How journalists engage in branding on Twitter: individual,organizational, and institutional levels

In a social media age, branding is an increasingly visible aspect of identity construction online. For media professionals generally and journalists especially, branding on spaces such as Twitter reveals the complicated set of forces confronting such public-facing actors as they navigate tensions between personal disclosure for authenticity and professional decorum for credibility, and between establishing one’s own distinctiveness and promoting one’s employer or other stakeholders. While studies have begun to reveal what journalists say about branding, they have yet to provide a broad profile of what they do. This study takes up that challenge through a content analysis of the Twitter profiles and tweets of a representative sample of 384 U.S. journalists. We focus on the extent of branding practices; the levels at which such branding occurs, whether to promote one’s self (individual), one’s news organization (organizational), or the journalism profession at large (institutional); and how other social media practices may be related to forms of journalistic branding. Results suggest that branding is now widely common among journalists on Twitter; that branding occurs at all three levels but primarily at the individual and organizational levels, with organizational branding taking priority; and that time on Twitter is connected with more personal information being shared.     

Advancing nonprofit organizational effectiveness research and theory: Nine theses

Drawing on the general literature on organizational effectiveness, the specialized literature on nonprofit organizational effectiveness, and recent research in the field, this article advances nine theses, or conclusions, about the effectiveness of public benefit charitable, nonprofit organizations (NPOs). NPO effectiveness is (1) always comparative, (2) multidimensional, (3) related to board effectiveness (but how is not clear), (4) related to the use of correct management practices but not in any simple “best practices” way, and (5) a social construction. Furthermore, (6) it is unlikely that there are any universally applicable best practices that can be prescribed for all NPO boards and management, (7) organizational responsiveness is a useful organizational‐level effectiveness measure, (8) distinguishing among types of NPOs is important and useful, and (9) level of analysis makes a difference in researching and understanding effectiveness. The article concludes by considering implications for organizational practice, boards and governance practices, program evaluation, including program outcomes assessment, and capacity building and capacity builders.     

Professionalization through attrition? An event history analysis of mortalities in citizen journalism

ABSTRACT

Despite both scholarly and popular claims that citizen journalism (CJ) represents a growing democratizing force in the journalistic field, recent scholarship in the area has noted the decline of the organizational population of CJ. In this paper, we investigate how individual characteristics of sites and the dynamics of larger organizational population affect a CJ site’s risk of experiencing a mortality. Drawing on the largest sample to date of US-based English-language CJ sites, this study examines the risk of site mortality through an event history framework. Findings indicate that the strongest predictor of a site’s mortality is the age of the site, consistent with organizational population theory’s ‘liability of newness.’ We also find that for-profit and community-based sites have lower rates of site mortality, indicating that adopting legitimate conventions of journalism may serve as a protective buffer to site death. The results offer mixed evidence on whether CJ has become more professionalized via attrition.     

Product placements as public relations: an exploratory study of the role of the public relations firm

This article reports the results of a survey of 106 public relations firms concerning their level of involvement with product placements as part of their public relations strategies. The findings of this research suggest that public relations practitioners are active players in choosing whether to use product placements to enhance a client’s product or service. Results also indicate that practitioners are more knowledgeable about product placements than previously believed and that they are more enthusiastic about the future of product placements than their advertising counterparts.Carol J. Pardun is an assistant professor of public relations and advertising at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Kathy Brittain McKee is an associate professor of journalism at Berry College in Rome, Georgia.     

Police Crime: The Criminal Behavior of Sworn Law Enforcement Officers

This essay examines the criminological conceptualizations and research on police crime, that is, the criminal behavior of sworn law enforcement officers. It starts with an overview of the conceptualization of police crime as it relates to organizational and scholarly perspectives of social deviance. Police deviance is often conceptualized to include various misconduct, corruption, and/or crime committed by police organizations and police officers. This essay focuses on police crime resulting in the arrest of a sworn law enforcement officer and is organized within a conceptual framework that incorporates five types of police crime: sex‐related police crime, alcohol‐related police crime, drug‐related police crime, violence‐related police crime, and profit‐motivated police crime.     

Hybrids,materiality, and black boxes: Concepts of actor‐network theory in data journalism research

Actor‐Network Theory (ANT) vocabulary offers meaningful sensibilities for explorations of data‐driven newswork. Concepts of hybrids, materiality, and black boxes are increasingly mentioned across digital journalism studies and appear to be particularly constructive to examine the relations between data, computation, and journalism practice, epistemology, reflexivity, and journalistic artefacts. After outlining central concepts of ANT, this literature review provides an overview of research agendas that propose sociotechnical dimensions, followed by a structured review of findings generated through ANT‐informed explorations of data journalism. In a closing summary, presented findings and limitations of ANT are discussed.     

