Das journalistische Feld in Deutschland

By using Bourdieus’ thinking tools field, habitus and capital, this article first develops a concept of the journalistic field, in which economic capital and journalistic capital decide on (collective and individual) agents’ latitude and in which their autonomy could be influenced by economic logic, the discussion on journalistic norms and the logic of other social fields. Subsequently, this concept is implemented in a qualitative study. For that purpose 501 guideline interviews with journalists were conducted; they were asked about their career, their working conditions and their role perception. The findings show that in Germany nowadays the journalistic field is dominated by information professionals, who know their craft and who made the needs of the audience the benchmark of their work. Different from what literature suggests, it makes little sense to differentiate between a “commercial” and an “intellectual” pole. Exclusive news (which is what the field is all about) can only be produced where enough capital is available. At the centre of power, to which news magazines, national daily newspapers and public broadcasting stations belong, one can most easily withdraw from the economic logic and the influence that emanates from the audience and the advertising clients.     

Qualitätserwartungen und ethischer Anspruch bei der Lektüre von Blogs und von Tageszeitungen

Besides classical journalistic products, media users increasingly tend to read texts on the internet published by other users, as in weblogs. How do users navigate among these offers, how do they evaluate the quality, and which standards in terms of media ethics do they apply when reading weblogs compared to newspaper articles? Two empirical studies address these questions. In a survey, 702 internet users rated their theoretical expectations in terms of journalistic quality and compliance with ethical standards, comparing weblogs and daily newspapers. In a consecutive 2 × 2 experimental design, 120 participants read a journalistic text with varying source information (weblog/daily newspaper) and varying degree of adherence to ethical standards (ethically questionable/neutral). Participants then rated the quality of the text and its ethical standards. Results indicate that daily newspapers more than blogs are expected to deliver journalistic quality. But when read, texts are evaluated according to their content rather than their source. Ethically questionable texts in newspapers are disapproved as much as ethically questionable blog postings.     

Konkrete Kommunikationsforschung

Ohne Zusammenfassung

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Qualität im Journalismus – ein integratives Konzept

To determine the various performance criteria concerning journalism it is reasonable to develop a broad concept, which integrates the different theoretical approaches. In a functional and system-oriented perspective, fundamental performance criteria can be based on the social function and the specific code of journalism, which emerged in an historical process of mutual observation of journalists and audiences. In a normative-democratic perspective, performance criteria can be derived from societal and human values codified in diverse regulations. However, in this regard it has to be taken into account that specific claims of the political subsystem also play an important role. Finally from an audience and action oriented viewpoint, it is important to keep in mind that journalistic communication must be useful and applicable in the world the audience lives in.     

Wissenschaftsformate des deutschen Fernsehens im internationalen Vergleich

This article explores factors which influence volume and structure of science programming by German TV broadcasters, focusing on influences of the national channel pattern. Based on a comparison of the German market with ten others, it identifies three factors as relevant especially for the large volume of science programming in Germany:

1. The comparably large segmentation of the public TV market.
2. The comparably high number of mid-sized commercial channels with market shares between 5 and 10 %.
3. The comparably low dependency of public service channels on advertising income.

From a European perspective, Germany together with Finland and Sweden has market structures which sustain a large volume and high variety of science programme offers.     

Die Arbeitszufriedenheit des kommunikations- und medienwissenschaftlichen Nachwuchses

The scientific landscape is subject to constant change but the recruitment problem within the field of communication science and media studies in the German-speaking countries persists. To explore this problem the present study investigates the working conditions of the non-permanent faculty (PhD students and postdocs). A special focus is set on job satisfaction because it presumably increases the likelihood for continuance in academia. An online survey among 504 PhD students and postdocs shows that they are, overall, satisfied with their jobs. However, occupational uncertainty is perceived as a major problem. OLS regressions reveal that the strongest predictors of job satisfaction are mentoring satisfaction and terms of contract. The relation between job satisfaction and publication output proves to be more complex than anticipated. Based on the results a set of recommendations is put forward.     

Short-haul city travel is truly environmentally sustainable

With rising interest in and concern about climate change and environmental sustainability, and the significance of the tourism industry worldwide, the impact of tourism-related activities and behaviors on the environment has become a key area of research. In particular, transport related to tourism has come under scrutiny for its contribution to the ecological footprint of tourism of a destination, mostly accounted for by the dominance of air travel. This study contributes to research in this area by identifying the types of travel situations in which tourists make environmentally friendly choices about travel modes and, consequently, which types of tourism destinations should seek to develop and promote in order to minimize the environmental impact of the tourist sector on both an individual destination and global scale.