[ecrea] Capturing Change in Journalism: shifting Role Perceptions at the Turn of the 20th and 21st Centuries

Capturing Change in Journalism:
Shifting Role Perceptions at the Turn of the 20th and 21st Centuries

We are pleased to announce the launch of an expert network to study and 
compare two eras of fundamental transformation in journalism: the rise 
of the mass press at the end of the 19th century and the digitization of 
the news media at the turn of the 21st century. The project, sponsored 
by a grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research 
(NWO) and British Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC), will be 
jointly run by the journalism departments from the University of 
Groningen, the Netherlands, and University of Sheffield, UK. In total, 
funding has been received to host 4 conferences over the next 2 years. 
Using the concept of role perceptions as a theoretical framework, the 
aim is to bring together scholars to explore the structure of 
transformations in journalism. This research is motivated by an urgent 
need to re-examine and potentially re-conceptualise the role of 
journalism in contemporary societies.

The launch for this research initiative, Conceptualizing Role 
Perceptions and Change in Journalism, is a closed expert workshop that 
will take place on September 13th at the University of Sheffield.  
Speakers attending this event include scholars from the two host 
institutions as well as: Stuart Allan (Bournemouth), David Domingo 
(Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Mark Hampton (Lingnan), Thomas Hanitzsch 
(LMU Munich), Henrik Örnebring (Oxford), and Karin Wahl-Jorgensen 
(Cardiff).  Calls for papers for following upcoming events will also 
soon be released:

"    Redefining Journalism in the Era of the Mass Press, University of 
Sheffield, Winter 2013.
"    Redefining Journalism in the Digital Era, University of Groningen, 
Autumn 2013.
"    Role Perception and Transformation in Journalism, TBD, Winter 2014.

This interdisciplinary project is made more urgent by the need of 
scholars, journalists and the media industry to tackle what is often 
labelled as a growing 'crisis of journalism'. While there is a certain 
level of agreement in scholarship on the importance of journalism for 
democracy and civil engagement, as well as over the existence of a 
contemporary economic and professional crisis, research that strives to 
understand the structure of transformation is scarce. Much like its 
position at the turn of the 20th century, journalism is now forced to 
reconsider the roles it can play in society and to come up with new 
justifications for its position. The contemporary influence of 
digitization, internet and mobile communications is changing the 
informational needs of citizens and the news media must adapt. This 
project argues that crucial to understanding journalism's future role is 
looking to previous moments when its position in society was seemingly 
tenuous. It aims to amplify this research theme by clarifying how 
journalists themselves perceive their role and their relationship with 
the public - historically, in contemporary society, and going forward.

If you wish more information about this project or its future events, 
please contact the authors of the grant: Marcel Broersma (University of 
Groningen, (m.j.broersma /at/ rug.nl)); Chris Peters (University of Groningen, 
(c.j.peters /at/ rug.nl)) and Martin Conboy (University of Sheffield, 
(m.conboy /at/ sheffield.ac.uk)).

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