Genesis and Dissemination: Some Thoughts Concerning Journalism as Knowledge

By Pradeep Nair, Harikrishnan Bhaskaran and Navneet Sharma all of Central University of Himachal Pradesh, Dharamshala, India

This article attempts to explore the viability of journalism as academic research, asking the unasked question about the mandate of Journalism as theory, practice and in praxis.

Genesis and dissemination:Some thoughts concerning Journalism as Knowledge By Pradeep Nair, Harikrishnan Bh…

“Too Ghastly to Believe?” Liverpool, the Press and the May Blitz by Guy Hodgson, Liverpool John Moores University

Abstract

Liverpool endured more air raids in the Second World War than any British city other than London, suffering 2,736 casualties, with a further 1,173 in neighbour- ing areas (May Blitz, 2015). Merseyside suffered around 80 bombing raids between August 1940 and January 1942, the peak coming at the start of May 1941 when the Luftwaffe dropped 870 tons of high-explosive bombs and more than 112,000 incen- diaries over seven consecutive nights (May Blitz, 2015).

Keywords:  Blitz, Liverpool, newspapers, morale, censorship

“Too Ghastly to Believe?” Liverpool, the Press and the May Blitz by Guy Hodgson, Liverpool John Moores Univ…

The Death of the Local Press by Mick Temple, Staffordshire University

Abstract

This paper takes a clinical look at the current state of one of Britain’s most treasured artefacts – the local printed newspaper – and points the way towards the likely future.
The evidence is overwhelming: rapidly declining sales and radical cost-cutting exercises indicate the daily local printed newspaper will soon be dead. The traditional audience is also literally dying – and to most of our young people, the idea of getting news twelve hours after it has happened in a form which dirties your hands and involves felling half a forest, looks as quaint as relying on a carrier pigeon for the latest football scores. Not only that, but there has been a failure to both prepare and then adapt to the new media landscape. Responding far too late to the online revolu- tion, the conglomerates, who hesitated to invest and now offer user-unfriendly, PR-dominated and print-heavy online sites, face increasing challenges from a new breed of independent local jour- nalism. This does not mean that more considered printed assessments – perhaps a weekly digest and analysis of the last seven day’s events – will not continue and perhaps even prosper. But those who insist upon the continued health of the Evening Herald et al (and there are many within the industry who do so) are ignoring the evidence. Given this, the insistence of the main training and accreditation body on training future journalists according to the wishes of the representatives of a dying industry might seem perverse, and this article will briefly assess the implication of this for journalism educators.

The Death of the Local Press by Mick Temple, Staffordshire University

Learning the Lessons of Leveson by Chris Frost, Liverpool John Moores University

Abstract

The Leveson Inquiry was set up to examine the ethics of the press in the UK. It took evidence from 700 witnesses on the state of the British press and its standards and the failure of the Press Complaints Commission to combat ir- regularities and raise standards.
Most attention has been paid to policy surrounding press regulation since Leveson reported leading to the closure of the PCC and its replacement with the Independent Press Standards Organisation. However, Leveson also made it clear that regulation was not the only way to improve the culture and ethics of the press and that a sweeping change in practice was re- quired. This paper examines the effectiveness of a regu- lator in raising journalism standards and the importance of education in changing newsroom culture for raising standards in the future.

Keywords: IPSO, Independent Press Standards Organisation, PCC, Press Complaints Commission, self-regulation, press, complaints, Leveson Inquiry

Learning the Lessons of Leveson by Chris Frost, Liverpool John Moores University

Chasing the Accreditation Dream by Lily Canter, Sheffield Hallam University

Abstract

A third of the UK’s 300 undergraduate and postgraduate journalism courses are accredited by at least one of the main accreditation bodies (NCTJ, BJTC, PPA) illustrating the marketing value universities place on such schemes in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Yet questions continue to be raised amongst academics and practitioners over the ongoing value and relevance of such accreditation schemes in a diversifying industry that currently places great emphasis on digital skills. This exploratory research is the first independent study to date to examine the value of accreditation to employers via interviews with 14 editors representing all sectors of the industry. The findings depict a changing landscape where writing skills and digital skills are held in equal regard and work experience takes precedent over qualifications. It also reveals that accreditation is not a key factor in the employment of entry-level journalists.

KEYWORDS: accreditation; journalism; education; employment; digital skills; professionalisation

Chasing the Accreditation Dream by Lily Canter, Sheffield Hallam University

Reporting US2012: Using Facebook to Communicate by Ann Luce and Matthew Charles, Bournemouth University

Abstract

In November 2012, 300 students came together in The Media School at Bournemouth University in the UK to report the US Presidential Election, Over the course of 10 days, students published 176 articles on a rolling news website, garnering more than 20,000 hits. On election night itself, students produced 10 hours of live coverage on both TV and Radio, airing 30 pre-recorded video pack- ages and 35 pre-recorded radio packages. This extra- curricular, experiential learning project, demanded constant contact and communication. Facebook was chosen as the main method of communication throughout the six-week project. This paper explores the successes and failures of using a social network site to manage such a large project.

Keywords: Journalism, Facebook, US2012, Experiential Learning, Communication

Reporting US2012: Using Facebook to Communicate by Ann Luce and Matthew Charles, Bournemouth University

Computational Journalism by Liz Hannaford, Manchester Metropolitan University

Abstract

As new forms of multimedia, data-driven storytelling are produced by news organisations around the world, pro- gramming skills are increasingly required in newsrooms to conduct data analysis and create interactive tools and news apps. This has prompted some universities to com- bine journalism courses with computer skills and there is much hype about the emergence of hybrid programmer- journalists, journo-coders, journo-devs who are equally proficient writing code and copy. To date, most of the academic research into computational journalism in the newsroom has been restricted to the United States where studies suggest a model whereby the roles of jour- nalist and programmer are merged. There is, therefore, a need to identify the extent to which this organisational model is replicated in newsrooms in other parts of the world. This paper is an exploratory study into two news organisations in the UK – the BBC and the Financial Times – to investigate the extent to which journalism skills and programming skills are being combined and the different professional identities being created. This study finds that the journalists and programmers are considered as two distinct professions and the idea of a hybrid role is re- jected by the newsroom staff interviewed. A new model is identified in the newsroom whereby teams consisting of journalists, programmers and designers work closely together on interactive, data-driven projects. These find- ings are valuable to journalism educators in that they identify the technical skills and attitudes required by jour- nalists working on innovative storytelling formats.

Computational Journalism by Liz Hannaford, Manchester Metropolitan University