themselves. A group of people [on the staff] of these two papers have made a great mistake in their views of the newspaper. They have obscured the differences in fundamental principles between the press in capitalist countries and the press in socialist countries. On this point, some editors and reporters of some other newspapers also have problems. So do some instructors in journalism departments of universities. It is not just Wen-hui pao and Kuang-ming jih-pao that have this problem, only that these two have manifested it most strikingly. Erroneous viewpoints can be rectified through study, examination, and criticism, and we are waiting for them [to do this]. Judging from the situation at these two papers in the last few days, their policy seems already to have been altered somewhat. Non-Party newspapers of course shouldn't be run in precisely the same way as Party newspapers; they should have their own special characteristics. But their basic orientation should be in conformity with other papers. This is because the press in socialist countries [should] reflect a socialist economy, that is, a planned economy based on a system of public ownership, in the way it reports the news. It is quite unlike the press in capitalist countries which, in the way it reports the news, reflects an anarchic economy of contending groups. As long as class differences still exist in the world, the press will always remain an instrument of class struggle. We hope to develop debate on this question so that everyone will arrive at a common understanding of the matter. Among journalists, there are some Communist Party members and Communist Youth League members who also have the viewpoint of the bourgeois press. They should also examine, study and criticize this erroneous viewpoint. Dogmatic journalistic viewpoints and stereotyped styles of writing should also be criticized. Things like this are quite troublesome. Party newspapers, including this paper, have committed errors of this kind. Criticism of this kind of error also must be developed in the debate. In this way, we will create a two-front struggle against the "Left" and the "Right" on journalistic matters. Having noticed the obvious and harmful tendencies of some Wen-hui pao staff who take the bourgeois standpoint and wage class struggle against the proletariat, Yao Wen-yüan's article simply hints at the bourgeois orientation of Wen-hui pao. It is a fine article, and for this reason it is reprinted here. In addition, we are taking this opportunity to express our views to our fellow newspaper workers at Wen-hui pao and Kuang-ming jih-pao for their consideration.

Soldiers' Committees of Central Russia in the Spring of 1917

Soldiers' committees played an important role in the period of preparation and carrying out of the Great October Socialist Revolution. The Bolshevik newspaper Workers' Way [Rabochii put'] wrote: If there had been no army committees or if they had been deprived of most of their rights, the army would have been a plaything in the hands of the counterrevolutionary generals. (1) The committees were elected soldiers' organizations that arose everywhere after the overthrow of tsarism as the result of the democratization of the army that had just begun. Their formation was a consequence of mass involvement of the soldiery in active participation in political life. They were created on the initiative of proletarian organizations or of the soldiers' themselves, and they promoted the welding together and revolutionizing of the soldiers and their mobilization to overthrow the power of the landlords and capitalists.

A proportional mortality study of a group of newspaper workers.

<b>Greenberg, M. (1972).</b><i>Brit. J. industr. Med.,</i><b>29,</b> 15-20. <b>A proportional mortality study of a group of newspaper workers.</b> In investigating an anecdotal report of a high incidence of bladder cancer at a London newspaper printing factory, death certificates for 670 workers relating to the years 1954-66 were studied. While an increased incidence of carcinoma of the urinary organs could not be demonstrated, the total of all malignancies was greater than predicted and carcinoma of the bronchus accounted for much of the excess. Only death by suicide occurred to excess among causes of death other than malignancy. The smoking habits of subjects are not known but if tobacco habit contributed to bronchial carcinoma it had no observable effect on the incidence of chronic bronchitis and ischaemic heart disease in early middle age. It is concluded that a prospective study would be required if occupation is to be implicated as a hazard.

Mortality of newspaper workers from lung cancer and bronchitis 1952-66.

<b>Moss, E., Scott, T. S., and Atherley, G. R. C. (1972).</b><i>Brit. J. industr. Med,</i><b>29,</b> 1-14. <b>Mortality of newspaper workers from lung cancer and bronchitis 1952-66.</b> The mortality experience of 3 485 men who worked full-time in the newspaper printing industry in London and Manchester and died in the period 1952-66 has been analysed for occupation and cause of death. There was an excess of deaths from cancer of the lung and bronchus (I.C.D. 162, 163) in printing trade workers as a whole compared with the male population of the region in which they worked, adjusted for age and calendar year of death. The excess was about 30% in London and about 40% in Manchester. Both these excesses are significant at the 1% level. In Manchester, but not in London, there was a concentration of excess (about 100%) in machine room men, again significant at the 1% level. White collar workers showed no difference between observed and expected deaths in London and only a small excess (20%, not significant at the 5% level) in Manchester. There were small deficits of deaths from bronchitis (I.C.D. 500 to 502), about 10% for printing trade workers, and 30 to 40% for white collar workers, with little difference between London and Manchester. Neither deficit is significant at the 5% level because of the small numbers involved. This survey does not provide any evidence about the cause of the overall small excess of deaths from lung cancer, which might or might not be occupational. The larger excess in the Manchester machine room men is more likely to be due to an occupational hazard.