Pathways to sector selection: A conceptual framework for social enterprises

As hybrid organizations with financial and social objectives, social enterprises must balance competing logics for governance, stakeholders, and outcomes when considering organizational design and structure. The existing legal landscape for organizations exacerbates this dilemma by forcing social enterprises to incorporate as either a nonprofit or for‐profit organization. This research examines the entity formation process for social enterprises by presenting sector choice as an interaction among four factors: equity financing, organizational lineage, human capital, and funding environment. Using a qualitative comparative case analysis, this research demonstrates that contingent factors drive sector choice when legal incentives and institutional pressures are unclear. For those choosing nonprofit forms, the status of the parent organization—the organizational lineage—is determinative. For those operating in the for‐profit context, human capital is predictive. The resulting conceptual framework contributes to existing organizational theory on hybrid organizations by presenting the sector selection process as independent of the motives or legal incentives typically associated with sector choice. This research concludes with a discussion on the advantages of delaying the formal sector declaration process.     

Collaborations with faith‐based social service coalitions

Based on the first national survey of faith‐based social service coalitions in the United States, this article presents data on the degree to which these nonprofit organizations collaborate with other specific organizational types, as well as the range and intensity of these collaborations. In general, faith‐based coalitions tend to collaborate most frequently with other faith‐based agencies, a pattern especially characteristic of the more religiously expressive ones. However, collaboration with non‐faith‐based organizations is also quite common. Based on seven organizational characteristics, we are able to predict which faith‐based coalitions are most likely to collaborate with different types of organizations: coalitions that have more explicitly religious policies and practices with reference to clients and staffs are less likely to participate in intense collaborations with some types of secular organizations, and consistently less likely to do so with all types of governmental agencies.     

Sociocultural change,activity, and individual development: Some methodological aspects

This piece which introduces an article in this issue proposes a methodology for studying individual learning and development related to sociocultural change.¹ The author argues that the mediating function of activity affords a new methodology that allows the study of sociogenetic‐ontogenetic relations without having to resort to reductionism or Cartesian dualism. The tri‐part methodology involves 1) Simulation by selecting key activities that can be constrained and arranged in sequence to model changesin society, and by that same sequence of activities, induce learning and development; 2) Heterochronicity which looks comparatively at the histories and time frames of various activities in a research site as well as the comparative histories and timeframes of particular activities and the lives of different generations of the research population in the interest of identifying periods of rapid societal change, and 3) Leading activity which is co‐determined by the point in an individual's developmental history at which she participates in the activity as well as the genetic sequence of activity categoires characteristic of that society.     

How do the news media frame crises? A content analysis of crisis news coverage

The present study is a content analysis of crisis news frames found in 2006 crisis news coverage. A total of 247 news stories were analyzed to examine which of five news frames (attribution of responsibility, human interest, conflict, morality, and economic) and level of responsibility (individual and organizational level) were used by the media according to crisis type. While the attribution of responsibility frame was the most predominantly used in crisis news coverage, the use of each of the five frames depended on crisis type. The use of level of responsibility also varied by crisis type and was related to the five frames; individual level of responsibility was used more with morality, human interest, and attribution of responsibility frames. Implications and suggestions based on the results were discussed.     

Cultural journalism—Journalism about culture

This article is an introduction to “cultural journalism,” a specialised type of professional journalism that covers and debates the broad field of arts and culture. The article points to some of the research traditions that have engaged with the news media's coverage of arts and culture and inspired contemporary cultural journalism research, among them cultural sociology and the sociology of journalism. Furthermore, the article outlines the institutional roles and epistemology of cultural journalism, which in several respects differ from dominating normative conceptions of Western journalism. At the same time, the article shows that contemporary journalism shares many similarities with the approaches found in culural journalism, such as interpretation, emotionality, and subjectivity. Finally, the article points to important future paths for cultural journalism research, including comparative perspectives and the political dimensions and potentialities of cultural journalism.     

Protest camps: an emerging field of social movement research

Recently protest camps have emerged around the world as a highly visible form of protest. Part and parcel of new social movement activism for over 40 years, they are important sites and catalysts for identity creation, expression, political contention and incubators for social change. While research has punctually addressed individual camps, there is lack of comparative and comprehensive research that links historic and contemporary protest camps as a unique area of interdisciplinary study. Research on the phenomenon to date has remained punctual and case based. This paper proposes to study protest camps as a distinct new field of research in social movement studies. Existing literature is critically reviewed and framed in three thematic clusters of spatiality, affect and autonomy. On the basis of this review the paper develops a research approach based on the analysis of infrastructures used to make protest camps. We contest that an infrastructural analysis highlights protest camps as a unique organizational form and transcends the limits of case‐based research while respecting the varying contexts and trajectories of protest camps.     

