Der Ereignisbegriff in der Publizistikwissenschaft

This article wants to clarify the notion of »event«. It is based on the differentiation of two levels of action–the level of what is covered in the media, and the level of coverage. Action on one level affects the level it happens on, but it also affects the other level. Neither is coverage independent of the occurrence that is covered, nor is the occurrence that is being covered independent of coverage. The notions that are proposed are meant to demonstrate important interdependencies between the two levels of action and to make possible empirical analyses of the relation between coverage and the events covered. This relates to the comparison of the coverage of different media and to the change in the depiction of reality in one medium. The latter is shown for the coverage of German issues in three quality newspapers for the period from 1951 to 1995.     

Der Einfluss der Medien auf Richter und Staatsanwälte

The goals of criminal proceedings are to establish the pertinent facts of a case and to assess these facts in light of valid laws. Based on an online-survey of 447 judges and 271 prosecuting attorneys, it is analyzed how media reports influence the course and outcome of criminal prosecution. The survey inquired about the use of media reports on trials in which the interviewees were involved, perceived shortcomings of media reports, intensity of experienced criticism by media reports, emotional reactions to criticism, perceived influence of media reports on lay people and experts in the courtroom, adaption of one’s own behaviour to expectations of the public, and perceived influence of media reports on sentences. Based on these data, a structural equation model indicates a significant influence of the use of media coverage on sentences. A weaker path leads from media use directly to sentences, a stronger one from media use to emotions and from there to sentences. The findings are discussed in light of juridical theories of the role of the public in criminal proceedings.     

Der Third-Person-Effekt — Über den vermuteten Einfluss der Massenmedien

The third-person effect claims that people generally suppose others to be more influenced by mass media than themselves. It is one among several perceptual phenoma that offer deeper insights into the media’s role in society and media impact. Almost 100 empirical studies of the third-person effect have so far been published, mainly in North America. They consistently support the phenomenon and additionally address its causes and consequences. This article contains a systematic overview of these studies, their findings and their theoretical explanations for the third-person effect. However, extensive theoretical work on the causes for the evidently solid difference between self-perception and perception of others is still lacking. In order to close this gap we develop an integrative theoretical model in which the third-person effect is linked to other perceptual phenomena (hostile-media phenomenon, optimistic bias, pluralistic ignorance, looking-glass effect). We assume that the perception of (alleged) media impact results in real behavior and therefore should play an important role in media effect theories. Moreover, this could lead to a conceptual extension of these approaches.     

Ein Objekt, das sich verweigert: Der Journalismus in der Soziologie Pierre Bourdieus

Gilles Bastin develops a critique of the concept of the »field of journalism» (»champ journalistique«) in the sociology of Pierre Bourdieu. At first, the genesis of the object under scrutiny, journalism, within Bourdieu’s sociology is introduced. Thus the continuity is made clear with which Bourdieu — from the sixties onwards — conceives of journalists as increasingly powerful agents (»opérateurs«) of »social magic« (»magie sociale«) and of processes primarily in the field of intellectuals. Bastin then analyzes the various suggestions made by different authors for describing the »field of journalism«, and he looks at the variance in using this notion, which makes the concept of the field as such very heterogeneous. In light of other conceptions borrowed from the sociology of professions, such as Everett C. Hughes’, he suggests three critical perspectives: First, Bourdieu’s concept of the field makes work »vanish«; it neglects the conditions of working and the substantial activities of journalists. Second, it leads to a disparate view of journalists’ activities as a subject for research. And thirdly, it decidedly individualizes journalists’ activities.     

