"With regards to professional role orientations, the vast majority of journalists in Mexico found it extremely or very important to report things as they are, followed in second place by the role of promoting tolerance and cultural diversity, and the role of advocating for social change in third pla
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ce. The fourth role to which Mexican journalist gave top importance in a most (5) to least (1) scale was to let people express their views, followed by the role of monitoring and scrutinizing political leaders in fifth place. The top roles show a rich mixture of adherence: from the classic Western roles of dissemination (reporting things as they are), to the roles more associated with mobilization and promotion of positive social outcomes (promoting tolerance or advocating for social change), followed by democratic roles such as serving as forum (let people express their views) and the watchdog function of the press (monitoring political leaders). There appears to be greater consensus around the ten most-popular roles, as shown by the relatively lower standard deviations, than in the bottom ten roles. This indicates the journalists who support those roles are unusual and the values they represent are a point of contention within the corps of journalists. For example, the least prioritized role was to convey a positive image of political leaders which however had a fairly high standard deviation, followed by the role of being an adversary to the government, which ranked in penultimate place in order of priority and had the second highest standard deviation of them all. This suggests some journalists consider both roles very important while others do not at all. The support of government policy was also the third least prioritized role, followed by that of providing entertainment and relaxation in fourth place and by the role of being a detached observer of events in fifth place of low priority, but which had the highest standard deviation of them all, suggesting very little agreement on how distant should journalists be from the stories they report on." (Journalistic roles, page 2)
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"This paper provides a critical review of literature on journalism in conflict societies (‘conflict journalism’), by investigating principal theories, concepts and arguments, as well as empirical research findings concerning journalism and its role in democratisation processes and conflicts [...
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] the paper focusses on journalistic actors and their journalistic work practices, role perceptions and ethical orientations." (Executive summary)
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"This study aims to identify Jordanian journalists’ awareness of the basic concepts of journalistic professionalism by addressing four sets of media quality standards, as abstracted from several studies. Notable among those sets are journalistic content standards, the performance quality standards
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of newsrooms, institutional standards, and standards of news selection. Furthermore, the study attempts to identify the difference between an awareness of specific standards of professionalism and quality, and a realization of media institutions’ actual practices. The responses of 200 journalists revealed a reasonable awareness of the basic concepts of quality and professionalism. However, there was a gap between Jordanian journalists’ realization of quality and professionalism standards and media institutions’ actual applications of those standards. By way of concluding, this study recommended that media institutions should adopt quality concepts. In addition, they should bridge the gap between standards and actual media practices by means of independence protection; separation between ownership and editing; and restraining external intervention. Also, media institutions should work towards increasing the level of their performance quality with respect to localism standards, their use of sources, pluralism, accuracy, social responsibility, criteria of news selection, and preparing relevant guidelines." (Abstract)
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"During the years of Ba'athist dictator Saddam Hussein, media personnel were under tight control and tortured or executed when they strayed from the government line. In the decade following the fall of the Ba'athist regime, thousands of Iraqi journalists were trained in liberal democratic profession
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al norms, and hundreds of news outlets opened even as some of the old patronage practices and violence continued. This study utilized Shoemaker and Reese's hierarchy of influences model to examine factors influencing a proxy indicator for professional ethics, the value of conflict of interest avoidance among a purposive sample of Iraqi journalists (N = 588). We found that the news media routines and ideological levels, though not strong, had the greatest influences on this conflict of interest avoidance perception criterion indicator, the proxy for professional ethics. The findings suggest a tension between liberal democratic journalism training at the routines level and ideological aspects, in some cases, such as ethnic identity and political ideology. Strong influences on perceptions of conflict of interest avoidance were the type of media platform/Western journalism training, Arab ethnicity over Kurdish ethnicity, ideology of "democrat" over Kurdish nationalist or Islamist. No influence was apparent for Internet use frequency or state versus nonstate media." (Abstract)
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"Much research implicitly suggests that journalism values arise from culturally removed organizational structures or shared occupational training and few studies examine the perspective of journalism from both audiences and journalists. These omissions are important given the essentiality of mutuall
