The constructive dimension of journalism: specifics of normative orientations
Keywords:
constructive journalism, journalistic roles, role performance, civic role, news valuesAbstract
Based on the concept of constructive journalism, this article examines shifts in normative dichotomies associated with the expansion of functional journalistic status. It notes the activation of the journalistic voice, a departure from the traditional ethical ideals of neutrality and detached observation. It is emphasized that the constructive dimension of journalism reflects the intellectual search for new approaches to its purpose, intensifying under the influence of the crisis phenomena in the functioning of this social institution. It is argued that constructively understood journalism is designed to mitigate the negative psychological effects on the audience that arise from the typical conflict-oriented reporting of events. Drawing on existing academic works in this field, the author identifies features of the textual embodiment of the constructive dimension of journalism, thereby enriching the empirical line of research. The empirical base of the study includes digital native media: Grist, The Marshall Project, and Takie dela. The theories of professional journalistic roles, the normative compass and news values served as the analytical framework of the article. The author addressed the operationalization of journalistic interventionism, indicators of the civic role of journalism, as well as the two- component classification of journalistic sources and signs of the strategic ritual of emotionality. The degree of expression of normative dichotomies and the nature of implementation of the active dimension of journalism were determined. The share of civic role indicators in each of the media projects was revealed. The peculiarities of the embodiment of news values in the texts were outlined. The frequency of the use of elite and non-elite sources was determined. It was concluded that there are different approaches to constructive journalism in the media, as well as the presence of interconnection between the constructive dimension of journalism and the civic role of the latter.
References
Konkina (Filippova), K. M. (2020). Konstruktivnaja zhurnalistika: zarubezhnye teoreticheskie koncepcii i prakticheskie reshenija [Constructive Journalism: Foreign Theoretical Concepts and Practical Solutions]. MediaAl’manah, 4 (99), 88–96. (In Russ.)
Parakhnevich, E. V. (2021). «Zhurnalistika reshenij» kak metod bor’by s social’nymi problemami (na primere osveshhenija pandemii, vyzvannoj virusom Covid-19) [“Solution journalism” as a method of challenging social problems (in the context of covering the COVID-19 pandemic)]. Znak: problemnoe pole mediaobrazovanija, 3 (41), 63–70. https://www.doi.org/10.47475/2070-0695-2021-10307 (In Russ.)
Parakhnevich, E. V. (2020). Problema ob#ektivnosti v tekstah «zhurnalistiki reshenij» [Problem of objectivity in the texts of solution journalism]. Vestnik Volzhskogo universiteta imeni V.N. Tatishheva, 1 (4), 102–11. (In Russ.)
Ahva, L. (2011). What is “public” in public journalism? Estudos em Comunicação, 9, 119–142.
Aitamurto, T. & Varma, A. (2018). The Constructive Role of Journalism. Journalism Practice, 12 (6), 695–713.
Allam, R. (2019). Constructive journalism in Arab transitional democracies: Perceptions, attitudes and performance. Journalism Practice, 13 (10), 1273–1293.
Borger, M., van Hoof, A. & Sanders, J. (2019). Exploring participatory journalistic content: Objectivity and diversity in five examples of participatory journalism. Journalism, 20 (3), 444–466.
Bro, P. (2019). Constructive Journalism: proponents, precedents and principles. Journalism, 20 (4), 504–519.
Bro, P. (2008). Normative navigation in the news media. Journalism, 9, 309–329.
Carpentier, N. (2005). Identity, contingency and rigidity. The (counter-)hegemonic constructions of the identity of the media professional. Journalism, 6 (2), 61–82.
Figenschou, T. U., Thorbjørnsrud K. & Hallin, D. C. (2021). Whose stories are told and who is made responsible? Human-interest framing in health journalism in Norway, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S. Journalism, 1–19.
From, N. & Nørgaard, K. (2018). Rethinking Constructive Journalism by Means of Service Journalism. Journalism Practice, 12 (6), 714–729.
Hanitzsch, T. (2007). Deconstructing Journalism Culture: Toward a Universal Theory. Communication Theory, 17 (4), 367–385.
Hermans, L. & Drok, N. (2018). Placing Constructive Journalism in Context. Journalism Practice, 12 (6), 679–694.
Huan, C. (2015). Journalistic Stance in Chinese and Australian Hard News: A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney. 244 p.
Koivunen, A., Kanner, A., Janicki, M., Harju, A., Hokkanen, J. & Mäkelä, E. (2021). Emotive, evaluative, epistemic: A linguistic analysis of affectivity in news journalism. Journalism, 22 (5), 1190–1206.
Makki, M. (2019). Discursive news values analysis of Iranian crime news reports: Perspectives from the culture. Discourse & Communication, 13 (4), 437–460.
Mast, J., Coesemans, R. & Temmerman, M. (2019). Constructive journalism: Concepts, practices, and discourses. Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism, 20 (4), 492–503.
Mathisen, B. R. & Morlandstø, L. (2018). Innovating contextual genres. A strategy to sustain regional democratic relevance? Sur le journalisme, 7 (2), 36–47.
McIntyre, K. & Sobel, M. (2017). Reconstructing Rwanda. Journalism Studies, 19 (14), 2126–2147.
Mellado, C. & Lagos C. (2014). Professional Roles in News Content: Analyzing Journalistic Performance in the Chilean National
Press. International Journal of Communication, 8, 2090–2112.
Rijssemus, T. (2014). Het journalistieke weten. Over de objectivite it van betrokken journalistiek. Utrecht: Universiteit Utrecht. 334 p.
Strömbäck, J., Tsfati, Y., Boomgaarden, H., Damstra, A., Lindgren, E., Vliegenthart, R. & Lindholm T. (2020). News media trust and its impact on media use: toward a framework for future research. Annals of the International Communication Association, 44 (2), 139–156.
Wagemans, A., Witschge, T. & Harbers, F. (2019). Impact as driving force of journalistic and social change. Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism, 20 (4), 552–567.
Wahl-Jorgensen, K. (2013). The strategic ritual of emotionality: A case study of Pulitzer Prize-winning articles. Journalism, 14 (1), 129–145.
Wu, G. & Pan, C. (2022). Audience engagement with news on Chinese social media: A discourse analysis of the People’s Daily official account on WeChat. Discourse & Communication, 16 (1), 129–145.
Zhao, X. & Xiang, Y. (2019). Does China’s outward focused journalism engage a constructive approach? A qualitative content analysis of Xinhua News Agency’s English news. Asian Journal of Communication, 29 (4), 346–362.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Olga Agnistikova
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
