Journalistica

Hvad er vinklen?

Christina Pontoppidan — 2024-04-02

Among Danish journalists, there is a widespread acknowledgement that the technical term 'angle' (da: vinkel) is ambiguous. The ambiguity challenges those who want to adopt the journalistic terminology and the professional identity it represents. The author maps the meanings of the concept by close reading passages where the concept appears in 30 newer Danish textbooks about journalism. She finds four different definitions: Angle in the sense of focus, point of view, claim and message. The author clarifies the underlying theoretical framework that inspires each of the four definitions and shows how each definition captures key professional competences related to deciding the angle of a journalistic story. This leads her to conclude that it is more productive to embrace the ambiguity of the concept than to work against it. Inspired by Wittgenstein's language game theory, she argues that each of the existing definitions provide an enlightening answer to how the concept is used in a practical journalistic context, and when taken together the four definitions capture the versatility of activities and reflections that constitute a systematic practice of working out the angle of a story. This leads her to suggest a new, broad definition of the concept of angle.

The role of news content on Danish broadcasters' streaming services

Lucia Cores-Sarría — 2024-09-19

Amidst the shift from linear TV to streaming, public-service media face the challenge of reconciling commercial competition with their public obligation of informing society. This longitudinal content analysis investigates the curation and platformization of news on the front pages of the video-on-demand services of two Danish broadcasters, DRTV and TV 2 Play. Sampling four days annually from 2020 to 2022, we take a longitudinal approach to assess news curation (i.e., positioning and accessibility on the front page) and news platformization (i.e., video length, hard vs. soft news composition, and prevalence of streaming-first content). We did not find strong evidence of platformization overall. A main difference between the broadcasters was in terms of curation, with DRTV consistently prioritizing the news deck, while TV 2 exhibited a declining trend over time. This study contributes valuable insights into the treatment of news by broadcasters within the evolving context of streaming services.

Ekspertkilder i dansk klimajournalistik

Kresten Roland Johansen — 2024-11-14

The climate field is often cited as an example of 'post-normal science' - a highly politicized field where research, attitudes and values are in many cases entangled with each other. Following on from this, the term post-normal science communication has been used to indicate that the journalistic norm of objectivity is being challenged and gradually replaced by a more activist approach. However, recent research indicates that journalistic activism is generally not accepted as a norm by climate journalists. But do we still see a shift in journalistic practice towards activism in source selection and the way sources are used? This is examined in the present article via a quantitative content analysis of 200 articles from four specialized climate media and news desks in Denmark. The analysis shows that privately employed non-researchers are frequently used as expert sources. Almost four out of 10 privately employed expert sources come from think tanks. Of these, CONCITO is by far the most used source. These "experts with an agenda" most often appear in the role of expert without having to legitimize their own status as an expert through new knowledge. Overall, the analysis indicates that climate journalism largely gives voice and authority to experts with an agenda, and that both publicly employed researchers and privately employed non-researchers are often used in action-directing functions, that is, different forms of journalistic activism. It points to a possible discrepancy between climate journalists' role perception and journalistic practice.

Den journalistiske professions rolle i organisationers interne kommunikation

Helle Tougaard — 2024-11-15

The article examines how journalists switching to work with internal communication in organizations find that they can apply (or fail to apply) their journalistic self-perception and skills in the role of internal communicator. The article is based on two studies, a qualitative interview study with 12 journalists who work with internal communication, and a quantitative study with 137 respondents. The study shows that communicators with a journalistic background believe that they are good at bringing the employee perspective into play, asking critical questions and writing well-told stories, while the respondents have divided opinions about whether they feel that they have the freedom to tell the stories they want. The study also points out that several organizations have realized the importance of transparent and credible internal communication, but that there is still a long way to go in terms of setting internal communication free and allowing more critical stories to see the light of day.

