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.     

Nachrichten und ihre kommunikative Qualität

German literature on the history of journalism in agreement relates as a certainty that the inverted pyramid in news writing was established as a professional standard during the American Civil War (1861–1865), along with, and because of, the use of the electric telegraph for transmitting news and its propensity, in its early days, to fail at times. Besides this technological thesis, three others are discussed: one related to political science, the other to cultural studies, and the third to economics. All four theses trace the diffusion of the «hard» news style, founded on the principle of relevance, back to factors that affected journalism from the outside. In contrast to this, a longitudinal study of innovative 19^th century New York daily newspapers shows that the principle of «lead and body» did not prevail before the eighties of the century, and its establishment occurred in an effort to make newspapers more readable and more attractive for readers by editing the copy received. The introduction of «inside editing» was not in the least based on economic calculations of cost and benefit. This provides a starting point for explaining the spread of the public sphere and the development of professional journalism by the dynamic of the capitalist market economy, rather than considering journalistic ethos and commercial calculation as opposites. In any case, the origin of the professional news style of the inverted pyramid is to be found in the striving for communicative quality in the journalists’ product. That it can be traced back to the telegraph’s propensity to malfunction is a myth, eagerly retailed but not at all substantiated.     

Politische »Kultur«

The presentation of cultural topics in the feature pages of German newspapers did change much during the past two decades. Above all, the »policialization« of cultural news coverage leaps to the eye. Nevertheless, there can be no talk of basically new cultural pages. This is demonstrated by a longitudinal analysis of four daily newspapers within the period of 1983 to 2003. The journalistic offer in the feature pages of all four newspapers has not been reduced but instead it has been strongly extended. The amount of articles as well as their size has increased considerably. »Politics« has become the most important topic. In 2003, its share of all topics is 15 percent, but it does by no means supersede the classical topics like theatre, music, the fine arts and literature. With a share of about 50 percent, those topics still are the core of cultural news coverage. Obviously, journalists are more open to popular and entertaining forms where musical topics are concerned compare to, e. g., the theatre. The most frequent genre in the feature pages in 2003 is undisputably still the review. An »end of the critique« in favor of strongly personalizing, entertainment and service-accentuated forms of presentation cannot be proven.     

Die »Jungtürken« der Kommunikationswissenschaft

This article presumes that the identity of an academic discipline is defined by the people pursuing it, and thus at least indirectly by the societal and individual experiences these people were shaped by. Biographical interviews present a portrait of a generation of professors who greatly influenced the field of communication science in the German-speaking countries during the last four decades. This generation of the so-called »Young Turks« was born between 1929 and 1940, experienced the chaos of the 2^nd World War as children or adolescents and studied German Publizistik-or Zeitungswissenschaft in the 1950s or 60s to become professional journalists. These professors experienced the low reputation of their field both in the media world and in the university. This explains the importance of this generation’s wish for legitimacy of their field, and is a key to understanding the opening of the discipline to media practice (key-word: journalism programs) and its turn into an empirical social science discipline. It was predominantly the empirical (communication) research that promised a gain in reputation. The »Young Turks« found the appropriate empirical research in the field’s literature published in the United States, as well as in neighbouring social science disciplines, in economics and partly in the new founders of the discipline.     

Alltagspublizistik

No doubt, newest technologies penetrate human communication in a way unheard of. We owe the knowledge about this and other happenings around the world to everyday public communication (Alltagspublizistik). Knowledge about the world (Bescheidwissen) is formed by medialized and technicalized circular societal processes as its own re-production and re-reception. In his »Zeitungs Lust und Nutz« of 1695, Kaspar Stieler was certain: »We honest people / living presently in the world / got to know this present world« — by reading newspapers. Some 300 years later, Niklas Luhmann certified in »Die Realität der Massenmedien« of 1996: »Whatever we know about our society, even about the world we live in, we know through the mass media.« Both authors’ ideas of a cultured semantics of newspapers or media, we acknowledge, to redescribe everyday public communication in relation to world society — before the horizon of a communicational culture. We start with a comparison of public communication and mass communication theories, both German and North American and we criticize traditional epistemological obstacles handed down in communications. Than, we discuss the concepts of communication, commonplace, and public(s) in historical perspectives, refering to the »knowledge about« (Bescheidwissen), »sensemaking« (Sinnmachen) and »comprehension for use« (Gebrauchsverstehen) — »homework« to be done as future research in everyday public communication.     

