What Can Reader Comments to News Online Contribute to Engagement and Interactivity? A Quantitative Approach

This dissertation addresses the relationship between journalism and computer-mediated communication by exploring the degree to which newly empowered audience members are using the reader comment forum on newspaper websites to participate in democratic discourse - a key component of civic engagement. Twenty-first century journalism has evolved from the traditional asynchronous, \u27one-to-many\u27 model into a process involving producers, content and audiences. The interactive capabilities of Internet-based news products have enabled legacy media to connect with audiences in unprecedented fashion. Perhaps more than any other interactive platform, the reader comment forum on online news sites reflects the ideal of the \u27public sphere,\u27 defined by Jurgen Habermas as a democratic utopia in which all citizens have an opportunity to participate in discussing social and political matters important toward making decisions for the common good. Under a framework of deliberative democratic theory, this dissertation employs a quantitative content analysis of reader comments posted to the websites of six South Carolina daily newspapers to detect themes of democratic engagement. Additionally, the analysis adds to a growing body of research on the motivations behind online content production by examining reader comments for themes commonly associated with uses and gratifications theory. To bring analytical depth to the research, interviews with journalists from each of the sampled newspapers were conducted to assess the effectiveness of reader comment forums as a new public sphere for democratic discourse and the role of journalists in facilitating public discourse. The findings from this dissertation contribute to the literature on online journalism and interactivity by offering new insight into how and why users engage in online news forums, the role of anonymity in public deliberation, and the traditionally detached, and at times contentious, relationship between journalists and audience members

Checking Misleading Speech: New Epistemic and Ethical Norms for Political Journalism in the American Public Sphere

Objectivity has been a guiding norm of American political journalism since the 1920s. Journalistic objectivity as impartial observation has given way to neutral observation, which I call performative objectivity. Performative objectivity defaults journalists to presenting information from popularly supported sides of political disputes as equally valid, stepping away from the idea that political journalism’s role is to check misleading speech. The result has been what I figuratively describe as a market failure in political speech in the American public sphere. My thesis argues for a new set of ethical and epistemic norms for political news journalists. Chapter 1 identifies a general trust deficit in political journalism, before arguing trustworthiness in political communication is earned through an iterative process wherein communicators are expected to (1) make reliable and truthful claims, (2) carry through their professional and normative commitments, and (3) be competent to carry through commitments. Chapter 2 identifies lying, spin, and ‘bullshit’ as three kinds of prevalent misleading speech in the American public sphere. Chapter 3 argues that unchecked misleading political speech undermines norms of truthfulness, cooperation, and democratic legitimacy, damages trust in democratic processes, and creates a problematic power-inequality in political communication. Unfortunately, neither a strictly deontological, consequentialist, nor a virtue ethics-led account of journalism can help American journalism fulfill its proper purpose. Chapter 4 argues the pluralistic standpoints of citizens should be integrated into reporting by incorporating the perspective of marginalized groups and the reporter’s position in society into the political journalists’ news production process. Establishing new epistemic and ethical norms from this grounding can build back public trust in American political journalism, serve as a more effective check on misleading political speech, and represent a wider variety of perspectives and experiences than performative objectivity’s commitment to neutral observation allows

Journalism: new media, new actors - new ethics?

The traditional field of journalism has been facing major challenges in recent years, either because new actors have entered that field (professional journalists actually lost the monopoly of searching, gathering, editing and diffusing news in the public sphere), or because the old actors are increasingly asked to play new roles. The social demand for more public participation in the process of handling news and information, added to the fabulous possibilities of communication brought by the digital techniques and by the Internet, gave birth to a big diversity of new media and of new forms of dealing with journalism and news. ‘Citizen journalism’, ‘participatory journalism’, ‘user-generated content’, ‘crowdsourcing’, ‘weblogs’, etc., are expressions rather common nowadays, all of them somehow calling the attention to the fact that journalism-as-a-professional-work seems to coexist more and more with various forms of journalism-as-a-civic-activity, performed by very different people, under very different conditions and with very different levels of involvement and expertise. As a consequence, questions are being raised about the ethical implications of this new scenario, both in what regards the activity of professional journalists in new (on-line) media and the active commitment of ‘laypersons’ in the process of handling and diffusing public information. In this paper we will try to analyze and to discuss these questions, with reference, among others, to Eliot Freidson and his proposed distinction between ‘practice ethics’ and ‘institutional ethics’. Furthermore, we’ll try to discuss what really makes (or should make) journalism distinctive from many other practices that nowadays coexist with it in the public sphere, strongly increasing the possibilities of communication between people but not necessarily following the purposes of public interest and of civic democratic participation. In this context, the bare concept of journalism seems to ask for a clearer definition, and so do the roles to be played by journalists in the more complex (but also more stimulating) media environment we are dealing with in contemporary societies

