Data Journalism as a Service : Digital Native Data Journalism Expertise and Product Development

The combined set of skills needed for producing data journalism (e.g., investigative journalism methods, programming, knowledge in statistics, data management, statistical reporting, and design) challenges the understanding of what competences a journalist needs and the boundaries for the tasks journalists perform. Scholars denote external actors with these types of knowledge as interlopers or actors at the periphery of journalism. In this study, we follow two Swedish digital native data journalism start-ups operating in the Nordics from when they were founded in 2012 to 2019. Although the start-ups have been successful in news journalism over the years and acted as drivers for change in Nordic news innovation, they also have a presence in sectors other than journalism. This qualitative case study, which is based on interviews over time with the start-up founders and a qualitative analysis of blog posts written by the employees at the two start-ups, tells a story of journalists working at the periphery of legacy media, at least temporarily forced to leave journalism behind yet successfully using journalistic thinking outside of journalistic contexts.Peer reviewe

Collaboration on a national scale: journalism educators, students and the 2016 Australian federal election

Journalism is a collaborative process that requires individuals to work autonomously and collectively to produce news and information. In 2016, journalism educators from 28 Australian universities collaborated to provide coverage of the Australian federal election in a project called UniPollWatch. This project involved around 1000 students and 75 staff producing coverage of 150 House of Representatives seats that included 346 candidate profiles, 125 electorate profiles and verdict stories, profiles of 26 Senate candidates, and feature stories on nine key policy areas. The purpose-built UniPollWatch website also hosted two large-scale data journalism projects. This paper describes how the largest Australian student university project was devised and how it attracted and sustained collaborative participation. It also reports on the results of a survey of participating journalism academics about the structure of the project and draws insight from their comments about the management of future projects on this scale. The theoretical perspectives of analysis are drawn from journalism practice as well as governance theory, journalism pedagogy and work integrated learning. This paper argues that the UniPollWatch model offers possibilities for further development and adaptation for universities to collaborate for the benefit of journalism education, students and the practice of journalism

Examining the adoption of mobile journalism in Uganda’s newsrooms: a case of NBS TV and NTV

Mobile journalism has increasingly become popular in television newsrooms due to the burgeoning number of audiences using mobile devices and social media. Scholarship in mobile journalism has analyzed news gathering, production and dissemination and content production for mobile users. However, no studies focus on adopting mobile journalism within Uganda’s newsrooms. This study aimed to examine the adoption of mobile journalism in newsrooms in Uganda using the case study of NBS TV and NTV newsrooms. The study employed diffusion of innovation and adopted a mixed methods research approach and case study design, employing survey (N=109) and in-depth interviews (N=12) as data collection techniques with NBS TV and NTV newsroom staff. The study found that mobile journalism adoption in Uganda’s newsrooms was substantial. Both NTV Uganda and NBS TV stood at 61.5% (n=67) out of 109 respondents within the two newsrooms fully adopting mobile journalism. Although mobile journalism has been adopted substantially in Uganda’s newsrooms, the practice has not been fully integrated in reporters’ work routines. The drivers of mobile journalism adoption or lack of it were categorized into four broad themes: individual and mobile device characteristics and organizational and societal factors. The challenges of adopting mobile journalism were categorized into the cost of mobile devices, newsroom quality standards, lack of skills, fake news, Internet penetration, and data costs sub-themes. The opportunities of adopting mobile journalism were categorized into digital news, the ease and swiftness of sharing content, the skilling of journalists, and cost-cutting. There is a need for NTV and NBS TV management to establish structures to integrate mobile journalism in the newsrooms

A Career Profile in Public Information

This study examines public information as a profession by surveying professionals at the management level in state government. Respondents provided data which was analyzed using content analysis, paired correlation, univariate statistics, and phenomenology. Results reveal a general theme involving journalism. Respondents indicated a background (educational and occupational) in journalism is the most important aspect in a public information career. This study provides average ages, dominant gender, salary figures, specific educational preparation advice, and advice for getting into and achieving in the public information field

