Picture: Walter Lippmann, by Harris & Ewing, photographer, from the Library of Congress Collection, Wikimedia Commons

Objectivity, detachment, and Walter Lippmann

The iconic Walter Lippmann was a forceful advocate for journalistic objectivity. He had a strong belief in “detachment” as an ideal for a journalist. Julien Gorbach of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, writes about the journalist in his new study. The article explores balancing between two journalistic ideals: standing up for something, and being … Continued

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Published: 8 Oct 2020
Media technology and protest movements: a historical perspective – interview with Anne Kaun

VIDEO: Media technology and protest movements – a historical perspective

Anne Kaun, Associate Professor at Södertörn University told us about her research. She has investigated civic engagement, protest and media technologies, using historical and temporal perspectives. She also told about her current interests in algorithmic activism. Kaun gave a keynote talk at the Median ja viestinnän tutkimuksen päivät conference, in Jyväskylä, Finland, April 2018, where … Continued

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Published: 30 May 2018
Picture: Archive storage by Samuel Zeller, license CC0 1.0

ARTICLE: Automation and the work of newsroom librarians

One of the first newsroom departments to encounter full-scale automation has been the newsroom library. Jan Lauren Boyles and Jared Meisinger, of Iowa State University, conducted in-depth interviews with 16 American newsroom librarians. They studied the automation of journalistic labor in the digital age. Of the 100 largest print publications in the United States, 46 … Continued

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Published: 14 May 2018
Picture: No more words by Katie Tegtmeyer, license CC BY 2.0, cropped

ARTICLE: Index on Censorship advocating for freedom of expression

The magazine Index on Censorship has since 1972 provided a platform for identifying, highlighting and challenging censorship and abuses against freedom of expression. It has been one of the most important freedom of speech or anti-censorship publications in the world, a new study states. John Steel of the University of Sheffield, examined the inception and … Continued

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Published: 15 Mar 2018

ARTICLE: Conservative critique is “erased” from journalism history

Journalism historians often neglect conservative media critique, and this omission makes understanding the modern phenomenon of so-called “echo chambers” difficult, A. J. Bauer, of Ursinus College writes. Bauer’s recent essay details the rise of conservative media criticism between the 1940’s and 1974, when James Carey famously decried the lack of proper journalism critique in America. … Continued

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Published: 7 Mar 2018
Picture: Lion’s Head at dusk by Marcelo Novais, license CC0 1.0

ARTICLE: The moral panic about ‘fake news’ in South Africa

Proliferation of fake news websites and fake social media accounts have raised concerns also in South Africa. The phenomenon should not be understood outside of its particular contexts of production and consumption, writes Herman Wasserman of the University of Cape Town. The study provides an exploratory overview of different types of media output. A very … Continued

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Published: 19 Dec 2017
Picture: untitled by NASA, license CC0 1.0

ARTICLE: Lessons from online newspapers from the early days of the web

Matthew S. Weber and Katherine Ognyanova of Rutgers University, and Allie Kosterich of Pace University, studied the patterns of hyperlinking to explain how online newspapers adapt to new technologies. The article looks at the years from 1996 to 2000 as a critical period of adaptation for newspapers on the Web. Mainstream news sites of 28 … Continued

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Published: 1 Dec 2017

REPORT: Small-market newspapers in the digital age

During the past decade, the fortunes of the newspaper industry changed dramatically, write Christopher Ali, of University of Virginia, and Damian Radcliffe, of University of Oregon. So far, in studying these developments, the researchers have focused on large national newspapers. But how are small-market newspapers responding to digital disruption? How can they best prepare for the future? The report is … Continued

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Published: 21 Nov 2017
Untitled by Lenka Sevcikova, licence CC0 1.0

ARTICLE: A brief history of journalists’ organisations in Czechoslovakia

An article by Markéta Ševčíková, an independent researcher, and Kaarle Nordenstreng, of University of Tampere, recounts the history of journalists’ organisations in former Czechoslovakia. Most notably, the country hosted the International Organization for Journalists (IOJ) – once the worlds leading journalists’ organisation. Ševčíková and Nordenstreng begin by summarizing Czechoslovakian history from its 1918 independence from … Continued

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Published: 2 Oct 2017