Colin Porlezza

Educational strategies in data journalism: A comparative study of six European countries

The article explores training programs in higher education with regard to data journalism from a multi-national perspective. By carrying out a comparative analysis in six European countries (Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, and the United Kingdom), it covers different models of media systems and journalistic cultures envisaged by Hallin and Mancini. Based on a desk review and in-depth interviews with instructors of data journalism in each country, the article identifies different approaches to the way data journalism is taught. In Europe, such programs are offered by four types of organizations: academic, vocational, professional, and civic. The role played by those organizations can be explained as a result of the peculiarities of national media systems. But there are also commonalities, for example, non-academic institutions (such as the European Journalism Center or the Center for Investigative Journalism) and major international news outlets (such as The Guardian and The New York Times) seem to take over a leading role in all of the analyzed countries. Generally speaking, data journalism education appears to be a very young discipline that frequently neglects fundamental journalistic topics such as ethical issues, transparency, accountability, and responsiveness although they are crucial in a journalistic field as sophisticated tools to reveal hidden aspects of reality.

How effective is media self-regulation? Results from a comparative survey of European journalists

This article presents key results of a comparative journalists’ survey on media accountability, for which 1762 journalists in 14 countries had been interrogated online. The article explores how European journalists perceive the impact of old versus new media accountability instruments on professional journalistic standards – established instruments like press councils, ethics codes, ombudsmen and media criticism, but also more recent online instruments like newsroom blogs and criticism via social media. Thus, the study also adds empirical data to the current debate about the future of media self-regulation in Europe, ignited by the Leveson Inquiry in the United Kingdom as well as the European Commission’s High-Level Group on Media Freedom and Pluralism.

Accountability and Transparency of Entrepreneurial Journalism

Crowdfunding is a new business model in which journalists rely—and depend—on (micro-) payments by a large number of supporters to finance their reporting. In this form of entrepreneurial journalism the roles of publisher, fundraiser and journalist often overlap. This raises questions about conflicts of interest, accountability and transparency. The article presents the results of selected case studies in four different European countries—Germany (Krautreporter), Italy (Occhidellaguerra), the United Kingdom (Contributoria) and the Netherlands (De Correspondent)—as well as one US example (Kickstarter). The study used a two-step methodological approach: first a content analysis of the websites and the Twitter accounts with regard to practices of media accountability, transparency and user participation was undertaken. The aim was to investigate how far ethical challenges in crowdfunded entrepreneurial journalism are accounted for. Second, we present findings from semi-structured interviews with journalists from each crowdfunding. The study provides evidence about the ethical issues in this area, particularly in relation to production transparency and responsiveness. The study also shows that in some cases of crowdfunding (platforms), accountability is outsourced and implemented only through the audience participation.

NEWS ACCURACY IN SWITZERLAND AND ITALY

Nearly 80 years of accuracy research in the United States has documented that the press frequently errs, but empirical study about news accuracy elsewhere in the world is absent. This article presents an accuracy audit of Swiss and Italian daily regional newspapers. Replicating US research, the study offers a trans-Atlantic perspective of news accuracy. To compare newspaper accuracy in Switzerland and Italy to longitudinal accuracy research in the United States, the study followed closely the methodology pioneered by Charnley (1936) and adapted by Maier (2005). News sources found factual inaccuracy in 60 percent of Swiss newspaper stories they reviewed, compared to 48 percent of US and 52 percent of Italian newspapers examined. The results show that newspaper inaccuracy—and its corrosive effect on media credibility—transcends national borders and journalism cultures. Nowadays, digitization offers new ways of implementing correction policies. Media organizations need, however, to adapt to these changes and to adapt their structures in particular to new forms of participative and interactive two-way communication.

Training or Improvisation?: Citizen journalists and their educational backgrounds—a comparative view

While citizen journalists hope to bring new impulses to mass media performance, it is often asked whether they are adequately trained for the production of “newsworthy” stories. This paper focuses on educational aspects of citizen journalism, which, to date, have largely been disregarded by empirical research. A comparative analytical design illustrates the different ways in which citizen journalists acquire and develop the skills that are necessary to undertake journalistic activities in the different journalism cultures throughout Europe. The authors carried out a multi-national analysis in six European countries (United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and Poland). In each country, an extensive desk study helped to map the field of citizen journalism and highlight the most relevant examples. Semi-structured interviews with 54 practitioners in the field (representing different types of citizen journalism) made it possible to identify the alternative strategies that citizen journalists employ to prepare themselves for news production initiatives. The research demonstrates that the educational backgrounds of citizen journalists display differences as well as similarities—both within and across journalism cultures. While some of the actors in the field have a clear idea of what constitutes good journalism (and sometimes even aspire to work in a mainstream media organization), others seem to care little about journalistic standards and have only a vague idea about the identity of the profession. On the basis of these insights, the paper develops a typology of citizen journalists that takes into account both their education and their journalistic scope.

