Fowler-Watt, Karen

Bournemouth University Research Online

Media	  Education	  Research	  Journal	  Journalism:	  New	  Challenges	  	  -­‐‑	  a	  shop	  window	  for	  practitioner	  research.	  	  Dr	  Karen	  Fowler-­‐‑Watt	  	  Introduction:	  	  The	  Journalism	  and	  Communication	  department	  at	  Bournemouth	  University	  recently	  produced	  a	  textbook	  on	  current	  issues	  and	  challenges	  in	  journalism	  to	  enhance	  the	  educational	  experience	  of	  undergraduate	  students.	  The	  book,	  Journalism:	  New	  Challenges	  (Fowler-­‐‑Watt,	  K.,	  and	  Allan,	  S.,	  2013)	  provides	  the	  additional	  benefit	  of	  ‘show	  casing’	  the	  research	  and	  pedagogy	  of	  colleagues,	  both	  in	  the	  department	  and	  in	  industry.	  Published,	  by	  our	  research	  centre,	  CSJCC,	  and	  free	  to	  download	  at	  https://microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk/cjcr/publications/	  it	  is	  also	  available	  as	  a	  hard	  copy.	  The	  title	  is	  placed	  in	  the	  library,	  distributed	  at	  conferences	  and	  given	  to	  visiting	  speakers	  as	  a	  ‘thank	  you’	  for	  sharing	  their	  wisdom	  and	  expertise	  with	  our	  students	  when	  they	  visit	  the	  faculty.	  As	  a	  co-­‐‑editor	  of	  Journalism:	  New	  Challenges,	  this	  ‘thought	  piece’	  has	  enabled	  me	  to	  reflect	  on	  the	  genesis	  of	  the	  idea,	  to	  analyse	  the	  book’s	  production,	  with	  a	  focus	  on	  the	  blend	  of	  theory	  and	  practice,	  and	  to	  consider	  the	  impact	  that	  it	  has	  had	  -­‐‑	  on	  contributors,	  reviewers	  and	  students.	  	  The	  birth	  of	  the	  idea:	  Journalism:	  New	  Challenges:	  	  The	  main	  ambition	  of	  the	  book	  is	  to	  provide	  a	  dynamic	  picture	  of	  how	  academics	  and	  practitioners,	  working	  and	  researching	  side	  by	  side,	  are	  engaging	  with	  key	  challenges	  in	  journalism	  and	  to	  encourage	  students	  to	  become	  a	  part	  of	  that	  conversation.	  The	  introduction	  explains	  its	  aims,	  whereby	  ‘each	  of	  the	  chapters	  revolves	  around	  a	  particular	  challenge	  to	  journalism	  that	  is	  of	  pressing	  significance’.	  	  The	  digital	  landscape	  provides	  a	  context:	  a	  Bournemouth	  University	  practitioner-­‐‑academic,	  academic,	  or	  an	  industry	  practitioner	  who	  has	  a	  working	  connection	  with	  the	  Journalism	  and	  Communication	  department	  wrote	  each	  of	  the	  twenty-­‐‑nine	  chapters.	  	  The	  editors’	  introduction,	  states	  that	  it	  is	  our	  ‘shared	  intentions	  to	  encourage	  fresh	  ways	  of	  engaging	  with	  thorny	  questions	  –	  new	  and	  longstanding	  –	  from	  distinctive	  vantage	  points.’	  	  This	  enabled	  the	  contributors	  to	  reflect	  on	  their	  own	  practice	  and	  to	  share	  innovative	  ways	  of	  engaging	  with	  familiar	  concepts,	  such	  as	  the	  journalist’s	  relationship	  with	  sources	  or	  the	  ethical	  issues	  associated	  with	  reporting	  conflict.	  	  Critical	  reflection	  is	  a	  prerequisite	  for	  understanding	  because	  it	  "is	  the	  process	  whereby	  knowledge	  is	  created	  through	  the	  transformation	  of	  experience"	  (Kolb	  1984;	  38).	  The	  production	  of	  news	  is	  an	  instant	  and	  immersive	  activity,	  so	  it	  is	  important	  that	  journalists	  understand	  the	  ‘thought	  –processes,	  attitudes	  and	  personal	  values,	  which	  shape	  the	  story’	  	  (Fowler-­‐‑Watt,	  2013:16).	  