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationUsing a survey of 167 professional journalists, this study examined the motivations to adopting what is defined in the study as "nonprofessional" journalism. Previous research was used to provide for a definition of "nonprofessional" journalism as being related to professional journalism ethics. Diffusion of Innovations Theory provided a framework for determining the factors that may or may not be motivating the decision. The sample used in the study was journalists who held a management-level title at a newspaper in the United Stated. The data were analyzed using conditional process analysis, which allowed for the development of a model that tested for moderated mediation over various paths of thinking involved in the decision. Results show that professional journalists are willing to publish content produced by nonprofessionals when there is either a social need or an economic need in doing so. Furthermore, they are not as concerned about professional journalism ethics where they perceive a social need, but they are when there is an economic need, under certain conditions

Multimedia Planning Strategies as a Tool for International Journalism and Alternative Media Studies

News development is currently affected by digitalization. Therefore, media scholars using digital means to cover the news must develop the so-called “multimedia mindset” among professional journalists and media students. It is not enough to teach the technology—the scholars have to embrace new journalism tools to incorporate them with the story planning activities. This article aims to look into how the aforementioned planning activities are used in the curriculum for Russian media students and professionals in the field of international journalism. The paper is qualitative and descriptive based on secondary data reported in hybrid written media. Also, this research uses a case study dealing with a proposed new program “International News Production” a track within the Contemporary Journalism Master program including alternative media at the High School of Economics Media Institute in Moscow. The findings of this study shed light on the skills needed in new alternative media. Students undergoing the proposed new program in alternative and international media enhance their professional skills and qualifications while experiencing Russian culture. Graduates from the program shall have ample opportunities to pursue careers in various areas of the media industry, including visual journalism, data journalism, storytelling, production, and newsroom management at various international newsrooms. Teaching new alternative media methods can be easily projected to the work with practicing journalists in news channels and information agencies

'Gender as a multi-layered issue in journalism: ' A multi-method approach to studying barriers for women in Belgian newsrooms

In recent years, in feminist media studies there has been a growing interest in in media production processes, the structures of media organizations and the people working ‘behind the scenes’ of these companies. This research has documented that despite the increase of female journalists in the last decades, journalism remains vertically and horizontally divided along gender lines. Female journalists are strongly under-represented in older age groups, in decision-making positions and in prestigious news areas and media sectors. Although the blending of qualitative and quantitative methods can offer a fuller understanding of the mechanisms sustaining gender inequality in journalism, most studies either quantify the representation of women in journalism or use qualitative methods to explore how female journalists experience these barriers. The purpose of this paper is to fill the lack of multi-method research on gender inequality in journalism. In order to gain insight into the structural position of women in the journalistic workforce, we conducted a large-scale survey in Belgium. All active professional journalists were invited to participate. The response rate was 33.4% (1640 of 4913 journalists). These results are explored more in depth by means of qualitative interviews with 21 female journalists. The analysis confirms the existence of all ‘traditional’ barriers that women experience in the journalistic profession (e.g. the incompatibility of journalism and motherhood, the glass ceiling, sexism, …). The added value of this study is that we registered several additional difficulties for women in journalism, and most importantly that we gained insight in the strategies that our respondents use to deal with these gender-related barriers. These strategies were related to the support of a partner, the flexibility in the newsroom towards journalists with children, the choice to work part-time or freelance and the use of new communication technologies

An investigation into blogging as an opportunity for work-integrated learning for journalism students.

Blogging has become a well-established method of online communication and publication, used by individuals and organisations to disseminate news, ideas and information. In their earlier forms, blogs were used as online diaries, but have now evolved into complex digital environments. This paper argues that these online environments with their associated communities, offer journalism students opportunities for work-integrated learning. It argues that blog environments have the potential to enable students in develop journalism-specific skills, and enhance transferable graduate attributes including creativity, sophisticated communication competencies, initiative and problem solving. It suggests that blogging offers a platform for accessing experiential learning, and as such should be considered within a curriculum for work-integrated learning in the journalism and media subject are