Participatory Journalism 2015 Abstracts
An examination of the sourcing behaviors of U.S. non-profit news and newspaper journalists • Serena Carpenter, MSU; Jan Hendrik Boehmer, University of Miami; Frederick Fico, Michigan State University • Sourcing practices cue readers to the extent that the organization and journalists are invested in their reporting. This research investigates how journalists represent an issue through source attribution diversity and source number measures. The results show that non-profit journalists were more likely to cite a greater number of sources in comparison to newspaper journalists. And reporters who enact the interpretative role included a greater number of sources and more diverse sources, whereas advocacy/adversarial journalists were not as likely to cite such sources. And an increase in reporter story number had a negative impact on journalists’ sourcing practices.
Predicting citizen journalism complexity: An analysis of U.S.-based editors’ definitions of citizen journalism • Deborah Chung, University of Kentucky; Seungahn Nah; Masahiro Yamamoto, University of Wisconsin-La crosse • Based on a national survey and a qualitative content analysis of responses offered by U.S. editors’ understanding of citizen journalism, we identify key ideas associated with the complexity of the concept and patterns associated with the dimensions in defining the phenomenon. Ten core citizen journalism ideas emerged in the aggregate discussion of citizen journalism. However, majority of the participants, from an individual perspective, defined the concept simplistically focusing on one-dimensional or two-dimensional definitions. Arguments based on traditional notions of journalistic professionalism and occupational values are represented alongside notions for audience collaboration and engagement. This study also uncovered variations in the extent to which citizen journalism is defined and guided by demographic variables, individual journalistic experience, and organizational characteristics.
Using Community Engagement Strategies to Assess Media Collaboration • John Hatcher; Dana Thayer, University of Minnesota Duluth • This case study uses community engagement strategies to explore how to strengthen relationships among news organizations in one media ecosystem. We employ a mixed methodological approach: We “mapped” the ecosystem, we held a community media forum, and we conducted in-depth interviews with journalists and community storytellers. Preliminary findings suggest a willingness to collaborate; however, legacy media may have more reservations about collaboration than journalists at community newspapers, public broadcasting stations and entrepreneurial startups.
“He’s a Lowlife: He Deserved to Die” vs. ##BlackLivesMatter: Citizen Framing on Twitter of African-American Males Killed by White Police Officers • Mia Moody-Ramirez, Baylor University; Hazel Cole • Using a critical race lens, this textual analysis explores user-generated content that emerged following the deaths of two African American males killed by police officers in 2014 and highlights social media’s role in contextualizing the documented “historical injustice” toward Black males in America. We argue that the “he deserved it” frame reinforced the lack of value media places on the lives of Black men, and thus leads to communities having less sympathy for them. Our findings indicate citizens marginalized Black males shot by police officers because of their race, physical size or alleged aggression. This study is significant because in each case, height, weight, the history of their drug use, performance in school and various other factors were used as a rationale for the appropriateness of killing them. Common themes were: 1) he’s a low-life who deserved to die, 2) he used drugs and is therefore guilty and 3) he was a giant, demon or criminal who could only be controlled by killing him. However, not all framing was negative, as other citizens used the platforms to respond accordingly. Findings are in line with scholarly articles on the use of social media in protests. In both cases, social media brought about an acceleration of activist communication, and greatly enhanced its visual presence.
#FergusonOctober: Gatekeeping and Civic Engagement in St. Louis News Media Tweets • Frank Michael Russell, University of Missouri School of Journalism; Anthony Roth, University of Missouri School of Journalism; Margaret Duffy, Missouri School of Journalism; Esther Thorson, Missouri School of Journalism; Heesook Choi • This quantitative content analysis explores how St. Louis news media used Twitter during a 16- day period that included #FergusonOctober protests and St. Louis Cardinals postseason baseball games. About 30% of the tweets were related to the Ferguson crisis. News organizations mostly adhered to traditional gatekeeping roles in Twitter posts (e.g., sharing links to news articles). However, some Ferguson-related posts showed media adopting Twitter practices that could advance stronger, reciprocal relationships with citizens.
Freedom from the Press? How Anonymous Gatekeepers on Reddit Covered the Boston Marathon Bombing • Melissa Suran, The University of Texas at Austin; Danielle Kilgo, The University of Texas at Austin • Social news sites are gaining prominence online. One such site – Reddit – has been recognized for effectively distributing information about current and critical events. Through examining a major incident where Reddit was acknowledged as an important informational entity, this study analyzed content posted on Reddit in order to determine whether the website, as it claims, has “freedom from the press,” or if it follows gatekeeping practices that are similar to those implemented by traditional media outlets.
Pursuing the Ideal: How news website commenting policies structure public discourse • David Wolfgang, University of Missouri • Many news organizations provide online readers an opportunity to comment on public issues in the news through a news-mediated forum for discourse. These discourse spaces are run by news organization as part of a mission to provide a public space for discourse, but are governed by a commenting policy that establishes the rules for discourse and the boundaries for acceptable behavior. These rules can help meet the ideals of public discourse or stand in the way of productive public deliberation. This study examines the commenting policies of 21 news corporations in the United States to see how the policies facilitate or inhibit the creation of a space for ideal public discourse. A constant comparative analysis of the text of the policies guided by the ideals of Habermas’ public sphere as well as the expectations of civility norms in public discourse, shows that news organizations establish rules to protect respectful and egalitarian spaces for the public, but fail to meet other critical needs of public discourse, including rationality, tolerance, reflexivity, and the pursuit of common understanding and solutions. The implications of these findings are further explored and possible objectives for news organizations are provided.
Positioning Journalism Within Networks: Conceptualizing and Operationalizing ‘Connective Journalism’ Through Syrian Citizen Journalists • Mohammad Yousuf, University of Oklahoma; Maureen Taylor • As the news industry changes, new models are emerging. This paper explores network journalism (connective journalism) and shows how citizen journalists in Syria are embodying the network journalism model. The paper identifies three major concepts of connective journalism: engagement with social networks, negotiation, and maintaining a connection with norms and values of journalism. Through a case study of Damascus Bureau.org, we show that connective journalism is a viable model for citizens to tell their community’s story to each other and the world. This paper contributes to both the scholarship and the practice of journalism by helping develop a theory of journalism for the era of new technology.
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