Journalism in times of cost-cutting and Web 2.0: a study on the impact of marketing and digitization on sourcing practices and editorial content

In order to assess the impact of commercialisation and digitization on journalists’ sourcing practices, we set up a content analysis of the secondary sources and information actors in the news output of four Flemish newspapers over a period of 10 years (2000-2010). From a longitudinal methodological perspective we match our results with reflexions on the expanding or shrinking mediated public sphere. The analysis shows little to no shifts through time. Mainstream sources dominate the news but citizens are also an important part of it. As far as we can observe, Flemish journalists modestly refer to pre-packaged sources. The opportunities for a more diverse source use offered by Web 2.0 applications have not yet penetrated in their newsrooms. The findings indicate that often heard concerns about cost-cutting in newsrooms or sanguinity about the democratic potential of Web 2.0 seem fairly exaggerated, at least in the Flemish context

'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

Towards more balanced news access? A study on the impact of cost-cutting and Web 2.0 on the mediated public sphere

In order to assess the impact of cost-cutting and digitalization on the expansion or contraction of the mediated public sphere, we developed a quantitative and longitudinal content analysis focused on sourcing practices for foreign news reporting in four Belgian newspapers (1995-2010). The results show little to no shift in the news access of different types of sources. Political sources dominate foreign news output, but ordinary citizens also play a significant role. Although it becomes clear that Belgian journalists often do not explicitly mention their use of news agency copy, recycled news articles or PR material, our findings indicate that concerns about cost-cutting in newsrooms or sanguinity about the democratic potential of Web 2.0 seem fairly exaggerated, at least in the Belgian context

Bottlenecks in the coverage of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict: the coverageof the first and second intifada in the Flemish press

Various authors suggest that the public's knowledge of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is inadequate. As it is generally accepted that public opinion on international news items is mainly formed by media content, the international media are often held responsible for sustaining the prevailing misconceptions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by covering the conflict parties in a biased and imbalanced way. This study focuses on the representation of Israelis and Palestinians in the news coverage of the First and Second Intifada by the Flemish press. By way of a content analysis evolutions and discrepancies in the coverage of both Intifadas are described in a longitudinal analytical perspective. We conclude that the portrayal of the Palestinian actors shifts from a rather positive view during the First Intifada period to a more critical portrayal during the period of the Second Intifada. At the same time, there is an opposite move in the representation of the Israeli actors in the conflict. Although our results show differences in the distinct portrayals, they do not provide sufficient evidence to conclude unequivocally that the coverage of the First and Second Intifada is imbalanced. Indeed, we find that while some variables definitely favour the Israeli point of view (e.g. the use of sources), others clearly sustain the Palestinian side (e.g. the individualisation of victims). In other words, the Flemish dailies cover the First and Second Intifada in quite a balanced way, contrary to what international studies on the coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have concluded regarding the media in different national settings