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The miniseries When They See Us constitutes an example of how a based-on-real-events fiction work can add to its poetic role the ability to participate in shaping democracy. Although journalism is not its central issue, this Netflix series makes a representation of the press in which it shows how the media failed in fulfilling its democratic role and tries to make amends for it. By analyzing 21 scenes dedicated to the media from a narrative perspective, this paper shows how the series represents the press' failure in acting as watchdog during this case. Moreover, it also shows how this representation of the press turns the series into a watchdog itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies have argued that watchdog journalism cannot flourish under authoritarianism. However, the effect of the democratization of previously authoritarian regimes on watchdog journalism is still poorly understood. This article aims to fill this knowledge gap by using Kompas, Indonesia's oldest daily newspaper, as a case study. Drawing on four years of ethnographic fieldwork (2013–2017) within Kompas 's newsroom and one year of archival review (2020–2021), this study shows that the newspaper did not truly function as a watchdog. Instead, it developed a specific style that we conceptualize as "polite" watchdog journalism, that is, monitoring the wrongdoing of those in power in such a manner that does not hurt the feelings of those in power. This style of journalism was developed in response to the cultural and political-economic forces that intersected in and shaped its newsroom. Kompas developed close relationships with authoritarian power holders, thereby avoiding the persistent threat of bans and securing the economic advantages of their close ties with those in power. After the regime change, polite journalism continued to be practiced, both to maintain its political leverage and to preserve its economic advantage in the post-authoritarian era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Media articles about women in STEM often emphasize gender in ways that may reinforce stereotypes. In an archival study examining 172 articles from four major US and UK newspapers on women, Nobel laureates from 1903 to 2020, we find that over time, reporters are more likely to describe the scientist as a woman and less likely to mention her husband’s job. A follow-up experiment (N = 452) revealed no significant effects of an article that emphasizes the gender of a woman scientist on gender biases. These findings suggest that articles about women in STEM may emphasize gender rather than scientific accomplishments, but the ways in which they do so have changed over time and this emphasis may not affect readers’ gender bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2010 the Catalan secessionist movement has been reported on extensively in the global media. Beginning with the 2010 demonstrations against the decision of the Spanish Constitutional Court to reject a new Catalan statute of autonomy, and covering subsequent events such as the unofficial self-determination referendum in 2017, the trial and imprisonment of Catalan political leaders, and the violent protests against the verdicts; the events in the region have all featured heavily on the front pages of the international press. This study analyzes how US and UK newspapers have covered the Catalan independence movement during the period from 2010 to 2019. To do so, this study focuses on two US newspapers (The New York Times and The Washington Post) and two from the UK newspapers (The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian) and observes how the positions of the Spanish and Catalan governments are represented through the analysis of the frames used to construct the newspapers' coverage, as well as the overall tone and the sources used by the journalists. To detect the dominant framework, a framing analysis is undertaken from a communicative and deductive perspective, applying Semetko and Valkenburg's classification. In-depth interviews are also conducted with the newspapers' Spanish-based foreign correspondents which allows the analysis to include the correspondents' views on the difficulties faced by them during their time spent while covering the conflict. The study's primary conclusion is that the international press downplays the significant role played by social movements and civil society in the secession movement, with a strong preference shown by journalists to rely on representatives of official sources as the most valid spokespersons for the movement. Secondly, the study finds that media attention follows closely the flash-points of the conflict with more coverage appearing at the moments of greater political tension between the Spanish and Catalan governments. This suggests that civil society mobilizations attract less interest from the media that instead prefers to focus on developments in the political sphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the current state of the media industry in the United States, highlighting the decline of legacy news organizations, the closure of local news companies, and the rise of "news deserts" where people lack access to fact-based local news. It also explores the increase in labor activity among journalists and the role of media unions in improving working conditions. The article draws parallels between the current labor movement and the development of the American Newspaper Guild in the 1930s. It further examines the impact of union membership on income inequality and suggests that media unions could help address the challenges facing the news industry. [Extracted from the article]

