Transparenz im Journalismus

The transparency that journalists and newsrooms can produce for their audience has long been regarded as a rather marginal criterion for journalistic quality. But new transparency models??due to the interactivity, immediacy, archiving capacity and the absent limitation of space in the internet??offer greater potentials than classical instruments in print and broadcasting. In comments, web videos, blogs, twitter feeds and social networks, journalists discuss with users and publicly account for editorial decisions. Transparency is fashionable in the digital public sphere; its evaluation, however, is not clear, but ambiguous and complex. This paper conceptualizes (self-)transparency and qualitatively classifies the available instruments in a three-dimensional matrix model. This is to facilitate the analysis of problematic areas and potential conflicts: Newsrooms demonstrating open self-reflection dismiss the ideal of ??objective journalism??. Yet, transparency is not only an ethical demand, but is also supposed to strengthen trust in journalistic products because it permits quality evaluations by the audience. An experiment shows, for the first time, that self-transparency has an effect on trust in some aspects but not as a basic principle. Analysing this interdependency, we have to distinguish between transparency of process and of product as well as between different media.     

Transformationen im Journalismus

In commercial broadcasting, the entertaining features of journalism are already prevalent and expected to increase further. Beyond the aspect of entertainment, a far-reaching process of transformation in journalism can be identified, to be clearly recognized in several domains: With purposes shifting away from information and towards entertainment, journalism changes its organizational structures, its working routines as well as the roles and the qualifications of its workforce. Based on an empirical study carried out in northern Germany, the article describes the organization and work »programmes« in »format radios« and discusses the resulting changes in journalists’ qualifications. The findings have led to the conclusion that, because of the lack of organizational and working structures at private radio stations, journalists will have to meet all the demands of the complete production process, both with respect to hierarchies and functions (»Everyone does each and everything«). The more organization »programmes« lose their determining influence, the more coordinating activities will be needed. That is to say, organizational structures are being replaced by social processes. As a consequence, the ability to communicate, as one of the elements of journalistic qualification, is of growing importance.     

Journalismus und Medienwandel in Osteuropa

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

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.     

Mediatisierung der Politik?

Ohne Zusammenfassung Dr. Gerhard Vowe ist Professor für Kommunikations- und Medienwissenschaft an der Heinrich-Heine-Universit?t Düsseldorf. Dieser Aufsatz ist die überarbeitete Version seiner Antrittsvorlesung an der Heinrich-Heine-Universit?t Düsseldorf am 29.11.2005. Der Autor dankt Marco Dohle, Stefan Marschall, Winfried Schulz und Jens Wolling für Hinweise und Kommentare zu einer früheren Fassung; Kristina Jakubek und René Michalski für die Kodierung der Haushaltsdebatten; Judith M?ller für die Hilfe bei Recherchen.     

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.     

Issues Management in Wirtschaft und Politik

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Rechtliche Möglichkeiten der Qualitätssicherung im Journalismus

For some time, there has been a discussion on the necessity of a quality management, especially for newspapers. In Switzerland, this led to a proposal to add the goal of securing the quality of press coverage to the constitution. In an interdisciplinary perspective, this article attempts to describe a change in the German constitutional court’s concept of the public, the concept the court based its decisions on. It then argues the potential of, and the necessity for, a judicial basis for quality management in journalism. To be considered are: public funding, the introduction of auditioning procedures, the observation by an independent foundation, but also the specification of demands for care in liability cases according to the degrees of quality management in journalists’ research.     

Gegenöffentlichkeit(en) und partizipativer Journalismus im Internet

There have been many claims in research literature that participatory journalism constitutes a forum for counter-public spheres. This article attempts to test this hypothesis by analysing empirically the relationship between counter-public spheres and participatory journalism on three levels (article elements in professional media, full-fledged articles in professional media, participatory media). On each level, prominent cases of participatory media are selected in order to give an overview of the different forums of counter-public spheres. Many forms of counter-public spheres can be found. Indicators are counter-agenda setting, social mobilising, media participation, and collaborative communication. However, there are marked differences in terms of quality and audience reach of the counter-public spheres analysed.     

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.     

Ko-Evolution von Public Relations und Journalismus: Ein erster Beitrag zu ihrer systematischen Aufarbeitung

There are many research findings and some theoretical models in regard of the interaction between journalism and public relations (PR). But hardly any research has so far looked at this relationship from an historical perspective, an endeavor also called the ‘co-evolution’ of PR and journalism. The aim of this article is to make a first step into the analysis of this co-evolution with a focus on the emergence of PR and based on literature about the history of PR. The analysis shows that the rise of PR in the second half of the 19th century was a reaction to the development of journalism, which had become increasingly polemic. Thus for many social protagonists and organizations the barriers to enter the public arena were raised. At the same time the importance of the mass media and furthermore the pressure on social protagonists and organizations to legitimize their interests in a changing society were growing. These results support a theoretical concept that describes the development of mass communication as processes of rationalization of societal communication, which can be linked with theories of social systems.