Street cred : are media consumers craving more “authenticity” in the digital age?

Media organizations that provide news have traditionally relied on audience perceptions of truth and credibility to lure more readers, viewers, and listeners. The author explores whether authenticity has emerged in the digital age as an additional ingredient in media consumers’ daily decisions about where to turn – and where to return – for trustworthy information. As it becomes ever-more of a challenge for consumers to distinguish reliable information from “fake news” in the 21st century, audiences may be seeking content from media organizations that feels more authentic, genuine, and personalized. Three case studies drawn from new media, as well as legacy media, help illustrate what traditional and startup media institutions can do to better understand audience attitudes and behaviors: the HBO series “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” the online site Reddit, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning work of Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold.Communication Studie

The Diffusion of Fact-checking: Understanding the Growth of a Journalistic Innovation

How and why is political fact-checking spreading across journalism? The research presented in this report suggests that the challenge of disseminating the practice is significant -- mere proximity does not appear to be sufficient to drive adoption. However, we find that factchecking can be effectively promoted by appealing to the professional values of journalists.Our first study considers whether journalists might emulate their colleagues in emphasizing fact-checking, following the practices of professional peers in the way that other journalistic innovations have disseminated. However, the practice does not appear to diffuse organically within a state press corps. While fact-checking coverage increased dramatically during the 2012 campaign, these effects were concentrated among outlets with dedicated fact-checkers. We find no evidence that fact-checking coverage increased more from 2008 to 2012 among outlets in states with a PolitiFact affiliate than among those in states with no affiliate.However, it is possible to effectively promote fact-checking. In a field experiment during the 2014 campaign, we find that messages promoting the genre as a high-status practice that is consistent with journalistic values significantly increased newspapers' fact-checking coverage versus a control group, while messages emphasizing audience demand for the format did not (yielding a smaller, statistically insignificant increase). These results suggest that efforts to create or extend dedicated fact-checking operations and to train reporters are the most effective way to disseminate the practice of fact-checking. While audience demand is an important part of the business case for the practice, newsrooms appear to respond most to messages emphasizing how fact-checking is consistent with the best practices and highest aspirations of their field

The Reconstruction of American Journalism

Explores the history and changing landscape of American journalism as well as the need to preserve independent, original, and credible print news reporting. Considers the roles of the Internet, collaborations among newspapers, and foundation support

Journalists' collective representation and editorial content in British newspapers- never the twain shall meet?

This article examines the propensity for journalists to contest the determination of the editorial content of the newspapers they work for and write for. It finds that such instances are relatively infrequent and suggests that not only is stronger workplace union organisation required to provide for the capability for journalists to do so but that a heightened level of trade union consciousness and abnormal occurrences in management practice are also required

European Court of Human Rights: Brambilla and others v. Italy

The legality and acceptability of some controversial practices by journalists was at the heart of a recent case before the European Court of Human Rights. The case concerns the conviction in Italy of three journalists who intercepted radio communications between police officers (carabinieri) in order to arrive quickly at crime scenes and report about them for their local online newspaper. Stressing the notion of responsible journalism and noting that the decisions of the domestic courts had been duly reasoned and had focused primarily on the need to protect national security and prevent crime and disorder, the Court confirms the duty of journalists to comply with domestic law, which prohibits the interception by any persons of communications not addressed to them, including those of law-enforcement agencies. The Court also notes that the penalties ordered by the domestic courts, consisting of the seizure of the radio equipment and the imposition of suspended custodial sentences, were not disproportionate. It emphasizes that the newspaper and the journalists have not been prevented or prohibited from bringing news items to the public’s attention