Der umgekehrte Werther-Effekt

Over the past centuries, concerns have been raised that suicide stories in the media could lead to imitation. Nonetheless, the existence of the so-called “Werther effect” is still questionable and has barely been tested for Germany. The present study revisits two classic assumptions about the Werther effect and argues that these assumptions are neither appropriate for causal deduction in research, nor for giving journalists recommendations for the coverage of suicides. The author explains the inconsistent results of Werther research so far with overlapping effects in different directions. In a study, 140 suicide reports published nationally over the period 2001 to 2003 were recorded with a standardised (functional) content analysis and quasi-experimentally tested for their specific influence on official death statistics. Except for observer-model-similarity in the suicide rate of young men, the tested classic assumptions could not be replicated. As several confounders weakened the causal evidence provided by the quasi-experiment, a cluster analysis was subsequently used to identify four different types of suicide reports which contained all confounding aspects. A classical Werther effect with a short-term rise in suicides was observed after suicide reports using a vague prominence. Suicides decreased after stories about anonymous perpetrators were published. This finding confirms the expectation of a reversed Werther effect. Both other types of stories caused no recognizable impact.     

Der Beruf zur Öffentlichkeit

Journalism seems to be in a state of crisis which was caused by radical changes in the media, i.e. the development of digital media and their socio-cultural side-effects. A decline of professionalism is often deplored. In this situation, the challenge of the academic field of journalism is to think again, not only about the constitutive task of the journalistic profession and its constants, but also about necessary changes in the way the profession sees itself. First, the term “public sphere” is explained and justified; we discuss why modern societies need journalism as the profession that is specialised in creating a public sphere. Then, the particular qualities and rules implied in the task of creating a public sphere are outlined, with professional autonomy emerging as the essential element. Finally, we ask whether the image journalists have of themselves as impartial observers—an image which came into being in the world of printed mass media—still permits adequate answers to the challenges of media society, in which journalism itself functions nolens volens as a structural condition of reality. It has obviously become counterproductive to understand professional independence as mere impartiality. Journalism as society’s observation of itself through the eyes of an outsider: can this traditional idea be overcome?     

Der Vielfalt eine zweite Chance?

Television program diversity has been widely discussed since the introduction of the dual broadcasting system in Germany. «A chance for diversity...» was the title of the program study by Schatz/Immer/Marcinkowsky (1989), who proposed the hypothesis of convergence. This hypothesis postulates that public and private programs converge due to the built-in competition between the public and private television systems. In this paper we discuss the phenomenon of diversity and differentiate between internal (concerning the program content of one channel) and external diversity (related to the program content of several channels within a broadcasting system). We conducted a quantitative content analysis of TV program guides. Based on four different classification systems (program- and audience-oriented, format- and content-oriented), we analysed internal and external diversity in a longitudinal study. Results show an overall constant level of diversity. Especially external diversity is consistently high. Within channels, we found diversity shifts. Public programs show a slightly reduced diversity; specialized channels, on the other hand, increased their diversity. The analytic tools employed in our study and its results can contribute to the development of empirically measurable quality criteria for program development.     

Der dynamisch-transaktionale Ansatz III: Eine Zwischenbilanz

More than 20 years after the two basic articles on the dynamic-transactional approach (DTA) appeared, a systematic look into the scholarly literature shows that the resonance to the approach was astonishingly strong. The DTA was described and discussed in textbooks and in overviews of theory and research. Mostly, this happened more in form of casual mentions, but often also along with positive or negative evaluations. This article takes up again, and refutes, the most resistant objections against DTA, such as overcomplexity and a lacking propensity for empirical testing. As a bottom line, it is shown that DTA not only gave new momentum to theory, but also led, as a concept for guiding research, to new and original insights.     

Der CDU-Parteispendenskandal: Medienberichterstattung und Bevölkerungsreaktion

The general assumption about political scandals is that they have mostly negative consequences. One of the most important negative effects seems to be that the scandalized parties and politicians loose electoral support (e.g. measured by voting intentions). Unfortunately, current empirical studies analyzing the link between political scandals and electoral reactions only found limited support for this simple causal relationship — especially if they focus on individual attitudes and behavior. Using content analysis and survey data on the party financing scandal of the CDU (one of the biggest political scandals in the history of post-war Germany), this article analyzes the connection between media coverage of the scandal and public reactions on both the aggregate and the individual level. While a strong media effect on public opinion exists on the aggregate level, such a relationship does not appear on the individual level. This again raises the question of whether political scandals do affect public opinion as postulated.