Download presentation
Presentation is loading. Please wait.
Published byJohnathan Williams Modified over 9 years ago
1
www.donsbach.net The Public Image of Journalists Wolfgang Donsbach Communication Research Center at Boston University November 12, 2009
2
www.donsbach.net Reasons to Deal With the Public Image of Journalists
3
www.donsbach.net Commercia- lization Inflation of media Allegations of bias and negativity Media scandals Vanishing identity of journalism Current stress on journalists‘ public image Decreasing trust and esteem
4
www.donsbach.net …and it shows in surveys: Confidence in the press on the decline Press All other institutions
5
www.donsbach.net Germany: Slow but steady decline of trust
6
www.donsbach.net Representative survey of the German population 1,054 citizens of 18 years and older RDD Split-ballot Field time: November 2007 until January 2008 Methodological Details of Our Survey
7
www.donsbach.net Low esteem, low trust - and far away from the true professions Source: Donsbach et al. 2009
8
www.donsbach.net Lowest trust among the younger Source: Donsbach et al. 2009
9
www.donsbach.net What are the reasons? 4 x Content / 1 x Structural
10
www.donsbach.net 1. Too powerful
11
www.donsbach.net Journalists more powerful than politicians
12
www.donsbach.net Goals and values: Discrepancy between public's expectations and evaluations Too little Too much
13
www.donsbach.net Impartiality vs subjectivity Expect?Most journalists? Impartial report Subjective report
14
www.donsbach.net 2. Too unethical
15
www.donsbach.net Protection of privacy vs a scoop Not acceptable Happens often
16
www.donsbach.net 3. Too corrupt
17
www.donsbach.net Independence vs gratification Acceptable? Happens? No! often
18
www.donsbach.net Independence vs revenues
19
www.donsbach.net 4. Too much tabloidization
20
www.donsbach.net Hard vs soft news? Acceptable? Happens? No! often
21
www.donsbach.net Summary: What Content Features Drive Public Image of Journalists?
22
www.donsbach.net The public‘s expectation and evaluation concerning news quality
23
www.donsbach.net (rather trust journalists as percentage) fulfillment of expectation non-fulfillment of expectation sign.χ2 Example case objectivity II42373.34 Example case moral considerations II 35 3.34 Example case soft versus hard news II 33382.52 Example case privacy issues I37341.71 Example case economic independence II 4231*6.19 * p<0.05 ** p<0.01 *** p<0.001 Discrepancy expectations/perceptions of behavior in news sitiuations Trust
24
www.donsbach.net (rather esteem journalists as percentage) fulfillment of expectation non-fulfillment of expectation sign.χ2 Example case objectivity I65582.87 Example case moral considerations I 6859*8.50 Example case soft versus hard news I 64596.27 Example case privacy issues I6859*8.50 Example case economic independence I 6857**9.34 * p<0.05 ** p<0.01 *** p<0.001 Discrepancy expectations/perceptions of behavior in news situations Esteem
25
www.donsbach.net 5. The Structural Reason: Fading Identity
26
www.donsbach.net Donsbach et al. 2009 Who is a journalist?
27
www.donsbach.net Fading coordinates: definition by age
28
www.donsbach.net Source: Who is a journalist?
29
www.donsbach.net
30
Fading Coordinates: Website Traffic – Changes 2006-2007 Large City Newspapers Mid-size City Dailies News Aggregators Bloggers Joan Shorenstein Center for the Press, Politics, and Public Policy (2007): Creative Destruction: An Exploratory Look at News on the Internet. Cambridge: Harvard University
31
www.donsbach.net Finally: What then IS journalism?
32
www.donsbach.net The three traditions of journalism Donsbach 2009 Defines professional journalism
33
www.donsbach.net “Journalism is a constellation of practices that have acquired special status within the larger domain of communication through a long history that separated out news-sharing from its origins in interpersonal communication. Telling others about events in one’s social and physical surroundings is a common everyday activity in human cultures…A main difficulty for sharing intelligence is ascertaining truth, or, put the other way round, distinguishing intelligence from gossip” Barnhurst and Owens (2008: 2557) Public service function: Distinguishing between evidence and gossip News = more than personal communication Society needs institution that assesses truth and relevance
34
www.donsbach.net Is it all collapsing into the commercial function? Donsbach 2009
35
www.donsbach.net Sridhar, Thorson & Mantrala 2009 Investment in editorial quality pays off
36
www.donsbach.net Basis: Data of ca. 300 papers in the US, Source: Inland Press Association Revenue losses as a consequence of cutbacks Sridhar, Thorson & Mantrala 2009
37
www.donsbach.net Quality Credibility Financial Success Basis: Data from 26 Knight-Ridder papers Size of Market (Logarithm) Credibility of Newspaper (measured through surveys) Stability of Circulation 1995-2000 -0,046 +0,448 Meyer, Philip (2004): The Influence Model an Newspaper Business. NRJ 25, No.1, 66-83
38
www.donsbach.net Credibility problem of journalism jeopardizes social capital What do do? Actively propagate the function and identity of journalism… …in journalism education …in schools …in public campaigns Re-consider professionalization of journalists best practice in exchange for… …protection from unprofessional influences Journalism as the new knowledge profession (Gregorian) The crisis of journalism as chance
Similar presentations
© 2025 SlidePlayer.com. Inc.
All rights reserved.