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.     

Opinion expression via user comments on news websites: analysis through the perspective of the spiral of silence

User comments have become an essential part of news websites. In this article, we examine this mode of public expression via the theory of the spiral of silence. This is done while adopting alternative measures, with regard to three major issues on the Israeli agenda, and in comparison to expression in public, as in the traditional theory. Based on an Internet survey (n?=?712), the present study results support the relevancy of the spiral of silence to the online comment sphere. Perceived support for one’s opinion by the majority was found to have a positive and significant effect on the willingness to express opinion in the online sphere. The explanatory role of fear of isolation was more significant in the online sphere than in face-to-face context.     

Neo-colonial dynamics in global professional service firms: a periphery perspective

ABSTRACT

This article analyses neo-colonial dynamics at peripheral units of a Western global professional service firm. Drawing on postcolonial theory, an empirical study at global news agency Reuters’ subsidiaries in Mumbai and Bangalore shows how socio-ideological and technocratic control mechanisms allow subsidiary workers to elevate their status, while still cementing their role as dominated in the global hierarchy and silencing any resistance. Thus, on the one hand, it might appear that the global service firm provides periphery units the opportunity to become equals of core units, representing a ‘nurturing’ role achieved by instilling aspirational values and shaping imaginations. On the other hand, coercive and universalising routines such as performance assessments highlight the ambivalent nature of global firm initiatives to incorporate the periphery on an equal footing with core units, demonstrating the countervailing nature of contemporary power relations.     

当代女性农民工媒体形象的变迁

围绕女性主体性视角,聚焦不同属性媒体建构女性农民工形象的话语实践,探讨了新闻文本呈现女性农民工形象的总体特征和社会逻辑。通过对2000—2019年广东省和江苏省4份代表性报纸女性农民工议题新闻报道（N＝2485）的内容分析和文本分析,研究发现女性农民工的媒体形象建构呈现出“主体性缺失”和“结构性弱势”两大特点。从报道数量上看,女性农民工议题的重要性经历了高峰过后逐渐下降并趋于平稳的动态变化。较之农民工整体,国内主流报纸对女性农民工“低度再现”。从媒体形象上看,尽管女性农民工行为形象的主观能动性有所提升,但“主体性缺失”的受苦受难者和被关爱者仍占比61.09%,价值形象总体上趋于客观平衡。党政机关报和都市报在女性农民工媒体形象和新闻结构框架上均存在显著性差异,这一差异彰显着形塑文本的社会结构性要素之间的张力。     

外国新闻史教材存在问题及对策分析

外国新闻史是新闻传播类专业本科阶段的必修课,师生共同关心教材的选用。综观目前正规出版的教材,问题不容忽视,包括翻译不规范、基本史料表述不一、史观带有浓厚的意识形态色彩等。这些问题给学生带来困惑,给教学带来困难。解决的办法首先是要重视规范,遵守约定俗成的规则,其次要改变既有思维,学会客观、理性地对待他国新闻传播史。     

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.     

和谐社会建构下的少数民族新闻事业

我国是由五十六个民族组成的统一多民族国家,少数民族新闻工作是我国新闻事业的重要组成部分.在构建社会主义和谐社会的过程中,少数民族新闻工作应该从推动经济建设、宣传民族政策、倡导先进文化方面入手,总结经验,增强服务意识,提高水平,在具体工作中为构建和谐社会做出更大贡献.     

广电专业应用型人才培养模式改革的探索与实践——以成都大学文学与新闻传播学院为例

文章根据成都大学城市型应用性综合大学的性质,对文学与新闻传播学院高素质应用型人才培养模式进行了创造性的探索与实践,提出必须改革现行的教学计划,整合课程资源,加强和完善广电实验室和校内外实习基地的建设,培养和引进"双师型"教师,强化学生专业实践能力,并依托专业实验室,创新实验项目,用实验项目取代学年论文,学生毕业论文则可以自主选择学术论文或项目成果的形式完成。对于文科学院,这种探索与实践具有推广价值。     

“第三种新闻”：选择与可能——新10年中国新闻“评论化转向”现象分析

新10年以来,在我国的新闻发展中,出现了传统形式的新闻报道和新闻评论不断弱化的情况。在报纸新闻中,许多时候新闻评论（言论）甚至出现了缺位。相伴而来的则是：一种＂边叙边议＂、＂又叙又议＂、＂叙议结合＂的＂第三种新闻＂现象。本文所说的＂第三种新闻＂,是一种以评论为中心组织起来的新闻样式。这种＂评论化＂既表现在＂新闻标题评论化＂方面,也表现在＂新闻内容评论化＂方面。用了差不多10年的时间,＂第三种新闻＂初步完成了向＂新闻评论化＂的写作转向,而作为新世纪发生的＂第三种新闻＂现象,＂评论的新闻＂要走的路还很长。     

工科院校新闻专业应用创新型师资队伍建设

针对工科院校新闻专业师资队伍的现实情况和存在不足、分析师资队伍建设面临的新形势,提出应该从加大经费投入、优化发展环境、做好学科定位、优化师资结构、树立科研导向、提高实践能力等六个方面努力建设一支应用创新型的师资队伍,提升工科院校新闻教育质量。