[ecrea] Journal of Applied Journalism & Media Studies 7.2 published

Intellect is pleased to announce that the /Journal of Applied Journalism 
& Media Studies 
<https://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-Journal,id=220/view,page=0/>/ 
7.2 is now available! For more information about this issue including 
how to purchase and subscribe, click here >> https://bit.ly/2vH0j8Z 
<https://bit.ly/2vH0j8Z>
_
_*_Press councils as a traditional instrument of media self-regulation: 
The perceptions of European journalists_*

Authors: Marcel Mauri i de los Ríos, Ruth Rodríguez-Martínez and Mònica 
Figueras Maz And Maddalena Fedele
Page Start: 221

Press councils are among the traditional self-regulatory instruments 
present in most European countries and, as a part of a wider network of 
accountability systems, need to be analysed and evaluated. This article 
presents part of the results of a cross-national European project 
studying journalism, ethics and regulating systems, and focuses on the 
opinion of journalists from twelve European and two Arab Mediterranean 
countries regarding the perceived impact of press councils as 
instruments of self-regulation, compared with other traditional 
mechanisms. The study was conducted with a quantitative approach: an 
online questionnaire was administered to 1762 journalists, and data were 
analysed by using the SPSS software (significance set at <0.05). The 
sample was selected based on several criteria to achieve representative 
national sub-samples. The journalists’ answers about the perceived 
impact of different regulatory and self-regulatory instruments are 
analysed. Press councils are seen as having a mid-range perceived impact 
when compared with the other instruments. Journalists from the countries 
where press councils have been in place for a long time perceive the 
impact of these instruments to be higher, with the exception of the 
United Kingdom, a country that was a pioneer in the consolidation of 
press councils. Middle-aged, male and lower-income journalists attribute 
the lowest impact to press councils.

_*Intermedia agenda-setting effect in corporate news: Examining the 
influence of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal on local 
newspapers*_

Authors: Xiaoqun Zhang
Page Start: 245

This study tested the first-level and second-level intermedia 
agenda-setting effect in corporate news. Significant correlations were 
found between the numbers of articles of nine food companies in the two 
US elite newspapers and many local newspapers. Significant correlations 
were also found between the number of articles containing seven 
attributes of a focal company, between the number of articles with four 
tonalities about it, and between the number of articles with four 
tonalities about its attributes. No strong evidence for the causal 
relationships was found. The significant correlations suggested that 
elite newspapers can be used as a proxy of local newspapers to explore 
the relationship between media coverage and corporate reputation. The 
test was based on a content analysis of 2817 news articles from The New 
York Times, Wall Street Journal and many US local newspapers.

_*Results of framing in music journalism: Benefits and burdens of being 
designated heir to a cultural icon*_

Authors: Jordan M. McClain
Page Start: 265

This article aims to expand media framing research beyond traditional 
content analyses of political coverage and examines the consequences of 
framing found in music journalism, since entertainment coverage receives 
a significant share of media and audience attention. To understand the 
results of such framing, nineteen interviews were conducted with content 
producers – a specific group of expert writers, editors and publishers 
who offered essential perspectives about the consequences of a 
particular case – focusing on the example of coverage frequently 
characterizing the band Phish (1983–present) vis-à-vis the Grateful Dead 
(1965–1995). Findings indicate that framing can be a problem for the 
framed subject, but can also lead to certain benefits.

*_They never made it to the end: Reader uses of a multimedia narrative_*

Authors: Kate Kartveit
Page Start: 289

How does an audience respond to the structure, visual design and 
narrative flow of a multimedia narrative? Are readers following the 
course that an author-driven linear reading path suggests? This study 
investigates these questions through an eye-tracking experiment. In 
research within news websites that employ eye-tracking experiments the 
case in this study represents a new phenomenon for investigation, the 
longform multimedia feature. It is also especially interesting to 
explore how the readers interact with this type of narrative because the 
narrative is constructed as an author-driven embedded multimedia story 
and thus resemble what Dowling and Vogan describe as the ‘urtext’ of the 
multimedia longform genre. The findings of this study indicate that 
readers navigate according to the authordriven narrative flow within a 
chapter/part. But the readers in this study missed or misunderstood the 
navigational options between story parts. The ongoing digitalization in 
media outlets and the experimentation and developing of journalistic 
products might benefit from research addressing multi-methodological 
approaches.

