JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA Ari Heinonen
University of Tampere
ISSS/ INSO 7
September/October 2003
JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA Ari Heinonen
University of Tampere
ISSS/ INSO 7
September/October 2003
The Aim
Contextualise: Give background for understanding what is happening in journalism and mass communication in the Age of New Media
Analyse: Outline the relationship of new media and journalism
Focus: Highlight the issues of new media journalism for further examination
The Topics
Focus on journalistic mass communication The basis: Journalism as a changing social phenomenon
Information Society and journalism
New media and changing journalism
Part One The basis: Journalism as a changing social phenomenon
Journalism as a changing social phenomenon
Historicality of the journalistic profession
emergence of journalism and journalistic profession was connected to specific developments in society
as society changes the characteristics of journalism evolve as well
social trends that can be condensed in the term Information Society/New Media, are shaping journalism
Journalism as a changing...
Invention of journalism
Carey: industrial revolution AND "revolution in communication and popular culture” > professional communicator
Chalaby: news became an instrument of competition > publicists journalists
Schudson: newspaper reporting - a new information gathering profession > paid reporters, organised work processes
Journalism as a changing...
Evolving practices
working practices appear, develop, change
E.g.
reporting
interviewing
investigative reporting
detachment from society represented in the news
strive for the authority of the news
Journalism as a changing...
Detaching professional identity
Forming the identity
"professional" working practises
professional unions
positioning as an object of science
Reflecting the identity
professional ethics and self-regulation (inside)
studying journalistic practices (outside)
”objectivity”, self-sustainablity, detachment
Journalism as a changing...
Reasonings of change 1
Journalism as a changing...
Reasonings of change 2
Socio-cultural: audience (the public), democracy
Business: ”business like any business” vs. political economy
Technological: outside agent vs. minor variable; two-way relatiosnhip
Professional-normative: personal attributes, professional routines, ethics, norms/values
Part Two Information Society and journalism
Inf. Soc. and journalism...
Signs of change:
Technological: "a new technological paradigm organized around information technologies” (Castells)
Economic: ”information/informational economy” (Webster/Castells)
Occupational: occupations emerge, disappear; nature of occupations change
Networking logic: network as a metaphor; new limits for time and space
Cultural: expansion of informational content of every day life
Inf. Soc. and journalism...
Shaping the change
In the past:
Telegraph & railroad new social processes
Changes in technology, economy, politics professional journalism
Today:
Changes in the relationships of production, social class relations, power relations
Different society, different journalism?
Inf. Soc. and journalism...
Implications for journalism
New emblem of society
sets the tone
”Enforced” development
practical consequencies in media
Importance of technology
journalism from technological perspective
Part Three New media and changing journalism
New media and changing...
Topics
new media as technology discourse
concept of new media
characterising new media
technical basis
communication features
New media and changing...
New media as technology discourse
in talk about new media and journalism, technology gives the framework
talking about journalism as a function to technology
technological development has always been present in journalism
new media is not the only perspective to journalism
New media and changing...
Vague concept
used quite carelessly
new? new is always relative
Marvin: “When old technologies were new”
Standage: ”The Victorian Internet”
new media set in the context of old media, but re-form media use and practices
Fidler: ”Mediamorphosis”
”NEW MEDIA” – will do!
New media and changing...
Defining new media I
Technical basis of new media
digitalisation
networking
computer mediation
Communication features of new media
New media and changing...
Digitalisation
bits and bytes, ones and zeros
”the development of digital language is likely to have a profound transformational effect on human society” (Fidler)
"We can see the formation of...an interactive, digital hypertext, combining everything from everywhere. All cultural expressions are articulated in this text, in which television programmes, cultural activities, video, music, radio, print, and artistic expressions interact. Because all this is organised in a digital language, it can be mixed recombined, recomposed and reorganised." (Castells)
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