This	  is	  what	  Shon	  (1995)	  calls	  ‘knowing-­‐‑in-­‐‑action’,	  the	  opportunity	  to	  reflect	  on	  the	  knowledge	  of	  practice.	  	  In	  order	  to	  encourage	  students	  to	  extend	  their	  thinking	  beyond	  the	  contents	  of	  the	  book,	  we	  developed	  a	  set	  of	  ‘Challenging	  Questions’	  at	  the	  end	  of	  each	  chapter.	  This	  gives	  them	  an	  opportunity	  to	  consider	  how	  they	  might	  engage	  with	  key	  issues	  in	  journalism	  within	  the	  workplace,	  encouraging	  them	  to	  develop	  a	  professional	  perspective.	  There	  is	  also	  a	  list	  of	  ‘Recommended	  Reading’	  ‘to	  help	  push	  the	  conversation	  onwards’.	  	  The	  ambition	  is	  to	  encourage	  students	  to	  think	  beyond	  its	  contents	  and	  to	  read	  it	  actively,	  so	  that	  they,	  too,	  reflect	  on	  the	  challenges	  and	  the	  debates.	  	  	  	  In	  addition,	  it	  enables	  us	  to	  focus	  a	  spotlight	  on	  the	  blend	  of	  theory	  and	  practice	  that	  we	  believe	  to	  be	  sacrosanct	  –	  the	  book	  is	  imbued	  with	  this	  philosophy.	  The	  intention	  is	  to	  expose	  students	  to	  the	  blend	  of	  theory	  and	  practice,	  to	  encourage	  them	  to	  operate	  as	  reflective	  practitioners,	  since	  ‘there	  is	  a	  constant	  need	  to	  reflect	  on	  one’s	  work,	  what	  one	  is	  trying	  to	  achieve’	  (Moon	  and	  Thomas,	  2007:7).	  	  Through	  the	  genesis	  of	  this	  book,	  academic	  colleagues	  were	  able	  to	  integrate	  their	  research	  into	  academic	  practice,	  disseminating	  their	  subject	  knowledge	  to	  students	  and	  colleagues	  and	  enabling	  them	  to	  enhance	  their	  profile,	  whilst	  making	  a	  contribution	  to	  pedagogy.	  	  Integrating	  research	  and	  subject	  knowledge	  into	  academic	  practice:	  	  The	  book	  took	  shape	  as	  the	  Leveson	  Inquiry	  and	  subsequent	  report	  unfurled,	  providing	  added	  resonance	  to	  certain	  issues:	  ethics,	  trust,	  leadership,	  and	  the	  state	  of	  the	  tabloids.	  Chapters	  were	  also	  commissioned	  to	  cover	  areas	  that	  we	  felt	  needed	  to	  be	  explored	  –	  storytelling	  in	  a	  digital	  landscape,	  citizen	  journalism,	  the	  state	  of	  the	  magazine	  industry,	  advocacy	  journalism.	  A	  key	  editorial	  challenge	  resided	  in	  providing	  a	  structure	  and	  a	  coherent	  style	  for	  each	  chapter,	  whilst	  allowing	  the	  ‘voice’	  of	  each	  contributor	  to	  be	  clearly	  heard.	  	  We	  tackled	  this	  with	  a	  clear	  briefing	  note,	  which	  beyond	  the	  conventional	  housekeeping	  issues	  associated	  with	  a	  book’s	  production,	  requested	  	  “a	  lively	  quotation	  or	  two	  –	  positioned	  beneath	  the	  title	  and	  before	  the	  first	  paragraph	  –	  which	  speaks	  to	  the	  key	  challenge	  being	  addressed	  by	  the	  chapter”.	  Beyond	  commissioning,	  co-­‐‑ordination	  and	  reworking	  of	  chapters	  to	  conform	  to	  this	  accessible,	  but	  coherent	  shape	  became	  a	  major	  weekend	  activity	  for	  the	  co-­‐‑editors!	  The	  theory/practice	  blend	  was	  further	  highlighted	  by	  the	  structure	  of	  the	  sections	  of	  the	  book	  –	  shorter	  industry-­‐‑led	  pieces	  intercutting	  longer,	  more	  theoretically	  and	  conceptually	  based	  chapters	  –	  and	  through	  shared	  authorship	  of	  chapters.	  