Jackie Harrison

USER-GENERATED CONTENT AND GATEKEEPING AT THE BBC HUB

This is an observational study of the way the BBC deals with user-generated content (UGC) at its UGC hub. It finds four types of UGC. First a form of unsolicited news story: second a form of solicited content for specific extant news stories; third a form of expeditious content for specific items and features, and fourth a form of audience watchdog content. The study also finds that UGC is routinely moderated by the BBC hub and that traditional gatekeeping barriers have evolved over time to ensure the maintenance of core BBC news values. The study concludes with the view that the extensive use of UGC at the BBC hub encourages the increasing use of “soft journalism”, with as yet unknown consequences for the BBC.

A new public service communication environment? Public service broadcasting values in the reconfiguring media

In a complex and changing communication environment public service broadcasting is being subject to increasing scrutiny. Using a series of exemplars from various information society programmes, this paper explores the social relations of a new communication environment, audience participation and public service values in the reconfiguration of new media forms in the European Union. These developments require a new analytical framework of a new public service communication environment which enables us to identify ‘reconfiguring’ forms of media, constituted from both traditional and new media. Our mapping of new, traditional and reconfiguring forms of media helps us to identify under what circumstances and institutional conditions the public service ethos is being sustained and rethought.

Violence on Television : An Analysis of Amount, Nature, Location and Origin of Violence in British Programmes

Television is often accused of showing too much violence. However, it is rare that anyone stops to ask what this statement means. Violence on Television provides an objective analysis of the violence on television, how much there is and what form it takes. It presents findings from the largest ever sudy of the depiction of violence on television carried out in Britain, funded by the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Independent Television Commission. As well as presenting a quantitative analysis of the amount of violence on television, this research places great emphasis on investigating the character of violent portrayals and the contexts in which they occur. Barrie Gunter and Jackie Harrison present a detailed literature review, which examines previous research from around the world. They then explain the methodology and look at the problems of measuring and quantifying violence on television. They examine the specific attributes of violence, including the form it takes, its physical setting, its motives and consequences, and the nature of the characters involved as either aggressors or victims. They also examine the amount and nature of violent portrayals in different programme genres, such as films and drama, entertainment programming, news and factual programmes, and childrens programmes. The book will be of interest to students and researchers in psychology, communication studies and media studies.

European Citizenship: Can Audio‐Visual Policy Make a Difference?

The European Union (EU) has developed to include the notion of European citizenship. European audio-visual policy aims to give substance to European citizenship through the medium of television on the assumption that it creates an informed and involved public and is a mechanism by which a sense of identity can be fostered. Although this proposition may seem uncontroversial, there are a number of underlying assumptions which deserve closer examination, and which are the subject of this article. We outline the nature of European citizenship before considering the role of television in the European context. Through this process we identify flaws in the assumptions underlying European audio-visual policy, before going on briefly to identify difficulties with the mechanisms through which the Community has sought to put theory into practice.

CRITICAL FOUNDATIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR THE TEACHING OF NEWS JOURNALISM

It sounds like a laudable but vainglorious exercise to want to reconcile the diverse ways of teaching news journalism with each other, to show that they share common grounds, are driven by the same concerns and follow the same directions albeit in their own peculiar ways. Nevertheless, I believe that such reconciliation occurs when we ask what it is we are, as educators, responding to when teaching news journalism. I think we are responding to two things. First, a particular set of foundational questions which, when asked, force us to consider the rationale and purpose of news journalism itself. Second, bringing these considerations to light in the classroom where they can be cast into the setting of students who are actually practising news journalism itself. In this paper I argue that there are three foundational questions to which we, as news journalism educators, should respond and conclude that the classroom is a place where those responses are given dramatic practical expression. It is this process, undertaken in a self-knowing manner, which ultimately unites news journalism education no matter where it is taught.

The European Community's Public Communication Policy 1951–1967

From its inception the European Community had a civil aim: the need to stimulate a European civil consciousness. Viewed as a pre-condition for the popular acceptance of increased European integration this provided the rationale for the Community’s public communication policy 1951-1967. The Community pursued this civil aim through two distinct public communication approaches: popularist 1951-1962 and opinion leader led 1963-1967. We conclude that the way the Community undertook its public communication policy cannot be understood without considering the Community’s civil aim. This leads us to question some of the common views held on the significance of European public communication policy 1951-1967.

The politics of impunity: A study of journalists’ experiential accounts of impunity in Bulgaria, Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Mexico and Pakistan:

Definitions of impunity regarding crimes against journalists have thus far been too narrow. Therefore, we propose a new approach to understanding impunity as also being grounded in journalists’ liv...

The Mediation of the Distinction of ''Religion'' and ''Politics'' by the UK Press on the Occasion of Pope Benedict XVI's State Visit to the UK

Abstract One feature of modern political liberalism is its acceptance of the superiority of secular political reasoning over faith-based reasoning where matters of practical politics are concerned. The distinction religion/politics has become a defining feature of modern political liberalism. We examined how this distinction was mediated by the UK national press through a case study of its reporting of Pope Benedict XVI’s state visit to the UK in 2010. The case study evaluates the following four propositions: (1) “religion” is benign and relevant to “politics”; (2) “religion” is malign and relevant to “politics”; (3) “religion” is assumed to be irrelevant to “politics” but is dismissed positively; and (4) “religion” is regarded as irrelevant to “politics” but is dismissed negatively. We conclude there is a dominant shared assumption in the UK press supporting propositions two and three: that religion is a good thing when it conforms to a pre-existing narrative of political liberalism and a bad thing when it does not and that religion was judged in terms of its “political” values rather than in terms of its “religious” values.

Introduction: Freedom of Expression and the Media

This book is concerned with these issues as they affect the contemporary media, the practice of journalism and why imposed constraints and the extent of the freedoms attached to freedom of expression are managed, and why they may or may not be ultimately regarded as legitimate or not legitimate. Most of the chapters in this book assume a UK regulatory framework; which, influenced by the EU requirements, imposes a diffferentiated burden on the broadcast media by comparison with the press and, to some degree, content on the Internet. The appropriate regulatory burden for each type of medium has been the subject of as much debate as freedom of expression itself. While much of the discussion in the media focusses on the threats posed by other individuals seeking to exercise their rights - to reputation or to privacy - freedom of expression may also be balanced against other interests. Keywords:freedom of expression; journalism; Media; UK regulatory framework

Conclusion: Utilising a Human Rights Framework

This book has considered a variety of issues concerning media practice, media regulation and freedom of expression from different perspectives, and from this four sub-themes emerge. First, the question of whether or not the media should be regulated at all. Second if we are to accept some regulation of the media, the problems inherent in determining where to draw the line. Third, the difficulties involved in regulating a new and changing media. And finally, a discussion of how it is possible to ensure that all voices, who would like to be heard, are being heard. This chapter will conclude with a discussion of how the right to freedom of expression, and other important human rights, apply to all of these themes and rather than inhibiting media freedom, can help achieve goals which might otherwise be difficult to realise. Keywords:freedom of expression; human rights; media; media freedom; regulation