Journal of Applied Journalism & Media Studies - Online First

Review of: Crisis Communication Strategies: Prepare, Respond and Recover Effectively in Unpredictable and Urgent Situations, Amanda Coleman (2023), 2nd ed.

New York: Kogan Page Inc, 249 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-39860-942-6, e-book, £29.99

The impacts and transformation of data journalism have been widely studied in the Global North but remain understudied in the Global South despite the growth of such practice in regions like Africa and Latin America. This study bridges that gap by exploring how adopting data, software and coding have redefined journalistic values and practices in top-tier units in Latin America. Drawing from the social construction of technology, this mixed-methods research combines insights from fourteen in-depth interviews with journalists from leading data teams and a content analysis of 210 of their pieces. Findings reveal that the primary motivation for adopting data journalism is a profound commitment to democracy in a historically challenging context, evidenced by an emphasis on transparency and collaboration that pushes the boundaries between reporting and activism. While journalists exhibit an alignment in values and motivation, the organizational influence of their media affects how those values manifest in their end products. This research contributes to the data journalism discourse and champions the need to incorporate perspectives from the Global South to enrich and de-westernize academic literature.

This article examines the discourse on the attribution of responsibility for the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination in the Serbian daily press. The proliferation of the MMR debate in the media is concurrent with the gradual decline of the MMR childhood vaccination in post-socialist Serbia and represents a local response to the global MMR controversy. The aim was to discover how the responsibility of the MMR childhood vaccination is communicated by the Serbian daily press. Several discourse approaches were combined with the attribution of responsibility theory. Articles covering the MMR controversy in two major newspapers – the broadsheet Politika and the tabloid Kurir – were analysed from the periods corresponding to two measles outbreaks – 2014–15 and 2017–18. The results show that the media outlets identified the lack of individual responsibility as the major factor in the fall in MMR immunization and the rise of measles epidemics. At the same time, press coverage ignored other sociopolitical causes for this outcome; for example, a lack of public health education and proactive vaccination campaigns highlighting the benefits (but also the slight risks) of vaccination, or the absence of any official provision of compensation in individual cases of proven vaccine side effects.

Over the past few years, there has been a significant change in how news is reported and shared due to technological advancements and the popularity of social media platforms. This shift has enabled citizen journalism, which has strongly influenced media systems and public discourses. The purpose of this study is to discover the main themes, research paradigms and trends regarding citizen journalism in Africa. Data was drawn from Taylor & Francis, Google Scholar, Sage Publication and Emerald Insight databases. The researchers applied a systematic literature review method to the dataset, and after applying the protocol and the analysis model, a corpus of 27 articles was obtained in June 2023, covering a decade from 2013. The findings indicate that ethics in journalism, bureaucracy in journalistic reporting, objectivity in news reporting, professionalism in citizen journalism and social media are the main themes in citizen journalism discussed in the selected articles over the research period. The predominant research paradigm of the reviewed articles is qualitative. The review exposes various unexplored areas of citizen journalism in Africa and recommends further studies in the field.

In its effort to ensure that media contents are not slanted to misinform the public, the Nigerian Press Council (NPC) leaves a window for members of the public to lodge complaints about perceived inaccuracies and malicious publications with the Council for proper investigation and action. Notwithstanding this window, which also offers the public an opportunity to entrench responsible journalism, it appears that many Nigerian citizens do not take advantage of the directive. This study investigated Port Harcourt residents’ response to NPC’s directive against inaccurate and malicious news reports. Among other objectives, the study investigated Port Harcourt residents’ response to the directive. The critical political-economy theory provided theoretical cornerstone to the study. Using the survey research design, a sample size of 384 respondents was drawn from a population of 205,507. Findings of the study showed that many residents of Port Harcourt had observed inaccurate and malicious news reports but failed to report to the NPC due to fear of being victimized. The study recommended, among other measures, that NPC should assure Nigerian citizens that complaints arising from perceived inaccurate news publications would be treated as confidential.