Interaktivität, Interaktion, Internet

In recent years, numerous suggestions have been made to clarify the concept of interactivity in communication science. Most often, an inclusion strategy is used, in which diverse definitions are summarized into a multi-dimensional notion of interactivity. Aside from this, there is also an exclusion strategy: On the one hand, certain technical media (computer-mediated communication, »interactive television«) or communicative situations (face-to-face communication) are marked as »interactive«. In doing this, no differentiation is made between potential and process, and betwen »interactivity« and »interaction«. On the other hand, the notion of interaction as it is rooted in sociology offers itself for a theoretically grounded definition. Seven ways of using the term in relationsship to the notion of communication can be found. It is suggested to conceptualize interaction as a type of communication in the sense of Rafaeli: Interactive communication is reciprocal and relates to earlier messages. The concept of interactive communication chosen here can be linked with systems theory and the deliberative theory of the public sphere.     

Datenjournalismus in Deutschland

Data journalism is increasingly practiced and taught in journalism schools. The present study attempts to describe empirical data journalism in Germany for the first time in its fundamentals. The question is whether a new type of journalism is emerging. The study here is concerned in particular with the role models of data journalists. The investigation is based on the structural functionalist role theory. Structured interviews with 35 data journalists served as an empirical data base. We found that their role and activity profile differs in various dimensions compared to the average journalist in Germany. While the information function of journalists scored relatively low, the criticism and control function was particularly pronounced. The self perception was also strongly marked by allowing readers and users new opinions and to communicate new trends and ideas.     

Medienberichterstattung über Medienkonzentration

Taking into account the ongoing political debate on self-regulating and self-observing media and the increasing media concentration, the study explores journalists’ strategies of manufacturing credibility in self-referential media communication. How do journalists try to construct a »normal distance« between their public functions on the one hand and the economic stakes of the media conglomerates they work for and the media industry on the other. Based on a qualitative content analysis, the case study on the coverage of the AOL-Time Warner merger reveals significant differences in the tendencies of coverage and the strategies used to solve this dilemma: Independent media such as 〉die tageszeitung〈 tend to report more intensely and to comment more critically, also considering the frameworks of media politics and media ethics. A comparison of 〉Newsweek〈 and 〉Time Magazine〈 shows that increasing self-referentiality goes along with an increasing use and complexity of all three strategies: distancing, revealing, and concealing. 〉Newsweek〈 provides a much more pluralistic and more critical view of the merger than the AOL-Time Warner owned 〉Time Magazine〈, its direct competitor.     