In recent decades, disruptive media events, such as major terrorist attacks, have gained increasing relevance in news coverage around the world. Despite the growing importance of such globally broadcast media events, little research to date has examined cross-national variation in event coverage or the predictors of this variation. This study examines news coverage about the 9/11 terror attacks in the United States across 51 countries to analyze whether the topical focus and emotional tone of news coverage about the attacks varied according to a country's proximity to the United States and the dominant role perceptions of its journalistic culture. We show that these macro-level predictors are associated in varying degrees with the country-level topical focus and emotional tone of reporting over the 30 days following this salient event. Moreover, our analysis also suggests that temporal developments may have uniformly structured much of this worldwide coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pictorial journalism in the latter nineteenth century faced a temporal conundrum: whereas words could travel by telegraph and hence at the speed of electricity, the accompanying illustrations had to travel as material objects and were chronically belated. This article analyzes the strategies with which two prominent Victorian weekly papers—Illustrated London News and Punch—sought to deal with the slowness of illustration and reconcile the speed differentials between textual and visual news with their printing deadlines and production cycles. The most striking of these strategies was to deploy an 'oracular pencil' to work up an illustration before an event had taken place. These pre-produced illustrations relied on specific visual codes that shaped the illustrations' 'truth.' The article shows that, contrary to the self-positioning of pictorial journalists as reporting truthfully and speedily on the world 'out there,' the pictorial press had its own temporal and epistemological laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This introductory paper will (a) review the intersection between science, journalism and development from a historical perspective, (b) propose normative directions for science journalism of the Global South, (c) contrast that normative framework with the rather weak state of science journalism across the South, (d) identify potential solutions to current problems, and (e) propose a research agenda for the future. Throughout, I will advance a framework of theoretical and practical principles to transform the science–journalism–development relationship in the Global South, which entails four normative dimensions: glocalisation, decolonisation, indigenisation and dewesternisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports show that media freedom is under pressure worldwide. Violence against journalists has a legal facet that takes the form of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) that aim at silencing critical speech. While in some countries there are legal protections against SLAPPs, in Europe a debate is only recently being carried out, mainly fostered by professional journalist associations and civil society. This article explores the role that European journalistic self-regulatory bodies perceive they (could) have in fighting SLAPPs, analysing 16 qualitative answers gathered via a questionnaire. Self-regulation has historically been a way to protect the independence of journalism and uphold its ethical standards. The open-ended responses help to understand how SLAPPs put into question the representations that media councils and professional associations use to construct their 'professional jurisdiction', and therefore, their 'territory' and the way in which they see their role in society. Our results provide food for thought on the handling of legal attacks against journalists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While research on journalism in social media is extensive and approaches the topic from different perspectives, the consideration of what contributes to quality journalism in social media is underdeveloped. Our paper addresses this by providing a comprehensive literature review of journalism research relating to aspects of quality in social media. Based on a systematic Scopus search, 54 peer-reviewed, English-language papers published between 2015 and 2022 were selected for in-depth textual analysis using MAXQDA. Two important takeaways emerge from the analysis. First, the literature suggests that journalists and media organizations adapt work routines, norms, and values in a context-sensitive manner when producing content for social media. By enabling many-to-many communication, social media platforms force journalists and media outlets to reflect on audience demands and to develop audience engagement strategies. Second, the findings underscore that journalistic social media activities diverge depending on how individual journalists and organizations approach journalistic quality in social media. As these findings are only pieces to the puzzle of what quality journalism in social media entails, we hope to encourage further research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined news images and captions published by The Associated Press (N = 7,455) between 2018 and 2022 to ascertain whether names were more frequently included for certain groups of people. The analysis found that people depicted in the Global North are named far more frequently than in the Global South, and that sports, entertainment, and political images include names more often than news and feature images. These pervasive patterns suggest naming has a discursive function that constructs an Other by excluding familial and cultural connotations inherent in names, forming a hierarchy through opposition, and extending social prominence for certain groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Fourth Industrial Revolution, journalism cannot remain oblivious to the innovations brought about by the socio-technological reality. Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the technologies on the rise, although the Spanish media have incorporated it little, experimentally and in specific sections. This research has two objectives: 1) to know the state of development of AI in the Spanish digital media and the industry's perception of the impact of this technology on the profession; 2) to explore a human vs synthetic text generation detection method to assess whether generative AI is being used in media. A comparative study was carried out between two media of reference in Spain, one matrix and conservative ideology (El Mundo), and another digital native and progressive trend (eldiario.es). The methodology was based on methodological triangulation and included a survey and an experiment with ChatGPT to detect whether a sample of texts published in these two media was created by humans or machines. The results diagnose that none of these newspapers apply AI, although they are designing plans to do so, and that there seems to be a lack of AI experts in the newsrooms, although a significantly higher predisposition towards AI in the native media is not confirmed as opposed to the matrix. The analyses carried out confirm that generative AI is not used to create texts. The method applied can be used in other studies because its validity is confirmed to provide clues about the human or artificial origin of journalistic texts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

News media and journalists must adapt to emerging platforms in order to respond to changing news consumption habits. This article addresses the trend of Social Media Live Streaming on Twitch, a platform that has experienced significant growth since 2020. The research pursues the main objective of finding out how Spanish media and journalists are adapting to this platform and what possibilities it offers to the journalistic profession, in terms of business model as well as in communicative style, formats and relationship with the audience. An exploratory analysis made it possible to identify 55 channels and to establish, in the first phase of the research, two categories of study: channels driven by journalists --with a background in digital or legacy media-- or by news media --digital natives or legacy ones--. In a second phase, seven representative cases were studied through content analysis of their profiles and streams, as well as interviews with the promoters. The results reflect an initial stage in the development of news initiatives on Twitch, characterized by experimentation and diversity of projects. In general, there is no great innovation in content and formats, which are based on conversation. There is a hybridization of information and entertainment in live broadcasts which, although providing rigorous information and featuring experts, maintain a relaxed tone and make use of humor. The relationship with the audience is built through the chat, a central element during broadcasts, and subscriptions from viewers, which are the main source of income for the channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the concept of the Imperial Public Sphere (IPS) in the Portuguese empire as a space for confrontation and negotiation within the framework of nineteenth and twentieth-century European colonial empires. In order to demonstrate the origin of political and ideological power, the emergence of IPS is characterized and its fundamental structures identified. The protagonists of IPS are revealed as the 'imperial' and 'colonial' elites. It concludes with the IPS hypothesis that the press and journalism are structures, institutions and mechanisms of political, social and cultural power that are essential for understanding colonial empires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates, using an exploratory methodology, the narrative strategies engendered by the Unhappening's scope in the informative coverage of the São Paulo press, from 2015 to 2020. Specifically, it maps, in the newspapers O Estado de S. Paulo and Folha de S.Paulo, the techniques of journalistic verification triggered by such matrix in the coverage of unmarked facts, in a methodological expedient that chooses to arrange, in an analytical branch, the sensitive investigation procedure that characterizes the Unevent in two topic-dynamics: i) dialogue; and ii) in-person act. It is evident, through data visualization, that the dialogic is a predominant feature of the sensitive capture devices mobilized by the Unevent, due to the comprehensive inclination of this matrix towards the Other and, also, aspects of information production that involve the provision of material resources, financial and human for in-person approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to examine the conceptual, theoretical, and methodological trends and gaps in data journalism research by conducting a systematic literature review of 102 articles published in English in SSCI-indexed communication journals. The review revealed that the majority of the literature focused on empirical investigations of data journalism practice, with weak conceptual and theoretical foundations and limited methodological diversity. Additionally, the authors and topics examined were predominantly from the Global North, which makes it challenging to generalize the findings to different contexts and scales. However, recent larger-scale studies incorporating the Global South offer hope for deepening the data journalism discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automated tools for parsing and communicating information have increasingly become associated with the production of journalistic content. To study this phenomenon and to explore the development of automated journalism across two locales at the cutting edge of technology, we leverage insights from in-depth interviews with news technologists from pioneering news organizations and Internet companies specialized in the construction of "news bot" technology in the United States and China, including The Associated Press, The New York Times, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, BuzzFeed, Quartz, Xinhua Zhiyun, Southern Metropolis Daily, Toutiao, and Tencent. Based on these interviews, we document how the creation of automated journalism products is heavily