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JOS21 Changing Practices, ChangingMeanings
PP 446 The Dispositif of Journalism – A Theoretical and Methodological Approach to the Changing Practices and Meanings of News Production
S. Kirchhoff1
1 Universität Salzburg, Communication Studies, Salzburg, Austria
In recent years we have witnessed the disruption of many of our notions about journalism. Fast-paced technological innovations, the decline of the media’s
established business model and far-reaching changes in audience behavior and consumer-producer relations have sparked debates which encompass
the functions of professional and nonprofessional journalism in society, the responsibilities of its actors, the journalistic practices and formats, the use (and
usability) of new digital technologies, the financial funding, embedding in institutions and many more. All these issues appear as facets in the discourse
about the meaning of the term‘journalism’in the 21st century. However, meaning is not only discursively constructed, but also in the everyday practices and
routines of journalistic production and their structural context. Following the works of Michel Foucault and others, it is therefore argued that the assumption
of a “dispositif of journalism” provides both a theoretical perspective and a methodological approach for the systematic description of the meanings that
we attribute to journalism as we try to make sense of its’ past, present and future. For one, the dispositif’s “major function at a given historical moment
[is] that of responding to an urgent need”(Foucault 1980: 195) – in this case the transformation of how information and meaning are circulated. Because
technological innovations change the structure of communication, the journalism dispositif is tasked with giving answers to questions about journalism’s
generally accepted practices, core values and role in society. In addition, the hegemonic understanding of‘what journalism is all about’– or: the production
of what is generally considered as ‘true’knowledge with regards to journalism – is produced within a framework of power relations and must be analyzed
from this perspective, raising questions about who advocates which concept of journalism in a given socio-cultural context. Empirically, the dispositif can
be constructed as the relations between the elements of “a thoroughly heterogeneous ensemble consisting of discourses, institutions, architectural forms,
regulatory decisions, laws, administrative measures, scientific statements, philosophical, moral and philanthropic propositions ….” (Foucault 1980: 194),
leading to an analytical framework which identifies three interrelated levels of a dispositif of journalism: a) The discursive construction of the meaning(s)
of ‘journalism’, which can be described by content analysis of specialized discourse as it appears in scientific journals, papers from journalism institutions
and advocacy groups as well as the media themselves. b)The non-discursive practices, which can be accessed through the ethnography- or interview-based
description of the process of journalistic production (in which journalists“do journalism”by applying their professional self-perception, rules and routines).
c) Objectifications/physical manifestations of the journalistic process like e.g. modes of storytelling in texts and the spatial organization of the newsroom,
which can be interpreted with regards to what ideas about journalism are being transported. The presentation's focus will be on the theoretical outline
and methodology of an ongoing research project, discussing the benefits of the notion of dispositif for an analysis of contemporary ideas about journalism,
outlining the empirical design and sample of the national case study and possibly including preliminary results.
PP 447 New Skills for Contemporary Journalists in the Era of Crisis. The Case of Greece
S. Iordanidou1,2, L. Tsene1,2 , M. Kyritsis3
1 Open University Of Cyprus, Communication & New Journalism, Nicosia, Cyprus
2 Advanced Media Institute, Nicosia, Cyprus
3 UAE Higher Colleges of Technology, DUBAI, United Arab Emirates
Since 2008 the financial crisis has affected every aspect of Greek economy and production units. Media were also influenced and since then we witnessed
the shut downs of several newspapers, radio stations and magazines, personnel cut offs and decrease of advertising via traditional media channels. During
this turbulent times, many journalists lost their jobs and had to reinvent their profession. Within this context, our paper discuss the new skills a journalist
should develop today in order to stay competitive and able to create and curate his/her own brand in a more entrepreneurial context. In addition we attempt
to map the landscape of journalism studies in Greece and the related perceptions of journalists towards the quality and the relevance of the offered educa‑
tional programs.The key research questions addressed in the paper are: •how did Greek journalists experience crisis? •what are the skills a journalist should
acquire today? •how do journalists evaluate the quality of the offered educational programs (both in universities and lifelong programs)? •are we standing
before a paradigm shift in the field of journalism, both in the academic and the practical level? This paper is part of a wider research project. At the first
stage, in depth interviews with open questions to twenty greek journalists were employed. A grounded theory approach to the content of their interview
allowed for a set of typologies to emerge (Iordanidou & Tsene 2014, Iordanidou, Loukopoulou & Samaras 2015). In this second stage of the research, these
typologies have been integrated to a questionnaire with closed-ended questions in order to conduct quantitative analysis. In our paper, we will present
the findings of the quantitative research as well as an attempt to interpret the findings in correlation with the international trends on journalism. The data
will be analysed using a variety of methods, including (a) Kruskal-Wallis in order to explore whether there are any significant differences in answers be‑
tween participants in different types of categories, such as different job position and across media outlets (b) Spearman’s Rho in order to look for symmet‑
rical relationships between participants’ answers (c) Principal Component Analysis (PCA) in order to look for relationships between answers that indicate
non-observable 'latent” variables that can provide more insight regarding general perceptions on required skills during the crisis. Keywords: journalism,
digital skills, entrepreneurial journalism, crisis References: Anderson, C., Bell, E., Shirky, C. (2012). Post Industrial Journalism: Adapting to the Present. Tow
Center for Digital Journalism. Gillmor, Dan. (2010). Mediactive Sebastopol: Dan Gillmor. Iordanidou, S., Tsene, L. (2014). The Role of Distance Learning in
Journalism: Preliminary Findings from Journalist's Perspectives. Media Studies, Issue 9/2014, pages: 43–60. Knight Foundation (2007) Investing in the Fu‑
ture of News: Training for Midcareer Journalists, http:// (02.01.2014). Lynch, D. (2015).
Above and Beyond. Looking at the Future of Journalism Education. Knight Foundation.