Journalistic Autonomy: The Genealogy of a Concept

Henrik Bødker — 2024-10-07

Nyhedsjournalistens metoder

Ulrika Hedman — 2024-12-20

An integrated guide to thematic analysis

Miriam Kroman Brems — 2024-10-07

In this section, Journalistica puts a spotlight on research methods used in journalism studies and/or journalism practice.

Listen to the Journalistica podcast episode about this article on Spotify.

Value sensitive design

Francesca Morini — 2024-06-07

In this section, Journalistica puts a spotlight on research methods used in journalism studies and/or journalism practice.

News media and elections in the Nordic countries

Mark Blach-Ørsten — 2024-11-27

Introduction to special issue

Alternative election news coverage?

Bengt Johansson — 2024-07-06

In contemporary media environments, mainstream news media have become increasingly challenged by political alternative media. Even though research on how political alternative media cover politics and society has increased, there is still limited research comparing how political alternative media and mainstream news media cover key political events, such as election campaigns. To fill this gap, the purpose of this study is to compare election news coverage in political alternative and mainstream news media, drawing theoretically on theories related to mediatization and structural bias on the one hand, and politicization and political bias on the other. Empirically, the overarching research question is how election coverage in left- and right-wing political alternative and mainstream media differs. Findings suggest that political alternative media do function as an alternative to mainstream news media in that they offer more politicized coverage of election campaigns. However, left-wing, and right-wing political alternative media also constitute alternatives to each other in how the election campaigns are covered.

Electoral campaigning in a hybrid media environment

Majbritt Kappelgaard Severin-Nielsen — 2024-04-15

In the current hybrid media environment, politicians have manifold opportunities to be in contact with voters during elections. Legacy news media still constitute an important campaign tool for politicians, but a range of social media have gained ground in electoral campaigning over the last decades as well. Against this backdrop, the aim of this study is to shed further light on politicians’ campaign practices in a hybrid communication environment, and whether the introduction of social media have introduced new dynamics into election campaigns. The study does so through a case study of Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and opposition party leader Alex Vanopslagh’s social media campaigns and online news presence during the 2022 national election. The study finds that Frederiksen was more in the news during the election than Vanopslagh, but that social media was central in both campaigns. However, Vanopslagh was on a broader set of social media and to a greater extent capitalised on the platform affordances than Frederiksen.

Views from the other side

Niklas Bolin — 2024-04-15

The study explores the perspectives of political parties regarding news media coverage in election campaigns. By analyzing official post-election analyses produced by Swedish political parties from 2010 to 2022, the study offers a novel approach to the study of political party views of news media. The findings largely support the arguments proposed by mediatization literature, highlighting the significance of media in party communication. Parties display eagerness to attract positive media attention while expressing regret over inadequate or negative publicity. More surprisingly, there is a lack of references to media bias in the reports, suggesting that the hostile media effect is not a major concern among Swedish parties. Despite criticisms related to irrelevant reporting and perceived negative coverage, party perceptions towards the media remains predominantly neutral. The study contributes to the understanding of the complex relationship between political parties and news media in the context of election campaigns.

Exploring party-issue linkages as an indicator of issue ownership in election news coverage

Mark Blach-Ørsten — 2024-11-27

Research on issue ownership has placed political parties at the centre of studies. Recent research argues that this focus should be expanded. First, researchers have found that the salience of different political issues is affected by events exogenous to political parties, such as real-world events and societal trends. Second, researchers have pointed to the news media as an additional arena for issue ownership competition and maintenance, making the concept of party–issue linkages in election coverage an additional topic of study. This article contributes to election research by exploring party–issue linkage as an indicator of issue ownership for both political parties and political leaders in the two most recent national Danish elections. Both elections were affected by societal trends and real-world events. Based on large-scale content analysis and using descriptive statistics, we find a clear shift in media saliences from 2019 to 2022. We also find changes in party–issue linkage for both political parties and specific political leaders, especially regarding the most salient issues of the elections.

Editorial preface

Eva Mayerhöffer — 2024-12-20