dependent on the successful assembly of actor networks inside and outside organizations. While metrics for measuring the success of automated journalism are applied differently, they often center around the augmentation of existing reportorial activities and focus on replacing rote and mundane (human) work processes. Some of the biggest challenges in automated journalism lie in curating high-quality datasets and managing the associated high stakes of errors in a business defined by trust. Lastly, automated journalism can be seen as a form of experimentation, helping its protagonists to future-proof their respective organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtual communities are constituted as places of interaction of the actors that make up the digital ecosystem. The proliferation of social networks and user participation are influencing media communication strategies, particularly digital native media. The object of study of this work is the virtual communities that native digital media establishes on social networks. The main objective of the research is to understand the virtual communities of native digital media from a representative sample that allows evaluating the production and interactions they establish with their audiences and the relationships with other media. It is also interesting to know both the production of the media and the level of interaction with their audiences. The method used is digital ethnography based on the analysis of the selected native digital media platforms and their social networks. The research results show social networks as necessary extensions and main places where digital native media interact with their audiences. The media analyzed coincide in the networks they use to expand the communicative and participation experience. There is a specific and differentiated use of each of the social networks integrated into the ecosystem of information brands. It can also be concluded that most of the accounts followed by the analyzed media are ideologically or business-wise, creating, therefore, an "echo chamber" effect in the form of information bubbles in line with similar ideological lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contemporary societies, communication becomes increasingly plural, with the multiplication of information channels, connections, and social actors. On the one hand, this promotes greater democratization of communication and information systems, but, on the other hand, these become increasingly complex, requiring a growing degree of literacy to understand the value of each message and its potential impact. In this context, this article highlights the privileged role that professional journalism has in promoting media literacy, largely thanks to its ability to reach different audiences and actively contribute to opinion-forming processes. With this objective in mind, three projects are discussed involving the newspapers Público (Portugal) and O Estado de S.Paulo (Brazil), as well as the BBC (United Kingdom). It concludes that there is a need to diversify the role of journalism, which is often reduced to promoting knowledge about news production methods. The theoretical-methodological framework adopted is based on Cultural Studies, Critical Discourse Studies and Communication and Media Studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simon Huxtable's book, "News from Moscow: Soviet Journalism and the Limits of Postwar Reform," explores Soviet journalism during the period between Stalin's death in 1953 and the beginning of Brezhnev's rule in 1964, known as the Thaw. Huxtable examines the archives of Komsomolskaya Pravda, a major Soviet newspaper targeting youth, to understand how the Soviet press adjusted to the demands of the time. He finds that the newspaper aimed to revitalize and reform Soviet socialism, but also had a two-pronged goal of regaining readers' trust and advancing the political agenda. Huxtable concludes that the Soviet press during this period was engaged in working out the meaning of socialism and reforming its deficiencies, rather than opposing political elites. However, he remains skeptical about the press fulfilling a governing function, as there was little evidence of Party directives in print. The book provides insight into the inner workings of Soviet journalism and encourages readers to revisit the Thaw years for a fresh understanding of surviving in a period of misinformation, censorship, and repression. [Extracted from the article]

"News After Trump: Journalism's Crisis of Relevance in a Changed Media Culture" by Matt Carlson, Sue Robinson, and Seth Lewis is a book that examines the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's presidency on journalism. The authors explore topics such as the role of the audience, hostility towards the press, diversity in newsrooms, and the changing media landscape. The book presents two paths forward for journalism: a traditional model that emphasizes professionalism and a moral voice approach that acknowledges the diverse experiences of journalists. Overall, the book provides a comprehensive analysis of the challenges faced by journalism in the current media climate. [Extracted from the article]

Seong Jae Min's book, "Rethinking the New Technology of Journalism: How Slowing Down Will Save the News," challenges the fast-paced nature of newsrooms and argues for the importance of slow journalism. The author examines the history of technological innovations in newsrooms and suggests that while these advancements are significant, they should not define the purpose of journalism. Min advocates for a gradual and mindful approach to adopting new technologies in the newsroom, emphasizing the core values and strengths of journalism. While the concept of slow journalism is promising, the book raises questions about its practicality in today's media environment. Further investigation is needed to explore how slow journalism can be operationalized and introduced into the field. [Extracted from the article]