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y constructed and culturally embedded normative behaviors within journalism. This research examines audiences and journalists in Samoa, a recently independent, postcolonial country that relies upon a very traditional, shared national identity for its relatively nascent cohesion. This study aims to gain a better understanding of how local culture can set parameters and expectations for journalism; how journalists negotiate culture into their own professional ideology; and how audiences understand journalism within a cultural context." (Abstract)
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"Over the past 50 years, a large body of research on professional roles has analyzed the different functions that journalism should fulfill in society. However, an examination of how these professional roles materialize in journalistic output remains mostly absent. This is especially critical becaus
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e most studies of journalists’ attitudes are justified by assuming that they influence news content. By combining the study of news content with research on professional roles, this study proposes a standardized operationalization of how different professional roles can manifest in journalistic performance. Specifically, this paper connects the characteristics of professional roles that have been studied in comparative contexts with different journalistic discourses and reporting styles in news, considering the relationship between journalism and power, the level of presence of the journalistic voice in a story, and the way journalism approaches the audience." (Abstract)
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"How is professionalization influenced by the constant growth of a network society and social media? How are commercialization and political influences in the media relating to each other? These are some of the issues discussed in this study. It is based on the research project Journalism in Change
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– professional journalistic cultures in Poland, Russia and Sweden. From 2011 to 2014 researchers from Sweden, Poland and Russia at Södertörn University in Stockholm have been cooperating closely in order to survey a sample of 1500 journalists and 60 in depth interviews with journalists. The results are presented in a comparative design covering different areas." (Publisher description)
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"Development journalism has been a key focus of discussion among journalism scholars for around half a decade, but most of the attention has been firmly on African and Asian countries. This article examines the situation on the little-researched island nation of Fiji, which has experienced considera
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ble political instability since independence in 1970. Based on interviews with 77 of the country's small population of just over 100 journalists, we find that journalism in Fiji exhibits similarities to Western journalism ideals, but also a significant development journalism orientation. A comparison with six other countries from the global South shows that this mix is not unique, and we argue that Western journalism approaches and development ideals are not by necessity mutually exclusive, as has often been argued. In this way, the article aims to contribute to a reassessment of our understanding of development journalism and how journalists in developing societies view their work." (Abstract)
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"Marie-Soleil Frère propose une analyse de l'identité professionnelle des journalistes en RDC, au Burundi et au Rwanda. Partant d'une perspective historique, elle montre comment la profession a évolué dans les trois pays, de la période du monopole étatique à celle du pluralisme médiatique et
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à l'éclatement des conflits, suivis des processus de paix. Elle souligne comment les journalistes ont tenté, depuis une dizaine d'années, de redéfinir eux-mêmes leur identité professionnelle, tâchant de tenir l'Etat à l'écart de la question, mais aussi comment leurs nouvelles pratiques ont entraîné l'émergence d'attentes particulières, vis-à-vis des médias, de la part des publics de la région." (Introduction, page 11)
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"While development journalism was mainly a top-down form of communication (authoritative) during the socialistic era, in the liberal era the development-oriented journalists draw on both the Social Responsibility and Libertarian Theories of the media. The ‘state–public service’ broadcasters re
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flect more of the former while commercial broadcasters employ more of the latter. The programme analysis showed that a gender focused development-oriented journalism is more likely to be practiced in the ‘state–public service’ than in commercial broadcasting." (Abstract)
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"This study surveys the ethical beliefs of citizen journalists in several sub-Saharan African countries. The research showed that they are driven by a sense of social responsibility and a wish to inform their readers and the general public. Citizen journalists show a clear anti-authoritarian strain
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and an antipathy towards government regulation, yet most see themselves as subject to the same ethics that guide traditional journalism." (Abstract)
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"Führen Globalisierung und Digitalisierung bei Journalisten zu einer weltweit einheitlichen Rollenvorstellung (= Illusio)? Rund 70 Leitfaden-Interviews mit Online-Journalisten zeigen das Fortbestehen nationaler und internationaler Unterschiede - aber auch eine klare Tendenz: Auf der Suche nach mög
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lichst vielen Klicks verlieren die Journalisten den Glauben an die klassische Gatekeeper-Rolle; sie werden "Gatepusher'." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"Our findings are based on responses to an online questionnaire completed by 69 Iranian journalists living and working outside Iran. A majority of respondents surveyed left Iran after 2005 and work as journalists for online media outlets [...] Our research indicates that Iranian journalists living a