Journalistik praxistheoretisch betreiben

This paper proposes a practice-theoretical journalism research approach that promises to present an alternative and innovative perspective to the current empirical challenges of journalism which are mainly driven by digitization. It combines the general theme of this special issue to previous contributions within the “Publizistik” debate. By examining the problems of demarcation, technological changes, finance gaps and the loss of legitimacy in journalism; this article exemplifies the practice-theoretical approach and explains its respective advantages in coping with these challenges.After an introduction, the second section describes four intertwined problem areas that challenge journalism extensively today: The first problem area is the increasing problem of definition and demarcation through digital media that has led to a growing uncertainty about which phenomena can still be regarded as ‘journalistic’. Second is the strong pressure placed on journalism to change due to even faster developing new technologies that influence its work methods, its genres and the organization of labor. The third area is the economic difficulty arising under the new competitive conditions of digitization (‘attention economy’) that fundamentally disrupt the traditional business model of publishers. The fourth problem area is the prominently debated crisis of legitimacy and authority of established products and organizations in journalism. As this section highlights, these empirical challenges are primarily triggered and accelerated by the digitization of today’s media environment.The third section begins by proposing a practice-theoretical approach as a ‘toolkit’ for productive examination of these structural disruptions and rapid developments. The proposed approach does not present a pre-defined system of hypotheses, but primarily introduces a fundamental starting point for new research questions and empirical investigations from an alternative perspective. The particular relevance of the theoretical perspective thereby arises from (1) its central decision to observe journalistic practices, (2) the transgression of conventional boundaries of journalism, (3) the denaturalization of journalistic norms and laws, (4) the explicit consideration of a material, sociotechnical dimension of journalism, (5) the focus on the tension between journalistic practices and media management, and (6) from prioritizing order generation over stability.The second part of the third section applies the theoretical lens to reconceptualize the empirical challenges of digitization described in the second section and to provide examples of the usefulness of this perspective. In this section, the following advantages are emphasized, among others: First, from a practice theoretical viewpoint, established practices, traditional actors and reified norms do not mark the boundaries of the phenomenon; the crisis of journalism’s demarcation can be reinterpreted as a promising opportunity to diversify the concept of journalism. Second, by examining the processes of technology and its role within social practices, the practice-theoretical approach advances the current perspective on technology in journalism research thus contributing to its development towards a socio-technological and data-orientated field of investigation. Third, the financial upheavals of journalism are viewed in the context of the tense relationship between journalistic practices and media management practices without however, assuming a fundamental primacy of economic constraints. Fourth, practice theories shift our perspective on the legitimacy and authority crises of journalism; from this viewpoint, it is clear that journalism does not form a fixed, reified entity, but is constantly in a process of emergence.The fourth section sums up the conceptual advantages of the theoretical perspective with regard to current problem areas. Nevertheless, the proposed conceptualization of journalism will not solve all of its contemporary challenges. Against this background, the section also presents criticism of the practice-theoretical approach. The limits elaborated here point to the fact that a fruitful pluralism of theory is indeed needed to advance journalism research. The paper concludes with methodological insights on where research can start empirically: e.?g., by examining individual practices that are studied in depth, by focusing on specific ‘sites of the social’ or by focusing on larger constellations of practice (e.?g., journalistic networks). Qualitative observational studies are proposed as the most suitable methods for these investigations.     

Entgrenzung des Journalismus: empirische Evidenzen ohne theoretische Basis?

»De-differentiation« has become a kind of standard diagnosis in defining the state of current media communication. Especially social systems theory, which used to focus on the differentiation of systems, nowadays increasingly discusses phenomena of de-differentiation. Journalism research in particular is concerned that functional de-differentiation might result in a gradual loss of the social function of journalism. However, the question remains widely unsolved of how empirically observed indicators for de-differentiation processes relate to (systems) theory, or whether the idea of de-differentiation and social systems theory are, in principle, compatible. The paper discusses the relation between differentiation and de-differentiation, and tries to define the term of de-differentiation, which seems to be used in relation to diverse kinds of phenomena and at different levels. All in all it shows that de-differentiation and social systems theory are absolutely compatible. On the other hand, it also becomes clear that the theoretical debate about the strict focus on system boundaries and binary codes, which prevailed in the early stages of social systems theory in journalism research, has to be revisited in light of de-differentiation processes.     

