Burton St. John

Patch.com: The challenge of connective community journalism in the digital sphere

Patch.com, an online community journalism platform, is focused on the reporting of local news at more than 900 communities across the United States. Scholars have observed that community journalists often display personal engagement in the stories that they report, and, envisioning their community, actively work to facilitate a sense of connection among their readers. This work finds that Patch.com sites, however, exhibit a lack of clear engagement with their wider communities—stories feature an overreliance on official sources, reader (and editor) posts to stories are minimal, and Patchs linking strategies focus on keeping the reader on Patch sites. Patchs approach to local journalism presents questions about online community journalisms ability to visualize, and engage, wider communities of interest through a networked, connective journalism.

Newspapers' Struggles with Civic Engagement: The U.S. Press and the Rejection of Public Journalism as Propagandistic

This article examines how two factors—journalisms professionalized vigilance against co-option and its difficulty differentiating social action communications from propaganda—led to many in the press attacking public journalism as propagandistic. Sociologist Alfred McClung Lees mid-20th century writings provide fresh explanations for how press critics conflated public journalism with propaganda. Finally, this article maintains that newspapers can improve their pertinence in a new media age by better linking citizen voices into news stories.This article examines how two factors—journalisms professionalized vigilance against co-option and its difficulty differentiating social action communications from propaganda—led to many in the press attacking public journalism as propagandistic. Sociologist Alfred McClung Lees mid-20th century writings provide fresh explanations for how press critics conflated public journalism with propaganda. Finally, this article maintains that newspapers can improve their pertinence in a new media age by better linking citizen voices into news stories.

Crisis Management and Ethics: Moving Beyond the Public-Relations-Person-as-Corporate-Conscience Construct

Over the past 40 years, scholars and practitioners of public relations have often cast public relations workers in the role of the public relations-person-as-corporate-conscience (PRPaCC). This work, however, maintains that this construct is so problematic that invoking it is of negligible use in addressing ethical issues that emerge during a crisis. In fact, a complex crisis, such as the Jahi McMath “brain death” case at Children’s Hospital Oakland (CHO, now UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland), demonstrates the need to abandon the PRPaCC construct to better engage affected stakeholders, including “outsiders” to the organization, who often determine whether an organization is facing a crisis. Through an examination of both the concept of the PRPaCC and the McMath crisis, this work makes the case for moving beyond the PRPaCC construct in favor of a more modest role for the public relations person: facilitating widespread ethical deliberation and discussion throughout an organization, potentially helping the organization alleviate concerns that contribute to crises.

CLAIMING JOURNALISTIC TRUTH

The US presss assertions of credibility stem from the post-World War I decade. Disillusioned with its own earlier credulity regarding the Committee on Public Informations (CPI) wartime propaganda, the press gradually professionalized during the 1920s. During those years, it focused on developing fact-oriented work routines that allowed it to claim it was more accurately reporting the “truth.” During that same decade, PR pioneer Edward L. Bernays claimed that propaganda served as a pro-social mechanism, offering new minority viewpoints that the press may overlook. Bernays’ advocacy of propaganda during that decade aggravated news worker concerns about post-war domestic propaganda; the press attacked propaganda as corrosive and his claims as elitist, disingenuous and irresponsible. Not surprisingly, journalisms professionalization movement gained further momentum, asserting a scientific approach that emphasized gathering facts contextualized by experts. However, this same technique for guarding against p...The US presss assertions of credibility stem from the post-World War I decade. Disillusioned with its own earlier credulity regarding the Committee on Public Informations (CPI) wartime propaganda, the press gradually professionalized during the 1920s. During those years, it focused on developing fact-oriented work routines that allowed it to claim it was more accurately reporting the “truth.” During that same decade, PR pioneer Edward L. Bernays claimed that propaganda served as a pro-social mechanism, offering new minority viewpoints that the press may overlook. Bernays’ advocacy of propaganda during that decade aggravated news worker concerns about post-war domestic propaganda; the press attacked propaganda as corrosive and his claims as elitist, disingenuous and irresponsible. Not surprisingly, journalisms professionalization movement gained further momentum, asserting a scientific approach that emphasized gathering facts contextualized by experts. However, this same technique for guarding against propaganda had the unintended effect of news workers turning to PR sources for the data and contacts needed to report stories. Journalistic claims of autonomous authenticity continue to exhibit a dissonance that has roots in these dynamics.

The Sea Is Rising… But Not Onto the Policy Agenda: A Multiple Streams Approach to Understanding Sea Level Rise Policies

There has been little policy effort to address sea level rise in coastal states in the US. It is important to examine, at the state level, how the multitude of different (and changing) actors with different preferences and perspectives contribute to such inertia. This study examines state-level legislative inaction with regards to sea level rise. Using Kingdons multiple streams framework, we draw a picture of the policy landscape in Virginia as one where the problem of sea level rise is perceived as a low priority, with little consensus on achievable policy solutions, and is politically controversial. We find that policy inertia in Virginia is a result of (1) fractious viewpoints regarding sea level rise as a problem, (2) a lack of clear consensus on policy solutions, and (3) conflicting perspectives of the role of the state.

Citizen Journalists' Views on Traditional Notions of Journalism, Story Sourcing, And Relationship Building

This study examines whether citizen journalists adhere to traditional journalistic norms when reporting. A nationwide survey and follow-up interviews with selected US citizen journalists showed they do consider traditional norms such as objectivity, gatekeeping, and balance to be very important. This is contrary to what some previous studies have found. Citizen journalists also indicated that both official and unofficial sources were integral to storytelling. This studys findings point to the need to examine further how citizen journalists incorporate traditional notions of journalism practice into their approaches to gathering and reporting news.

The role of politics and proximity in sea level rise policy salience: a study of Virginia legislators’ perceptions

The acceleration of sea level rise (SLR) has become a threat to the stability of nation-states worldwide and associated with risks to environmental sustainability, economic infrastructure, and public health. However, from both an international and U.S. perspective, there is a lack of research examining legislative decision makers’ perceptions about policies regarding SLR. This study addresses that gap by examining how politics and proximity affects Virginia state legislators’ perceptions of the saliency of SLR. A survey of these legislators reveals their perceptions of credible sources of information, SLR-related risk, and who should take the lead to address SLR. While this study confirms other research about the effects of political party, it finds that proximity to coastal areas also greatly influences the perceived saliency of SLR. The findings from this research project enhance our understanding of the challenges inherent in addressing SLR at the state level. Finally, this study points to implications for agenda setting and suggests areas of further study regarding SLR policy at the state and local government levels.

The Top Executive on Undercover Boss The Embodied Corporate Persona and the Valorization of Self-Government

Reality television has customarily been studied as an arena where individuals perform who they are within episodic and often highly dramatic contexts. This work, however, finds that the program Undercover Boss offers a different approach: The corporate persona, embodied through the “undercover” top executive, interacts with front-line workers and, in the process, (1) elicits from employees their own self-governing observations, (2) focuses on employees who appear to be significant role models (for good or ill), and (3) provides rewards to employees who exhibited positive self-governing or role modeling. With this approach, Undercover Boss offers up the image of a beneficent corporate persona whose vision is consonant with American values and norms. The presence of the corporate persona needs careful consideration, as it can serve to elide systemic dysfunctions that privilege corporations. A critical perspective on self-governing calls for acknowledging such imbalances as a first step toward encouraging individuals and corporations to negotiate a more equitable existence.Reality television has customarily been studied as an arena where individuals perform who they are within episodic and often highly dramatic contexts. This work, however, finds that the program Und...