Web analytics and the functional differentiation of journalism cultures: individual,organizational and platform-specific influences on newswork

A key development in journalism over the past decade has been the rise of web analytics for real-time measurement of how audiences respond to news content. While this has led to concerns that analytics may contribute to a dumbing down of news, our understanding of the impact analytics have on journalism culture is still limited. This study explores individual, organizational and platform-specific influences on ways in which journalists and newsrooms access, use, interpret and apply analytics in their daily work. It argues that, increasingly, analytics are beginning to shape and reshape journalistic roles, values, norms and practices across different types of newsrooms. These developments are contributing to processes of functional differentiation in the journalistic field, which is found particularly in emerging practices of day- and platform-parting. The study argues that this differentiation has important consequences for scholars wanting to study news production, distribution and content in the digital age.     

Cohesiveness and goals in agency networks: Explaining conflict and cooperation

This paper examines principal and agent networks. We focus on networks because business research has placed far greater emphasis on the agency problem at the individual level. Our interest is in exploring the agency relationship at the group or network level. There are many variables at the group or network level which are absent when analyzing agency relationships at the individual level. Traditional theories of finance and economics do not adequately address or explain a host of behaviors that are inherent in human interactions that constitute organizational life. We include a sociological or behavioral approach in understanding this complex relationship. Using cohesiveness and shared goals as antecedents, we develop a theoretical model that predicts a range of relationship outcomes between principals and agents, as well as their impact on organizational goals. We explain that a range of relationships – including conflict, domination, exploitation, collaboration, and cooperation – is possible when networks of principals and agents interact.We argue that the social context is a key determinant of the relationship between actors in a network, and it has an important role in impacting cohesiveness and goal mutuality. The degree of cohesiveness within and between networks, and the extent to which goals are shared or are in conflict are the principal predictor variables we examine. We posit that cohesiveness and shared goals are necessary and sufficient conditions for agency problems between networks to be alleviated. Both necessary and sufficient conditions need to be met in order to overcome the problems of agency. The relationships we examine through the model include cooperation, collaboration, domination, opportunism, exploitation, and conflict. We present a number of propositions that theorize on the nature of the agency relationship and their impact on organizational goals. Implications for research and practice are also discussed.     

WikiLeaks: Between disclosure and whistle‐blowing in digital times

The 2010 WikiLeaks' disclosures of U.S. war logs were the first megaleaks to shake the world of international diplomacy and political elites. Since then, more leaks followed, from the Snowden to the Panama Papers. As this phenomenon continues to evolve, a significant body of scholarly work has analysed the emergence, the struggle, and the history of WikiLeaks .This article aims to provide a cross disciplinary overview of the research that has explored the rise and the legacy of the disclosure platform and whistle‐blowing website WikiLeaks. It identifies four scholarship approaches to research focusing on Julian Assange's platform in order to understand its impact on various aspects of the media and of public life. The approaches considered range from the effect WikiLeaks has had on traditional journalism to the platform's challenge to power in the realm of the balance between openness and secrecy in domestic and international politics; further scholarships use WikiLeaks as a case study to understand the relationship between media and social movements and to study the platform's ethics and the legal consequences of its operations. The impact of WikiLeaks's revelations still poses relevant questions the media, politics, and regulators must address in such a pivotal time that sees a change in news consumption and an increasingly bitter debate between online privacy and transparency. The conclusion reflects upon current development of what the author calls “new digital culture of disclosure.” Future research should explore questions about the opportunities, challenges, and obstacles for this emerging culture of disclosure. What are the socio‐political‐economic conditions that have enabled this new culture? Are these leaks becoming a renewed example of democratic accountability? Is this culture of disclosure replacing public interest journalism in times of crisis?     

COMPARISON OF CHARACTERISTICS OF PRIVATE PRODUCT PRODUCING ORGANIZATIONS AND PUBLIC SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS

This analysis explores whether propositions and empirical findings of contemporary theories of organizations directly apply to both private product producing organizations (PPOs) and public human service organizations (PSOs). Eight central characteristics are compared: organizational values and goals, incentives, organizational structure, raw materials, power-dependency relationships, technology, revenues and accountability, and environmental constraints. Major differences between PPOs and PSOs suggest that organization theories developed from findings about PPOs inadequately describe PSOs. Comparative research would demonstrate the need for new models of these organizational types. Since these types derive from contradictory assumptions and have differing characteristics, each should be sampled to the other's exclusion and generalizations made only to that type. The findings refute the popular assumption that all PSOs can privatize with equal success This is not a failure by PSOs to achieve PPOs' standards; rather the types pursue different values and accomplish different goals.     