Konvergenz von Nachrichtensendungen aus Zuschauerperspektive

Since the deregulation of the German broadcasting system, the possible convergence of public and commercial stations has been a research subject of significant interest in the field of communication science. But so far research on convergence has focused mainly on the program, whereas there are only a few consumer-centered approaches. This study takes up this deficit. The central question is: Has the program of public and commercial channels, with respect to content and design, become more similar over the years from the viewers’ point of view? Out of pragmatic considerations, this study concentrates on the news genre, represented by one public (»Tagesschau«) and one commercial television news magazine (»RTL aktuell«). Altogether 110 respondents evaluated 24 news stories each, originally broadcast on the two channels in 1986, 1990, 1995 and 2000. Respondents had to judge various quality aspects of content and design. The results clearly show that viewers are able to recognize differences between public and commercial news. As the quality of content of »RTL aktuell« has increased over the years, a slightly convergent development can be traced here. Regarding the quality of design, viewers consider »RTL aktuell« to have become better over the time considered whereas »Tagesschau« has remained on a constant level, resulting in a divergent development in this case.     

Das »Office for Strategic Influence« als Informationsmanager in der US-Kampagne in Afghanistan

The terror attacks on September 11, 2001, formed the starting point for the United States’ «war against terror,» which began on October 7, 2001, with the first bombardment of Afghanistan. The broad support around the world faded quickly after a few weeks without any significant success in the battle against Al Quaeda. To counter rising annoyance, the US Government created the «Office for Strategic Influence» (OSI) in November 2001. The declared purpose: to produce sympathy and support for the war. Though source material is scarce, it is possible to trace the activities of the OSI. In Afghanistan, the office coordinated «Information Operations» already under way. The OSI also tried to influence domestic and international public opinion by participating in the foundation of the «Coalition Information Center» and by consulting public affairs expert Charlotte Beers and the advertising agency «Rendom Group». After an intensive denunciation by several newspapers, especially the 〉New York Times〈, the OSI was abandoned in February 2002. The discussion about the office defined more concretely the formerly vague border between publicly7 accepted and necessary agitation on the one hand and reprehensible propaganda on the other.     

Die Anforderungen an die interne Unternehmenskommunikation in neuen Organisationskonzepten

This article mainly concentrates on two questions: 1. What functions does an internal corporate communication perform in a learning organization, and in relation to knowledge management? 2. Under which conditions or circumstances can internal corporate communication fulfill these functions? In the concepts of organizational learning and knowledge management, internal communication gains an important productive function in generating, processing and saving knowledge. Instruments and tools such as face-to-face communication, internal magazines, information boards and the use of an intranet are discussed. As far as the generation, production and saving of knowledge are concerned, the instrument of face-to-face communication and the intranet are gaining special importance. In order to cope with these functional challenges, the internal corporate communication has to institutionalize selective incentives and motivating factors. For generating and saving knowledge, the actors’ reception of these media of communication seems of great importance also: Only a unified «community of practice» is able to transform information into knowledge.     

Agenda Setting bei der Ausstellung »Körperwelten«

The paper discusses agenda-setting effects concerning the anatomical exhibition »Körperwelten.« In a case study, about 2,300 press articles and 4,300 guestbook statements at the exhibition stages in Mannheim, Vienna, Basel and Cologne were analyzed. The paper focusses on the weighting and valuation of several sub-issues of the controversial public debate about the exhibition. The findings corroborate the hypothesis of weak agenda-setting effects. The exhibition was an obtrusive issue to its visitors: Obviously the people’s experience visiting in the exhibition influenced their attitudes towards the plastinated bodies. In several central issues of the debate around »Körperwelten«, the visitors’ opinions contradict the opinions published in the press. Whereas the published opinions to several sub-themes changed from stage to stage, the visitors’ attitudes in Mannheim, Vienna, Basel and Cologne were the same. The opinions published in the press and the visitors’ opinions converge on two topics: the ethical questions concerning the plastinated bodies and the success of the exhibition. The weak agenda-setting effects are traced back to the diversity in the press coverage of the »Körperwelten« debate.     