I	  contributed	  a	  chapter	  in	  one	  of	  my	  own	  areas	  of	  specialist	  interest	  –	  editorial	  leadership,	  written	  with	  a	  colleague	  from	  the	  BBC	  College	  of	  Journalism,	  Andrew	  Wilson.	  This	  combined	  approaches	  to	  academic	  practice	  with	  real-­‐‑world	  examples	  from	  the	  BBC’s	  Editorial	  Leadership	  course.	  The	  aim	  of	  the	  chapter	  is	  to	  share	  with	  students	  the	  learning	  points	  from	  the	  editorial	  leadership	  course	  and	  to	  instil	  in	  them	  the	  notion	  that	  everyone	  in	  a	  news	  room	  is	  a	  leader	  to	  encourage	  ‘	  a	  greater	  level	  of	  engagement	  in	  the	  decision-­‐‑making	  process	  in	  newsrooms’	  so	  that	  editors	  can	  ‘embrace	  the	  challenges	  presented	  by	  the	  digital	  24/7	  news	  environment’	  (Fowler-­‐‑Watt	  and	  Wilson,	  2013:219).	  In	  the	  Challenging	  Questions	  section,	  they	  are	  invited	  to	  consider	  how	  they,	  as	  a	  new	  journalist,	  might	  interact	  with	  an	  editor.	  	   -­‐‑   Imagine	  you	  are	  advising	  an	  editor	  on	  the	  ways	  in	  which	  they	  might	  get	  the	  best	  out	  of	  new	  journalists	  in	  their	  newsroom?	  What	  methods	  might	  you	  employ?	  Consider	  what	  the	  new	  journalist	  may	  need	  from	  the	  editor.	  	  Having	  read	  the	  chapter,	  the	  student	  is	  also	  encouraged	  to	  think	  about	  the	  integration	  of	  theory	  and	  practice	  within	  the	  newsroom	  context:	  	   	  -­‐‑   Define	  ‘great	  journalism’	  and	  ‘great	  leadership’	  in	  your	  own	  words	  and	  provide	  an	  example	  to	  illustrate	  each	  of	  the	  definitions	  in	  practice.	  	  The	  ‘Recommended	  Reading’	  section	  urges	  the	  reader	  to	  explore	  the	  autobiographical	  writing	  of	  ‘great’	  editors,	  such	  as	  Harold	  Evans	  of	  The	  Times,	  to	  dip	  into	  the	  editorial	  guidelines	  of	  the	  BBC	  and	  to	  interact	  with	  the	  BBC	  College	  of	  Journalism	  website,	  which	  is	  a	  rich	  educational	  resource.	  Students	  are	  learning	  on	  many	  levels,	  through	  reading	  the	  textbook,	  through	  wider	  reading,	  through	  engaging	  in	  debate	  via	  the	  Challenging	  Questions	  and	  by	  citing	  quotes	  from	  relevant	  chapters	  in	  their	  essays	  for	  undergraduate	  journalism	  courses.	  This	  is	  not,	  however,	  a	  ‘course	  reader’	  –	  it	  is	  intended	  to	  add	  value	  to	  the	  students’	  learning	  experience,	  to	  encourage	  them	  to	  delve	  into	  current	  issues	  and	  to	  understand	  how	  theory	  and	  practice	  are	  interlinked.	  	  	  	  Reflections	  on	  the	  experience:	  	  As	  an	  open	  access	  publication,	  a	  free	  PDF	  download,	  the	  book	  has	  been	  reposted	  in	  weird	  and	  wonderful	  places	  -­‐‑	  most	  of	  which	  we	  can’t	  track,	  such	  as	  personal	  blogs.	  	  	  The	  book	  is	  publicised	  on	  the	  websites	  of	  the	  accreditation	  bodies	  for	  journalism	  education,	  the	  National	  Council	  for	  the	  Training	  of	  Journalists	  and	  the	  Broadcast	  Journalism	  Training	  Council.	  It	  was	  also	  circulated	  to	  other	  HE	  institutions	  via	  the	  MeCCSA	  website	  (www.meccsa.org.uk/) It	  has	  received	  unsolicited	  positive	  reviews	  –	  one	  from	  journalism	  lab	  in	  the	  Netherlands	  http://www.journalismlab.nl/2013/12/goed-­‐‑nieuw-­‐‑gratis-­‐‑boek-­‐‑over-­‐‑huidige-­‐‑journalistiek/	  translated	  as	  follows:	  Sometimes	  you	  encounter	  by	  chance	  it	  's	  a	  gem.	  