Government Response in Managing Citizen Journalism in Pandemic Times

The Covid-19 pandemic has been going on for the past two years. During this time, there has been a lot of news about Covid-19, which has affected the attitudes of citizens including through social media. There has been a rise in journalism among citizens who write about the pros and cons of the government efforts to manage the recovery from the pandemic. There are still debates about whether citizen journalism can be used as a form of public participation. Public participation in the context of open government can demonstrate citizen involvement in the policy-making process of democratic countries. The response of governments to citizen journalists varies. Some countries have banned them, some have ignored them, and some have documented their opinions. What about Indonesia? To what extent do the central and local governments accommodate and respond to their citizens who write about their complaints and experiences? This paper employed qualitative descriptive methods using secondary data and analyzed the culture and behavior of citizens and governments within the democratic context. There have been changes in opinions and a polarization in aims to spread accurate news. As a result, the correct information about Covid-19 could be obtained not only from official government information, but also from the citizen journalists who were given space by the central and regional governments in Indonesia. Local governments have used citizen journalism to evaluate several policies during the pandemic times. The central government accommodates citizen journalism, but the government policies are issued using a top-down approach. Trying to prevent citizen journalism can lead to backlash from citizens. This article aimed to provide an analysis from the public administration perspective about the importance of the involvement of citizen participation during the pandemic times, especially when the media and experts are forced to be silent. Keywords: pandemic, public participation, citizen journalism, government openness, policy making, culture and community behavio

The Price of Truth: Corruption and Norms of Journalism in Nigeria

The media are the primary source of information in a democracy. Accurate and reliable information is the lifeblood of the democratic process. Perhaps, the most obvious players in this information flow are journalists who gain access to privilege information and attempt to provide such information as accurately as possible to the citizens to make informed and intelligent decisions. At the minimum, media audiences demand information unencumbered by deliberate falsehood or distortion of the truth. When this expectation is not forthcoming, a crisis of confidence occurs between the news media institutions and the public. This paper attempts to show that truth is undoubtedly the most fundamental norm in journalism. Truth in journalism does not only win public confidence, but also bring about well-informed citizens, more profit for the news organization, good returns to its shareholders and growth of the news media organization as a whole. Keywords: Nigeria, Truth, Corruption, Ethical Journalism, Competitive Advantag

国際社会におけるジャーナリズムの役割の再考 : 基本的な概要と理論的枠組み

Throughout the history, journalism in general and international journalism in particular came to be one of the most serious concerns. Since the advent of the Internet widely spreading throughout the world journalism has gained more interests among young people as well as in other generations. This paper is an attempt to capture the complicated realities about journalism in its wide sense as a profession with a great influence upon all aspects of human life everywhere by giving some insight upon journalism’s history, concept, role and theories. In order to give new outlines to what we are already used to in our everyday life, different media are used in a daily current of interactive practices. Any society with true democratic performance needs to create a healthy environment of freedom for the real process of public opinion in several directions. The role of journalism here is to represent a proper environment to adopt the process of public opinion making and to help in introducing it to the people in addition to the administration of it. Here is an unassuming introduction to the definition and the history of journalism followed by a brief account of how journalism takes part in the development of public opinion built in any society. Then, there is a screening of most of the theories that cover the world of journalism and showing description of how far theories can lead journalism to real democratic practices in any free society

Journalism is changing – and what about journalism ethics?

Major changes have been challenging journalism in the last two decades, in the context of the ‘digital age’. The technological possibilities developed in the ‘information society’, together with the social and cultural trend for more participation, opened this field to new actors, which caused professional journalists to lose their traditional monopoly of searching, gathering, editing and diffusing news in the public sphere. At the same time, these new possibilities of communicating are increasingly forcing the old actors to play new roles in the media. The digital techniques and the Internet gave birth to a big diversity of new media and of new forms of dealing with journalism and public information. ‘Citizen journalism’, ‘participatory journalism’, ‘user-generated content’, ‘crowdsourcing’, ‘weblogs’,‘ Twitter’, ‘Facebook’, etc., are words and expressions rather common these days, all of them somehow calling the attention to the fact that journalism-as-a-professional-activity seems to coexist more and more with various forms of journalism-as-a-civic-activity, performed by very different people, under very different conditions and with very different levels of involvement and expertise. As a consequence, questions are being raised about the ethical implications of this new scenario, both in what regards the activity of professional journalists in new (online) media and the active commitment of ‘laypersons’ in the process of gathering, editing and diffusing information. In this paper we will try to analyze and to discuss these questions, with reference, among others, to Eliot Freidson (2004) and his distinction between ‘practice ethics’ and ‘institutional ethics’. Furthermore, we’ll try to discuss what really makes journalism distinctive from other practices that nowadays coexist with it in the public sphere, strongly increasing the possibilities of communication between people but not necessarily following the purposes of public interest and of civic democratic participation. In this context, the concept of journalism seems to ask for a clearer definition, and so do the roles to be played by journalists in the more complex (but also more stimulating) media environment we are dealing with in contemporary societies

