1998 Convention Paper Abstracts
Civic Journalism Interest Group
Connection vs. Distance: Teaching Public Journalism • William T. Chronister, Kent State University • Determining what to include — and exclude — when teaching about public journalism cannot be easy, and when it is necessary to explain the subject as a small number of units within a larger course, the difficulty increases. This paper attempts to show the roots of public journalism in the present and to trace a line of thought that may have contributed to its promulgation. Consideration is given to its proponents and detractors.
The Visual Communication of Public Journalism: A Content and Textual Analysis • Renita Coleman, Missouri • Public journalists argue that the content of stories generated through public journalism is different from that generated by traditional reporting methods. This prompts the question: If the content of public journalism stories is different, and design is driven by content, doesn’t it follow that design for public journalism will be different than design for non-public journalism? This study explores how public journalism projects have been visually communicated in newspapers practicing the public journalism genre, and how it differs from the visual communication of non-public journalism.
A Comparative Analysis of Objective and Public Journalism as Techniques • Lance Holbert and Stephen J. Zubric, Wisconsin-Madison • This paper aims to make sense of the present debate between objective and public journalists by studying each journalistic approach as a technique. The study of technique calls for close scrutiny of the practices and values of an activity. Our analysis yields and explores three conclusions. First, labels of elitism and egalitarianism are useless. Second, both approaches advocate different levels of constraint on the press. Finally, each approach conceptualizes quality journalism in fundamentally distinct ways.
Public Discourse, Economic/Fiscal Policy Issues, and Civic Journalism • Sharon Hartin Iorio, Wichita State University • In-depth interviews with 90 individuals were reviewed for information to guide economic and fiscal policy coverage. The study reveals respondents’ most important concerns and concerns most frequently voiced prior to the 1996 elections and what respondents held responsible for their concerns. Framing theory is then applied to reveal commonalties among specific topics. The findings support the benefit of going directly to citizen to learn their views of the issues and show how theory can provide structure for in-depth opinion gathering.
Public Journalism and Commercial Local Television News: In Search of a Model • David D. Kurpius, Louisiana State University • This research examines how commercial local television news operations alter organizational routines by changing coverage expectations. It is a case study of eight top television news organizations in small, medium and large television markets. This research provides a better understanding of how news managers can change work routines without upsetting the journalistic normative structure. It looks at how television stations can operate within a profit-driven system to achieve goals of value to the civic community.
Is Public Journalism Cheap Journalism? Putting Public Journalists’ Money Where Their Mouths Are • David O. Loomis, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • As a press practice, public journalism is relatively new, dating only to the late 1980s and early 1990s. This period coincided with a newspaper-industry recession during which staff reductions swept newsrooms. “Re-engineering” reorganized traditional geographic news beats into topical teams intended to “empower” reporters. Re-engineering coincided with downsizing and conversion to public journalism. Based in part on such anecdotal evidence, critics have suggested that public journalism is a cover for cheap journalism.
Missing The Link: Citizen-Based Journalism Intent Rather Than Election Coverage Content Affects Public Trust in Media • Eric Rhodenbaugh, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • Effects of citizen-based journalism content on public trust may be overshadowed by the attitude change gained by involving the public in the news process. This study explores the persuasive effects of a newspaper’s intent to conduct citizen-based journalism. In a 1996 election study of 20 markets, intent to conduct citizen-based journalism, newspaper content, and trust were measured. Long-term results showed that intent to conduct citizen-based journalism increased trust in media independently of newspaper content.
Civic Journalism, Political Awareness and the University • Robert Roberts, Anthony Eksterowicz and Anthony Clark, James Madison University • ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE.
A Journalism Less Ordinary? The Inspiring Tone of Public Journalism • Andrea Verykoukis, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • Buzz Merritt and Jay Rosen, founders of the public journalism movement, both sought a journalistic style that is “more inspiring.” Computer-assisted content analysis of campaign stories from twenty newspapers combined with survey results revealed a correlation between journalists’ intent to practice public journalism and an inspiring tone in their stories. Intent to practice public journalism explained nearly a third of the variance in inspirational content, measured by words highlighting social ideals and attractive moral qualities.
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