5 Integration durch Partizipation? Funktionen (und Fehlleistungen) des digitalen Bürgerjournalismus

Partizipation ist in der aktuellen Medienproduktion zu einer Art Zauberwort geworden, an das allerlei Hoffnungen geknupft sind. Vor allem dem digitalen Burgerjournalismus werden immer wieder vielfaltige Potenziale zugeschrieben. Ob und inwiefern Burgerjournalisten im Web die Integrationsfunktion der Medien aufrechterhalten oder sogar starken konnen, ist bislang allerdings weitgehend ungeklart. Diese Frage erortert der Beitrag anhand eines zweistufigen empirischen Forschungsdesigns aus komparativer Perspektive. Die Untersuchung zeigt, dass der digitale Burgerjournalismus in Europa kaum als einheitliches Feld mit klar definierbaren Grenzen zu beschreiben ist. Motive und Zielsetzungen der Macher variieren in erheblichem Mase – sowohl im internationalen Vergleich als auch innerhalb der einzelnen Untersuchungslander. Wahrend einige Akteure ein vorwiegend technisches Interesse am partizipativen Publizieren haben, stehen bei anderen die Freude am Schreiben, die Vermittlung von Expertenwissen oder ein (wie auch immer ausgerichtetes) politisches Sendungsbewusstsein im Vordergrund. Anzeichen fur eine integrierende Wirkung des digitalen Burgerjournalismus lassen sich vor allem im Bereich der hyperlokalen Onlinemedien finden, deren Verantwortliche haufig das Ziel der Gemeinschaftsbildung als ubergeordnetes Leitmotiv fur ihre journalistische Tatigkeit ausgeben. Gleichzeitig werden jedoch auch Limitationen dieser Web-Formate deutlich, die schlussendlich nur ein ambivalentes Fazit mit Blick auf ihre gesellschaftliche Funktion zulassen.

Book review: Dan Kennedy The Return of the MogulsKennedyDanThe Return of the MogulsLebanon, NH: ForeEdge, 2018. 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-61168-594-7

own profits, resulting in the re-establishment of the historical venality of journalism – the ‘ass-kissing coterie of moronic editors’ in the business section of the NYT (p. 243) and ‘cowardly editing’ (p. 246). Hersh has nevertheless avoided writing a reformist tract calling for the reconstitution of journalism. This is a plain, honest memoir of one of the most significant reporters of our age, accepting that ‘investigative reporters wear out their welcome ... Editors get tired of difficult stories and difficult reporters’ (p. 327). There are no regrets or major recriminations: ‘It’s a wonderful business, this profession of mine. I’ve spent most of my career writing stories that challenge the official narrative, and have been rewarded mightily and suffered only slightly for it’ (p. 333). The underlying assertion of the book is that the core activity of journalism is reporting – finding out stuff, identifying its meaning and making it accessible to the public – based on locating the right sources and persistence in asking why and how. For the converted, this memoir is both exhilarating and depressing with its accounts of battles honourably fought and more won than might be expected, but equally as a reminder of how far journalism has travelled in perhaps less than 40 years to be off-handedly dismissed – again – as the ‘enemy of the people’. For others, it may prove inspirational. However, for those for whom journalism equates to producing clickbait, it is likely to be mystifying – an account of a past which ‘is a foreign country: they do things differently there’. It is tempting to resort to the tired cliché of recommending that all journalists, wouldbe journalists and journalism students should read this book for its insights into how an individual journalist navigated (and, to extend the trope, the navigational skills and aids he relied on) the treacherous waters which lie between government and the news media. It is instructive that dealing with Henry Kissinger, the CIA and so on was less difficult than investigating corporate (Gulf and Western) and criminal (the mob) America of which the mainstream news media seemed to be even more wary. That is perhaps unsurprising given what we know about the corporatisation of the news media and the penchant of some for criminality. To a world in which one of the major global news organisations appears to have expended more resources on telephone hacking than on investigative reporting, Hersh must be an anachronism.

Managing Innovation: The Networked Form of University in the XXI Century

In the last decades, universities have deeply changed their role and mission in order to become entrepreneurial institutions able to compete in a global setting. Contemporary processes of globalization, digitization, and networking, have induced new forms of organization, production, and distribution of knowledge. The presence of research-oriented universities can assist geographically proximate firms directly through the provision of educated workers and indirectly by way of myriad externalities. Starting from different approaches, namely the Triple Helix Model and its extensions and the systems theory, the authors shed light on the new networked form of universities. Nowadays, competitiveness relies on a vast and complex entity constituted by many players. The university can develop through an externally-driven growth in which networks of (local and international) relationships enable to gain advantages and reputation. This becomes particularly evident in the area of media and communications: the news industry and its ecosystem are being disrupted due to dramatic social and technological changes. Universities active in media and journalism education can play a central role not only when it comes to knowledge transfer, bringing together experts from academia and the industry. At the same time, universities try also to create a sustainable future for journalism by offering funding schemes and by incubating new media initiatives for instance in areas such as entrepreneurial journalism. Thus, pursuing the third mission, universities take more and more the role of an industry, transferring both knowledge and technology to infuse existing (media) firms with new life and helping to generate new start-ups.