Joy Jenkins

The Buzzfeedication of journalism? How traditional news organizations are talking about a new entrant to the journalistic field will surprise you!

Guided by the framework of field theory, this study analyzes how traditional news organizations perceived, defined, and represented BuzzFeed, a website that rose to online fame through aggregation of funny memes and cat videos but has since started producing investigative and long-form journalism pieces, heralding its formal entry into the journalistic field. Four themes emerged from the analysis. First, traditional news organizations demonstrate ambivalence in defining BuzzFeed. Second, traditional news organizations invoke journalistic doxa in their representations of BuzzFeed, to some extent demonstrating how they recognize BuzzFeed as having entered the journalistic field. This is consistent with the third theme, where traditional news organizations problematize BuzzFeed’s forms of economic and cultural capital. Finally, despite some degrees of uncertainty, traditional news organizations seem to positively welcome BuzzFeed’s entry into the journalistic field, both as a transformative force and as a potential ally for preservation.

Visual Framing of the Syrian Conflict in News and Public Affairs Magazines

Research indicates that international news is most often visually framed in terms of violence and disaster. Conflicts are visually framed in terms of the active participants and aftermath of battle instead of the affected bystanders or efforts to negotiate peace. An alternative frame proposed by Galtung promotes an emphasis on peaceful demonstration and negotiation instead of the usual aspects of conflict. Building on research that observed evidence of this peace framing in photographs related to conflict published in international media, this research examines visual framing of the 2011–2012 Syrian conflict that arose from the Arab Spring movement in northern Africa and the Middle East. The study analyzes 193 photographs published in two news magazines and nine public affairs magazines available to American readers to determine whether visual framing differs among magazines with differing purposes and differing political/editorial orientations. The analysis affirms the dominant visual frame of conflict through images of active fighting and victims but also notes that public affairs magazines published a higher proportion of photographs depicting peace framing. As the magazine environment becomes increasingly oriented to niche publications, the results present implications for the likelihood that a broad audience will experience similar visual framing of international news.

Out of bounds? How Gawker’s outing a married man fits into the boundaries of journalism

Gawker ignited a controversy when it published an article about a married Conde Nast executive who allegedly sought the services of a gay escort. The popular blog eventually removed the article following condemnation from readers and other journalists. Guided by the frameworks of boundary work and field theory, this study analyzed 65 news articles and 2203 online comments and found that journalists and audiences problematized Gawker’s identity as a journalistic organization and evaluated the article based on traditional standards of newsworthiness, audiences asserted their role in journalism’s larger interpretive community, and that the larger interpretive community assessed the article based on the ethics of outing. Investigating the discourse generated by this critical incident is important because it identifies where journalists and readers draw the boundaries of legitimate journalism, specifies the place of ethics in boundary discourse, and informs journalistic practice about the phenomenon of outing in the news.

The power of the cover: Symbolic contests around the Boston bombing suspect’s Rolling Stone cover:

Rolling Stone ignited a debate in July 2013 when it published a cover featuring alleged Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The online version of the cover story drew comments expressing criticism and support of the cover. A qualitative analysis of comments posted within the first week of the cover story shed light on the image’s institutional meaning for Rolling Stone and cultural meaning for readers. Assessing this cover as a critical incident, this study shows how readers, through their comments, participated in the ongoing boundary work in the journalistic field, joining journalism’s interpretive community in defining professional roles, norms, and routines.

Public roles and private negotiations: Considering city magazines’ public service and market functions

Editors at city and regional magazines face the same competing loyalties as other local journalists, including sharing information about their cities while considering the interests of their organizations, readers, and advertisers. This study used in-depth interviews with city and regional magazine editors (N = 11) around the country to explore how they navigate public and private interests affecting their work and the implications of these negotiations for their journalistic identity and the perceived functions of their publications in communities. The results shed light on how the editors negotiate a focus on private-service content, which attracts readers and revenue, and public-service content, which serves the magazines’ journalistic role.

HEALTH JOURNALIST ROLE CONCEPTIONS

Using interview methodology, this research examines the role conceptions of US health journalists. Asking journalists from different types of media to define their roles as they relate to public health, inequalities, responsibility and news values reveals the external demands on journalists as well as internal processes that shape professional identity. This paper considers professional and normative role conceptions. Interviews with experienced health journalists revealed that they do not identify with any one of these roles in particular but operate on a spectrum, navigating competing pressures resulting from individual, organizational, and societal influences. Through the process of analyzing and categorizing health journalists’ goals, responsibilities, and ideals, we explore how topics and tasks specific to covering health relate to the democratic functions of the press. The findings of this study advance knowledge about the sociology of newswork and shed light on the professional identities of health journalists.

Gender trouble in the workplace: applying Judith Butler’s theory of performativity to news organizations

ABSTRACT Judith Butler’s theory of performativity, introduced in her 1990 book Gender Trouble, has significantly shaped individual and collective understandings of gender. This essay examines performativity as a framework for critically assessing gender performances in patriarchal workplace environments, including the institutional rules and norms that shape behaviors and interactions. Specifically, we suggest that performativity offers a valuable lens for critiquing women’s experiences in newsrooms, spaces where expectations for gender can significantly shape professional experiences and success. We provide an overview and evaluation of the development and existing applications of Butler’s performativity theory, including its use in organizational contexts. We also propose methodological and topical approaches through which performativity can be used to study newsrooms and the experiences of female journalists in particular.

Players and Contestation Mechanisms in the Journalism Field: A historical analysis of journalism awards, 1960s to 2000s

Journalism awards have been staples of professional journalism since the beginning of the twentieth century with the introduction of the Pulitzer Prizes. Dozens of awards programs have emerged since then to recognize journalists and news organizations working in print, broadcast, and online news media. This study uses data from the 1969, 1998, and 2008 editions of Awards, Honors & Prizes to consider how major journalism awards programs have advanced alongside shifts in the journalistic field overall. Considering journalism as a professionalized field, the analysis examines how journalism awards confer legitimacy for agents who are recognized while also highlighting the key players in the field, including founders, sponsors, judges, and participants, who vie for legitimacy. The findings address how the emergence and evolution of journalism awards programs mirror changes in the journalism field historically, including the education and socialization of journalists, economic and geographic shifts, and the adoption of new technological tools. Ultimately, the study endeavors to shed light on how journalism awards and the varied players involved with them contribute to determining what constitutes exemplary journalism and shape the autonomy, legitimacy, professionalization, and doxa of the field.

Depictions of Female Protagonists in Digital Games: A Narrative Analysis of 2013 DICE Award-Winning Digital Games

Digital games historically hold a spotty record on gender depictions. The lack of depth in female characters has long been the norm; however, an increasing number of female protagonists are headlining games. This study used narrative theory to examine depictions of four female protagonists in four 2013 Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain Award-Winning Digital Games: The Last of Us, Bioshock Infinite, Tomb Raider, and Beyond: Two Souls. Studying these media depictions provides context for how women’s stories are recorded in society. Stereotype subversions largely occur within familiar game narratives, and the female protagonists were still largely limited and defined by male figures in the games.

Sexism on the Set: Gendered Expectations of TV Broadcasters in a Social Media World

This research examines gender performance expectations of television journalists in the era of social media. A qualitative survey found little to no progress in reducing discourse critical of broadcasters’ appearance in the 20 years since Engstrom and Ferri’s (2000) study, with social media adding another avenue to “correct” rather than challenge gender norms. Nearly all journalist respondents believe viewer criticism has increased with the rise of social media and believe their organizations should provide training and policies addressing this concern. However, 90% of respondents said their organizations provide neither, suggesting news outlets should enhance social media policies.