Camilla Dindler

Negotiating political news: The two phases of off-the-record interaction

This article analyses the interference of political print journalists with the political process through off-the-record interaction with political sources and provides an explanation as to why ambiguity of meaning characterises this off-the-record interaction. The central claim is that the ideal – or ‘myth’ – of mutual distinction between journalism and politics in some situations constrains interactions between journalists and political actors, and in others is overruled by the same actors now attending more to their own organisational interests. The article thus demonstrates a loose coupling between back region behaviour and front region adherence to institutional myths. The empirical data comprise observation studies of journalist and political source interaction and qualitative interviews with political journalists, political press advisors and elected politicians. The article distinguishes between two different phases of news production in off-the-record interaction. In the explorative phase, journalists indirectly influence politics via the exchange of political intelligence with political actors. In the realisation phase, the journalist may orchestrate politics by inviting the political actor to political action on the record.

Two models of ethical alignment through metacommunication in clinical situations

The literature on communication in patient-centred care typically focuses on physicians alignment strategies. The goals of these strategies are diagnostic accuracy, effectiveness via compliance and patient-centredness. Although the success of these strategies can to some extent be measured, the ethical standards by which they are evaluated are not sufficiently clear. This article presents two models of alignment through explicit metacommunication, derived from two different ethical perspectives on patient-centredness. The article first presents the concept of metacommunication and identifies two ethical perspectives that produce normative stands concerning patient-centredness: the logic of care and internal morality. Second, the article presents two models of how metacommunication can contribute to the visibility and accomplishment of these two ethical perspectives in clinical alignment.