The effect of stimulus content on volunteering for sexual interest research among college students

Much of the literature on volunteer bias in sexual interest research has been limited to either identifying variables on which volunteers differ from nonvolunteers or examining how the intrusiveness of the meaurement device affects volunteer rates. The present study was designed to examine whether stimulus content would affect volunteer rates and volunteer/non‐volunteer differences in a large sample of college students (206 men and 358 women). The study also sought to determine whether such findings could also apply to research that recruits from exclusively heterosexual samples. Students completed questionnaires in small groups and were asked whether they would be willing to volunteer for studies that would involve viewing and rating five different types of sexually explicit images (nude men, nude women, heterosexual behavior, male homosexual behavior, and female homosexual behavior). Results indicate that men and women differed in the types of images that they would volunteer to view, based upon the content of the images. Furthermore, volunteers for each type of image reported significantly greater self‐monitoring as well as sexual and general sensation seeking than did nonvolunteers, while differences on other measures were less consistent. Discussion is given to specific ways in which the findings and gen‐eralizability of sexual interest study results can be affected.     

The elephant in the newsroom: Current research on journalism and emotion

The article seeks to review current work on the obvious but complex entanglement of journalism and emotion. The field has been under‐theorized and under‐researched; however, in recent years, the body of studies that attempt to grasp the relationship between journalism, journalists, media content, and emotion is growing. The paper roughly systematizes the literature on journalism and emotion based on the Goffmanian distinction between front region and back region; that is, I consider both research on emotionality of the public outcomes of journalists' work marked by journalists' professional ideology and less visible journalists' emotional labour that is behind media content. Based on the review of the body of research and on a sociological conceptualization of emotions, I identify several blind spots. Most importantly, what is still largely missing from the emergent work is research that complies with the social character of journalists' emotions: acknowledges emotions as a force central to the contemporary networked, dynamic and increasingly precarious journalism work, and conceptualizes emotions in journalism as a sociologically relevant phenomenon articulated by the context including newswork, technologies, and media organizations.     

« Comment ? Vous n’avez pas de projet ? » : ethnographie du démarchage en matière de crédit à la consommation

Many a product and service is proposed to consumers who have not individually expressed any prior interest to a salesperson or a firm. Two situations of prospecting people for a revolving credit are presented. Based on data gathered during a month of observation in the company of salespersons who deal in this type of credit, the processes are analyzed that these persons use to arouse a potential buyer's interest. Light is shed on the organizational, material and technical conditions that enable them to turn the latter into a customer or, at least, to make interactions with him/her last longer. This analysis of one form of mediation in the marketing of credit also sheds light on the situations of those who subscribe to loans, whether or not they are over indebted.     

Corporate social responsibility and conflicts of interest in the alcohol and gambling industries: a post‐political discourse?

The corporate pursuit of social goals – known as Corporate Social Responsibility or ‘CSR’ – has been subject to critique on a number of grounds. However, a hitherto underexplored potential consequence of CSR has been suggested in a recent paper by C. Garsten and K. Jacobsson (‘Post‐Political Regulation: Soft Power and Post‐political Visions in Global Governance’ (2013), Critical Sociology 39: 421–37). They suggest that CSR is part of an international trend towards ‘post‐political’ governance discourses, where an emphasis on different actors’ common goals obscures conflicts of interest, subverting the open political conflict necessary for a well‐functioning democracy. This paper examines whether such post‐political discourses – including an outright denial of conflict of interest – can be found within the alcohol and gambling industries, where conflicts of interest are likely to be particularly acute given the addictive nature of the goods/services in question. Based on interviews with CSR professionals in these industries in Italy, the UK, and at EU‐level, we do indeed find evidence of a post‐political discourse. In these discourses, alcohol/gambling industry staff deny potential conflicts of interest on the basis that any small benefits from sales to a small number of addicts are seen to be outweighed by the reputational damage that addicts cause. Crucially, however, this coexists with another, less post‐political discourse, where addictions CSR professionals emphasize ‘common ground’ as a basis for CSR, while accepting some instances of possible conflict of interest. Here interviewees make considerable efforts to differentiate good (sustainable) from bad (short‐term) self‐interest in order to stress the genuineness of their own actions. We conclude the paper by considering whether CSR embedded within a ‘common ground’ discourse still hides conflicts of interests and subverts democratic debate, or overcomes the problems identified by Garsten and Jacobsson.