That	  happened	  to	  me	  recently.….	  Journalism.	  New	  Challenges	  	  …	  	  is	  all	  the	  more	  such	  a	  good	  book	  because	  it	  is	  not	  limited	  to	  the	  now	  well-­‐known	  problems	  caused	  by	  digitization,	  but	  also	  strikes	  plenty	  of	  mostly	  untraded	  paths,	  while	  the	  old	  paths	  are	  not	  avoided….	  this	  book	  provides	  an	  overview	  of	  the	  current	  state	  of	  affairs	  as	  I	  have	  encountered.	  A	  must	  for	  professionals,	  researchers	  and	  teachers.   The	  book	  gave	  the	  contributors,	  particularly	  those	  who	  combine	  journalistic	  practice	  with	  pedagogy,	  a	  chance	  to	  reflect	  and	  to	  take	  stock	  of	  the	  challenges	  facing	  them.	  Leveson	  held	  up	  a	  mirror	  to	  us	  all,	  but	  there	  are	  many	  other	  challenges	  that	  we	  need	  to	  compute	  beyond	  the	  well-­‐‑worn	  debates	  around	  collapsing	  business	  models,	  such	  as	  evolving	  genres	  of	  news	  reporting,	  our	  influence	  on	  audience,	  the	  impact	  of	  digital	  convergence,	  as	  well	  as	  questions	  we	  often	  ask	  ourselves	  about	  the	  very	  nature	  of	  our	  existence	  as	  ‘professional’	  journalists.	  One	  contributor,	  Mary	  Evans,	  freelance	  arts	  critic	  and	  reviewer	  who	  wrote	  the	  chapter	  ‘Entrepreneurial	  Journalism:	  the	  Life	  of	  the	  Freelance	  ’	  felt	  that	  the	  book	  provided	  a	  route	  map	  at	  a	  difficult	  time	  in	  her	  professional	  life:	  	  	  “As	  I'm	  currently	  experiencing	  journalism's	  new	  challenges	  first	  hand,	  it	  will	  be	  handy	  to	  have	  an	  instruction	  manual	  -­‐‑	  and	  a	  very	  good-­‐‑looking	  one	  at	  that.	  “	  	  As	  a	  practitioner-­‐‑academic	  at	  BU,	  Mathew	  Charles,	  felt	  that	  that	  experience	  of	  writing	  a	  chapter	  for	  the	  book	  entitled,	  ‘Documentary	  and	  advocacy	  journalism:	  when	  a	  story	  becomes	  more	  than	  just	  news’,	  enabled	  him	  to	  reflect	  on	  his	  craft:	  	  Practice	  and	  theory	  work	  best	  when	  they	  influence	  each	  other,	  and	  writing	  this	  chapter	  opened	  my	  eyes	  to	  the	  various	  dimensions	  this	  relationship	  can	  take	  -­‐‑	  a	  relationship,	  which	  is	  at	  the	  centre	  of	  journalism	  education	  	  Post-­‐‑Leveson,	  just	  as	  journalism	  as	  a	  practice	  has	  come	  under	  the	  spotlight	  of	  the	  academy,	  so	  journalism	  education	  is	  also	  under	  scrutiny.	  Through	  the	  publication	  of	  Journalism:	  New	  Challenges	  we	  hope	  to	  have	  made	  a	  lively,	  useful	  and	  credible	  contribution	  to	  the	  debate.	  	  Fowler-­‐‑Watt,	  K.,	  2013,	  The	  Storytellers	  tell	  Their	  Stories:	  the	  Journalist	  as	  Educator,	  EdD	  thesis,	  University	  of	  Southampton.	  Kolb	  D.A.,	  1984,	  Experiential	  Learning:	  Experience	  as	  a	  Source	  of	  Learning	  and	  Development,	  New	  Jersey:	  Prentice	  Hall.	  Moon,	  J.,	  &	  Thomas,	  G.,	  2007,	  The	  Challenge	  of	  Reflective	  Writing	  for	  Media	  production	  students	  and	  some	  proposals	  to	  encourage	  better	  practice,	  CEMP	  Research	  Paper,	  Bournemouth	  University.	  Schon,	  	  D.A.,	  1995,	  The	  Reflective	  Practitioner,	  Surrey:Ashgate	  	  	  

Journalism New Challenges: a shop window for practitioner research

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