Blessed be the critics of newspapers : journalistic criticism of journalism 1865-1930

This study examined journalistic press criticism between 1865 and 1930. It sought to understand how the first modern journalists conceived of their profession in a period of great transitions. As the study revealed, journalists writing about journalism between 1865 and 1930 discussed recurring themes such as commercialization, sensationalism, advertising, and ethics. They expressed ambivalence toward the rise of big business in their field and the consequences it could have on the quality of the work. In the process, journalists also defined journalism as a profession providing a public service or as a business aiming solely for circulation and profit. Definitions shifted depending on the period during which the journalists wrote. Criticism during the period under study often reflected the social and cultural trends journalists witnessed. During the postbellum era, it mirrored the belief in the American Dream of wealth, well-being, and democracy. In the 1890s, criticism focused on the downsides of commercialism, expressing the fears people felt toward the new corporate giants. During the progressive period, the writings of press critics revealed the pride they felt in the civic services journalism provided. But World War I brought an end to progressivism. During the 1920s, disillusioned journalists criticized “mediocre” journalism. Their frustration echoed that of the old generation of progressives. Underlying the journalists’ criticism was also the perception they had of news. Excited about the democratic promise of this new concept, postbellum critics praised journalism more than they criticized it. During the 1890s, and despite the downsides of commercialism, journalists never lost hope because, for them, news democratized information. The progressive period seemed to confirm the democratic potentials of news, promoting pride among critics. But the propaganda campaigns of World War I broke the spell, as critics realized that news was potentially susceptible to propaganda. The establishment of public relations as a profession based on the spinning of news during the 1920s further aggravated the problem. Journalists, who had kept their optimism throughout the previous fifty years, became concerned, in the 1920s, that many newspapers did not live up to the democratic promise of the press

Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat: Penyuluhan tentang “Citizen Journalism” sebagai Ekspresi Sikap Demokrasi Kaum Muda

The rapid development of communication technology allows the communication community to get and do two things at once. On the one hand, the communication community can easily get the information they need, on the other hand the communication community is now productively creating various information content needed by the community. This seminar is intended to make young people aware,  that there is an opportunity for them to democratically convey news to others in the concept of citizen journalism. This seminar was attended by 89 participants from SMA Budi Mulia. The theme of the seminar was citizen journalism as an expression of the democratic attitude of  people. Citizen journalism is a form of community-based journalistic activity, because it has basic characteristics, such as: participatory, community-based, fact-based information, being an alternative media, socially oriented non-profit, and driven by internet-based social media. On the one hand, the characters can provide various alternative sources of information for the audience, but on the other hand, these characters provide a wide space for public duping, hoaxes, and hate speech. In order to balance the very strong character of information based on freedom, it is necessary to apply various ethical principles in collecting and sharing news in citizen journalism. The ethical principles include: accurate, balanced, fair, complete, objective and clear. By upholding ethical principles, citizen journalism is not only considered an alternative media for information, but also the main media in the process of educating the public. The media educates the public in order to uphold its dignity as a reliable source of information

Penerapan “Civic Journalism” PR FM Dalam Membangun Iklim Demokrasi di Jawa Barat

Civic journalism is one concepts of journalism that seeks to build public participation in the democratic process through mass media channels. This research aims to explore the civic journalism applied by PR FM in West Java with the concept of civic journalism. This study uses a case study method with data collection techniques in the form of in-depth interviews and observations. This study found the efforts of PR FM in building civic journalism with the concept of citizen journalism has been starting since its inception. PR FM from the beginning continued to campaign the importance of public involvement. Initially, PR FM gave an example, now that involvement is very high, so many public problems has resolved. Uniquely, PR FM is able to become a close friend to the listeners by becoming a place to sharing personal matters. PR FM intelligently positions itself as an active information bridge to direct every incoming content and aspiration