_*When societies crash: A critical analysis of news media’s social role 
in the aftermath of national disasters*_

Authors: Stijn Joye
Page Start: 311

Apart from their primary role as news providers in disaster situations, 
news media can also assume a broader social role. Drawing on a 
critically informed qualitative content analysis of the Belgian news 
reporting on a national disaster, the article reveals a twofold 
articulation of this social role. The first consisted in newspapers 
highlighting the emotional dimension with potential societal 
implications of raising compassion and identification. Second, we found 
a strong articulation of a discourse of (national) unity and community, 
aimed at restoring the disrupted social order in the disaster’s 
aftermath. Both aspects were discursively established by a dominant 
presence of emotional testimonies, strategies of personalization and by 
the use of inclusive language permeated with references to nation or 
community. The study highlights the important social role of journalism 
in disaster situations and events involving human suffering.

_*The Moroccan digital media’s representation of the Moroccan woman: A 
multimodal analysis to Hespress discourse*_

Authors: Rachid Acim
Page Start: 329

Of the many influences on how Moroccan people perceive the Moroccan 
woman, Moroccan digital media is presumably the most powerful tool used 
throughout; in fact, Moroccan digital media direct the public opinion, 
frame specific images, and perpetuate both realistic and unrealistic 
speculations about the Moroccan woman, whose voice is carefully selected 
and whose presence goes sometimes reported and at other times 
unreported. This article is a deep reflection of the overall images 
chosen to manufacture consensus about the Moroccan woman in the Moroccan 
digital media; more specifically, emphasis is going to be laid on how 
Hespress, as an emerging Moroccan news outlet, advertises different 
conceptions and representations about the Moroccan woman at home and 
overseas. The article is predicated on the notion of framing news 
stories, which propel journalists to decide on what is newsworthy and 
what is not. The researcher’s pivotal argument is that a process of 
selection is obviously developed by Hespress in its dealing with and 
detailing on the question of the Moroccan woman. Put otherwise, a large 
space is arguably accorded to certain women who have outperformed their 
peers in many vital sectors of life and led successful stories 
nationwide. As for those women, whose stories do not correlate with the 
policy and the editorial line of Hespress, they are devoiced and still 
marginalized. To address this topic more effectively, the researcher 
suggests utilizing a multimodal analysis to the discourse of Hespress 
about the Moroccan woman. A preliminary examination of the literature 
documenting the media’s discourse about her will be considered. Then, an 
elaboration of the methodology adopted will be explored. Finally, some 
pedagogical recommendations will be advanced in this article to enable 
students promote critical reading and hone not only their analytical but 
also their interpretative skills as concerns Hespress discourse on the 
Moroccan woman.

*_Journalists’ and news editors’ views on children as news subjects in 
Albanian media: Exploring issues of newsworthiness and self-censorship
_*
Authors: Emiljano Kaziaj
Page Start: 351

This article explores the views of journalists and news editors on 
children in Albania, through a series of interviews with noted media 
professionals. This study finds that stories about children are not 
considered as newsworthy and children are mostly seen as unreliable 
stand-alone sources by journalists and news editors. As a mechanism to 
mitigate the risks of being refused by their editors, journalists 
increase the newsworthiness of children-focused news items by directing 
the story towards adults (mostly politicians) and by quoting them. 
Considering children’s perspectives in news coverage is essential, as it 
contributes to a social order that acknowledges children’s agency.

_*God and sport: Orientalism in Sports Illustrated coverage of religion*_
Authors: Patrick Ferrucci And Gregory P. Perreault
Page Start: 371

This study utilizes textual analysis to analyse how the popular and 
influential sports magazine Sports Illustrated covered religion over the 
period from 1 January 1994, to 1 September 2014. The data showed that 
the magazine wrote about religion in three primary ways: as an exotic 
characteristic that makes an athlete somehow odd, as incongruous since 
sports themselves display similar characteristics to religion, and as a 
front to hide some insidious real motive. These results are analysed 
through the lens of Edward Said’s theory of orientalism, which argues 
that the press tends to cover dominant groups as ‘normal’ and ‘others’ 
the remaining groups, which has been shown, historically, to have 
damaging impact. This study concludes with a discussion concerning how 
SI’s coverage of religion could impact society.