This article discusses how legacy media companies are responding to the real or imagined challenge of reaching young people in the age of digitalization, by investigating two different strategies for how to make use of the so-called Generation Z’s preference for sensory and visual journalism. Through expert interviews, we present how the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK P3 and the biggest newspaper in Norway, VG, approach the challenge of catching young people’s attention. We identify two strategies for how legacy media companies work with visual expressions and designing their digital content when trying to reach a wide, fragmented young target group on digital platforms. VG is a platform-oriented storyteller where design is connected to the direction and mode of storytelling and tailored to fit certain platforms. Their area of focus is to be where their target groups are and to meet the visual expectations of these audiences by taking cues from what is trending on different platforms. NRK P3 takes the approach of a traditional brander that works in both visionary and traditional ways to build a strong, trustworthy and visible brand. We conclude by pointing out possible problems with both approaches.

Democracy is a complex political model. It is constituted through criteria such as the existence of solid institutions, the development of transparent electoral processes, dissemination of political culture, free citizen expression, among others. For this reason, the existence of a wide spectrum of countries with full, deficient, hybrid or authoritarian democratic qualities is plausible. Such is the case of Latin America, a region in which several countries have fallen in the last two groups. For this reason, this article will offer an overview of the situation in three Latin American countries (Colombia, Peru and Venezuela), considering the role of independent journalism, the situation they are going through and their strategies in deficit democracy, hybrid regime and dictatorial situation. For this purpose, system thinking will be used as a way of representing the role with audiences, the plurality of approaches and the credibility of the journalistic function.

Drawing on the organizational culture theory, this article examines managerial decision-making at Botswana’s three press newsrooms, Botswana Daily News, Gazette and Mmegi newspapers, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Data collected through in-depth interviews with the journalists in Botswana identified three significant decisions made by management at the newsrooms: increasing the adoption and use of media technology, altering news production work processes and restructuring press newsrooms. WhatsApp was introduced as one of the leading social media platforms for distributing digital copies of newspapers. The findings demonstrated that lockdowns and the need to avoid physical contact established to reduce virus spread incited these decisions. Our data analysis underscored that not only has the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted the operating environments of newsrooms, but it has also pressured media managers to introduce innovative, progressive strategies to adapt to the new normal. Therefore, a public health crisis can influence organizational culture change in media organizations.

Generally speaking, public libraries and local media are quite different, but at the same time, they share similarities when it comes to promoting local democratic processes. So, what happens when they collaborate with a common goal? What are their actual similarities and differences? Can they collaborate in order to strengthen each other? How does this collaboration relate to the scientific discussion about public space and place, participatory journalism and civic engagement? These are some of the questions explored in this article. Our research draws empirically on semi-structured interviews with Swedish journalists and librarians in an unusual project with the aim to explore how new forms of collaboration between libraries and local newspapers could strengthen the information and media literacy leading up to the general elections in September 2022. The collaboration resulted in an increased awareness about the importance of place, as local media companies discovered how important place is for connecting with their readers. Furthermore, we draw the conclusion that both local media companies and public libraries could be more active when creating an arena for democratic discussions since there is great potential for more collaboration in the future. Even though they face different conditions, Swedish media could continue to explore this particular road to increased relevance in order to enhance civic engagement.

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a grave violation of human dignity that significantly impacts millions of individuals worldwide, with Sub-Saharan Africa facing severe challenges. This article examined the effectiveness of Sengerema community radio in addressing GBV within Tanzania. The research specifically investigates the level of community engagement in radio-based dialogues regarding GBV. Employing a mixed-methods approach and descriptive research design, data was gathered from a sample of 204 community members surveyed across five wards of the Sengerema District. Additionally, interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with radio programme producers and editors. The findings reveal that only 40 per cent of community members actively participate in radio programmes focused on GBV, with men displaying higher levels of engagement compared to women. While the radio has contributed to positive shifts in attitudes towards GBV, its capacity to expose and effectively address this issue through programming remains limited. The study identifies several challenges faced by the radio station in its endeavours to tackle GBV, including financial constraints, inadequate support from politicians and local government leaders, deeply entrenched cultural practices, and unfavourable programme scheduling. To enhance the radio’s effectiveness in addressing GBV, the study recommends increasing the number of programmes dedicated to this issue, involving local government leaders in broadcasting plans and scheduling programmes at times when they are accessible to a larger portion of the community.