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nd working abroad remain deeply connected to both the Iranian public and the broader Farsi-speaking diaspora, and believe their most important role is to inform both “publics” about issues not covered in the Iranian domestic news. As such, a majority of respondents surveyed are primarily employed with Farsi-language media outlets, covering Iranian current events and politics, as well as “red-line” topics that journalists inside Iran are forbidden to cover. However—and importantly—our findings show that a majority of respondents do not believe that their role is to act as activists, contributing to the civil society in Iran, but rather to inform the public with objective, fact-based reporting. Respondents in our survey strongly align themselves with public-interest journalism, in which the media’s primary role is to inform the citizenry and serve as a check on political and economic elites." (Summary of key findings, page 4-5)
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"Die Ermittlung der beruflichen Einstellungen geschah mittels einer vollstandardisierten Befragung, an der 195 Journalisten in Afghanistan teilnahmen. Eine Inhaltsanalyse in den drei wichtigsten afghanischen Zeitungen erbrachte eine Zusammenstellung der Leistungen von Journalisten. Der wichtigste Be
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fund lautet, dass die befragten Journalisten ein berufliches Rollenselbstverständnis im Sinne des Informationsjournalismus haben [...] Als zweitwichtigstes Kommunikationsziel gaben die Befragten den missionarischen Journalismus an. Dies ist der Tatsache geschuldet, dass in Afghanistan Religion (Islam) und Tradition die wichtigsten gesellschaftlichen „Identitäts- und Handlungsfaktoren“ bilden." (Abstract)
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"Governments in parts of Asia and media scholars have alluded to a form of journalism that should reflect ‘Asian cultural values’ rather than defer to media practices and media cultures of the West. These are commonly attributed to a cultural preference for consensus rather than confrontation, o
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rder and stability versus chaos and conflict, community good rather than individual rights, deference to authority, and respect for elders. This book premises that journalism is a product as well as a producer of the environment where it operates. Bridging the perceived journalistic cultural gap between Asia and the West, relies less on asserting one form of journalism is better than the other, but more on how journalism as understood, conceptualized, taught and practised in Asia and the West can be richer through a blending of the essence that makes each form peculiar to its environment. Theoretical explications are complemented by reflective commentaries from Asian journalists and interviews with media trainers." (Back cover)
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"In South Africa, a fledgling democratic republic is making concerted efforts to foster media that will help to overcome a history of oppression based on difference. A qualitative analysis of interviews with 62 respondents found that the community journalists see themselves as community educators wh
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ose role transcends reporting the news. The community journalists interviewed are experimenting with new partnerships and new ways of reporting the news. However, the respondents disagree on the way news should be reported, with some opting for a more solution-oriented approach. The findings underscore that the greatest obstacle to these efforts is finding a way to foster sustainable media that serve historically marginalized communities." (Abstract)
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"Obwohl die Medienmärkte in Pakistan nach der Liberalisierung 2002 einen regelrechten Boom erlebten, haben Medienschaffende bis heute mit zahlreichen Herausforderungen zu kämpfen. Die neue Meinungsfreiheit traf viele Medienschaffende unvorbereitet - Selbstzensur ersetzte häufig die vorherige staa
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tliche Einflussnahme. Ein knappes Budget, die wachsende Bedeutung von Online-Medien und Sozialen Netzwerken, aber auch der Druck durch radikale religiöse Gruppierungen oder durch das Militär beeinflussen die Medienlandschaft wesentlich. Zudem gilt Pakistan als eines der gefährlichsten Länder für Journalisten. Auf dem Deutsche Welle Media Dialogue 2013 diskutierten internationale Wissenschaftler und Experten über die Medienlandschaft Pakistans und die Herausforderungen für pakistanische Journalisten. Hierzu ist jetzt eine begleitende Publikation erschienen. Sie beinhaltet neun Aufsätze von Wissenschaftlern und Medienexperten aus Australien, Deutschland, Norwegen, und USA, die am Media Dialogue teilgenommen und ihre wissenschaftlichen Beiträge vorgestellt haben." (https://akademie.dw.com)
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"Egypt’s revolutionary uprising in 2011 raised important questions about the kind of journalism that would be viable in the country’s changing political dynamics. Suddenly the output of bloggers, online radio and social media news operations, which had all formed part of the groundswell of actio
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n against dictatorship and repression, posed an explicit challenge to journalists in state-run and commercial media companies who were more directly subject to government controls. As different interest groups struggle over the country’s future, Naomi Sakr considers emerging visions of journalism in Egypt. In this book she charts recent transformations in Egyptian journalism, exploring diverse approaches to converged media and the place of participatory cross-media networks in expanding and developing the country's body of professional journalists. She analyses journalist’ initiatives for restructuring publicly owned media and securing a safe and open environment in which to work." (Publisher description)
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