Im Osten was Neues? Ein Beitrag zur Standortbestimmung der Kommunikations- und Medienwissenschaft

The aim of this article is to systematically describe and evaluate the foundation and extension of new study programs in communication and media science, and to develop further perspectives for the field. By means of a survey, the boom of programs in communication and media science at German universities is described. The various causes for this boom are not only found in the development of the media branch but also in the new (and perhaps questionable) responsibilities of university education that are subsumed under the concept of »media competence«. The article discusses the actual situation of the field against the background of the already existing debate about its self-conception. It names dimensions of the problem and develops consequences for the necessary structuring of the expanding university discipline of »communication and media science«. For the structuring, an intensified theoretical reflection about the subjects of the field, its methods, and the disassociation from neighbouring fields (still) seem to be important.     

Die Moderation politischer Gesprächsrunden im Fernsehen

A great number of discussion programmes (talkshows) has been established on television. They constitute a popular medium for processes of political communication. Media critics have complained that the programmes lack substance and deform public discourse. The programmes’ quality partly depends on the performances of their hosts. Critics reproach them for an insufficient level of journalistic activity, for being too soft on their guests, and for being unable to ask adequate questions that would stimulate a rational discussion. While such criticism is widespread, there are but a few empirical studies that provide systematic quantitative data on these programmes. Most of the research in the field dealt with interviews and discussions directly before or after elections. This article, however, focuses on talkshow hosts’ performances in regular TV discussions by content analyzing ten editions each of »Sabine Christiansen«, »Berlin Mitte«, »Presseclub« and »19:zehn«. The study shows notable differences in journalistic activities between different hosts, but also between different editions of the same show. Although some critical evaluations of discussion programmes are supported, the analysis hints at the need to consider significant variations in the performance of political talkshow hosts.     

Journalismus während der Besatzungszeit

During the period of occupation from 1945 to 1949 the allied powers’ press policies more than anything else gave Germany the inducement for a modernization of journalism, though there was no complete relaunch of journalism in Germany. On the basis of existing studies, three structural layers of journalism — organizations, roles and programs — are investigated in order to identify features that stand for relaunch and modernization on the one hand, and others that demonstrate continuity in the period of occupation. On the layer of journalistic forms, for instance, the separation of news and opinion as prescribed by the allies meant an important step towards modernizing journalism. It resulted in the loosening of political bonds, which were rooted in the tradition of German journalism. While the traditions of the Weimar Republic and the Nazi period continued to exist, the course for the route towards an independent and reader-oriented journalism was set under occupation. Thus a modernization of journalism was belatedly undertaken in Germany, while other countries had done that long before. This process, started in the occupation period, offered journalists chances to interpret their professional roles as autonomous mediators of information.     

Martin Luthers »Passional Christi und Antichristi«

The article argues epistemologically, and with a concrete example, in favor of a plurality in methods and subjects in empirical communication research which does not cultivate pseudo-differences within the humanities and assigns to a historical and systematic approach the position that it was always entitled to during the long history of communication as an academic discipline. The subject of the empirical study in the main part is the critical evaluation and interpretation of the source, the reformation pamphlet »Passional Christi und Antichristi« of 1521. The pamphlet informs about the most notorious fake of the middle ages, and constitutes the final stage of a multi-step diffusion process. As a propagandistic masterpiece, it reduces a complex issue of constitutional law to a comprehensible symbolism and transforms the contemporary »theory of media effects«, i.e. rhetoric, into a precise stylistic correspondence of text and illustration.     

Demokratische Internet-Öffentlichkeit? Ein Vergleich der öffentlichen Kommunikation im Internet und in den Printmedien am Beispiel der Humangenomforschung

The importance of the internet has increased significantly in recent years. The easy access of this »new« medium sparked many hopes for a democratization of the public sphere and of public debate: Many authors argued that the internet will make actors and interpretations of topics visible to those parts of the broader public who are usually marginalized in »old« mass media. In an empirical analysis, we compared print media coverage and internet communication to assess these claims. For the case of human genome research — i.e. a bioscientific topic that reseived extensive media attention in Germany —, we analyzed which actors were given public standing and which frames came to the fore. In contrast to the claims mentioned above, our findings indicate that the debate in the internet does not differ to a significant extent from the offline debate in print media. We could not find a more egalitarian, democratic communication in the internet.