*_Cracking the coding ceiling: Looking at gender construction in data 
journalism from a field theory perspective_*

Authors:  Sara de Vuyst
Page Start: 387

This article examines the construction of gender in data journalism from 
a field theory perspective. It focuses on the internal logic of data 
journalism as well as on its relationship with the computer field. Our 
research question explores how male and female data journalists 
accumulate capital and build careers in data journalism. We conducted 26 
qualitative interviews with a cross-national sample of journalists who 
had varying levels of interest and experience in data journalism. The 
findings indicate that female journalists see both opportunities and 
challenges in data journalism. On the one hand, women entered the field 
of data journalism in an attempt to avoid male-dominated networks, 
harassment and gender segregation, which limits their opportunities for 
recruitment and career advancement in traditional journalism. On the 
other hand, data journalistic skills were discursively gendered. Digital 
capital, which could be exchanged for greater amounts of symbolic 
capital, was typically associated with masculinity.

*_Teaching vicarious trauma in the journalism classroom: An examination 
of educational provision in UK universities_*
*_
_*Authors: Doug Specht And Julia Tsilman
Page Start: 407

The connections between vicarious trauma and the viewing of violent 
User-Generated Content (UGC) are becoming an increasingly important 
topic in journalism. As more journalist work begins to rely, or at least 
incorporate UGC, the risks to journalists have been shown to increase. 
This can lead to short, unpleasant careers, and in some cases, serious, 
long-lasting mental health risks. Yet while this discussion is beginning 
to unfold in the newsroom, universities are lagging behind in their 
understanding of the topic. This article, through content analysis of 
undergraduate course materials, and through interviews with lecturers 
and journalists, found that almost no course in the United Kingdom is 
teaching the risks of vicarious trauma or UGC. It was found that while 
some educators wish to make more of the topic, a number of institutional 
factors, such as lack of training and time, worries over duty of care, 
and available resources make this a difficult, if not impossible task. 
The article recommends a new emphasis is placed on vicarious trauma, 
coupled with training and interdepartmental support.

_*Journalism meets games: Newsgames as a new digital genre. Theory, 
boundaries, utilization*_
*_
_*Authors: Klaus Meier
Page Start: 429

Newsgames are a young genre of digital journalism. This article analyses 
the genre on the basis of cases from various countries, puts it into 
context, critically examines the theoretical foundation and presents a 
study of utilization. A scientific definition takes the perspective of 
‘boundary work’: It distinguishes Newsgames from other digital games 
(such as interestdriven, entertaining or educating games) and draws a 
boundary between Newsgames and other digital journalistic genres (such 
as multimedia reports, web documentaries or types of data journalism). 
The drawing of Newsgames boundaries highlights the general problems of 
drawing boundaries of journalism in digital media. To date, no study on 
the utilization of Newsgames exists. Our explorative and qualitative 
interviews and observations are situated within the framework of uses 
and gratifications research. Main categories are the level of awareness, 
information performance and success factors of Newsgames. The results 
show that the new genre possesses a wide range of possibilities that 
cannot be uniformly assessed. Ethical doubts as to whether serious 
topics should be played in games are offset against the benefit of 
creating interest and empathy. Users want to experience success when 
playing – an aspect that emphasizes the competitive character and 
distinguishes Newsgames from other genres.

*_The journalism of Gannett Blog: Revealing communities of practice and 
social construction through collective dynamics_*
*_
_*Authors: William Schulte
Page Start: 445

Gannett Company was one of the largest media operations in the United 
States but struggled in recent years with loss of revenue and 
circulation. Gannett Blog reported news related to the company from 2007 
to 2014. The blog was independent and covered corporate news, job loss 
and issues of ethics. This used Gannett Blog to study how individuals 
reacted to their changing workplace. As information was gathered and 
presented from multiple users, a crowdsourcing dynamic gave context to 
Gannett’s landscape. Theories of communities of practice and social 
construction underpin this study. This study suggests that the rhetoric 
on Gannett Blog evolved into more than a distribution channel for 
information. It became a social space where original information evolved 
and helped negotiate social meaning for the users. Overall, this study 
found that communities of professionals could be influential in growing 
a journalistic product as per the tenets of the communities of influence 
model. This study also identified themes consistent with news workers 
using Gannett Blog for community building, expanding knowledge and 
maintaining professionalism during industry change.
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