Debate, Edition 01/2020

»… and always just think of the reader«? ›Journalism Research‹, visibility and language

by Martina Thiele / In his day, Focus Chief Editor Helmut Markwort demanded not only »facts, facts, facts,« but also a focus on the »readers.« That was in the 1990s. Today, in 2020, there is disagreement about whether Journalism Research, an »academic journal under the principle of independent publishing,« should, indeed must, use gender-sensitive formulations – whether we three male and two female publishers should in future encourage authors to write in a gender-sensitive way. So far, the style sheet has kept quiet on this. Other aspects, such as the form of citation and the length and form of potential papers, are prescribed, but there is no mention of gender-sensitive, non-discriminatory language. continue to article

Debate, Edition 01/2020

Trial phase The discussion about gendering is fierce – instead of strict specifications, we need the courage to allow diversity

by Tanjev Schultz / Gender-sensitive language remains a political issue. For some it is essential, for others just a temporary fad. In academic, and increasingly also journalistic, contexts, attention is paid to whether male and female forms are used. The asterisk is also becoming ever more widespread as a way to overcome binary gender classification. Despite the growing popularity of such forms, language use is inconsistent across different social spheres and ideological environments. In some cases, there is strong resistance to any form of gendering. Many editorial offices continue to use the generic masculine form as standard. continue to article

Edition 01/2020, Essay

How the presentation of Greta Thunberg is defusing the generational conflict An analysis of latent frames in the media discourse

by Friederike Herrmann and Ilka Quindeau / The climate protests are youth protests. Yet unlike earlier protests, they are not perceived or exercised as a generational conflict, even though the responsibility of the older generation is clear to see. In this constellation, Great Thunberg has a key socio-psychological function as a media figure: The icon of the climate movement acts as a figurehead, simultaneously staging and hiding the generational conflict. Greta puts the conflict into words, pinning the blame on both policymakers and the older generations in general. The public react by idealizing Greta – and some by denigrating her. Both can serve equally as a defense mechanism against the dramatic nature of the conflict and as a way to block out one’s own responsibility for destroying natural resources. This blocking out means that the young people’s protest comes to nothing – smothered by the embrace of the older generations.continue to article

Edition 01/2020, Paper

The Flood of Refugees in our Heads: Metaphorical Framing of Refugees in German Newspaper Discourse A qualitative content analysis

by Carolin Fischer / The number of people fleeing to Europe increased dramatically in 2015. Each day, countless reports on the refugee issue were published prominently on every channel. The media played a crucial role not only in providing information to the insecure public and to policy makers, but also in framing the arrivals. Previous studies have examined the way refugees are depicted in the media discourse of host countries, indicating that media systematically discriminate against these minority groups and deem them as a threat to the majority group. Decisive for this study was the assumption that metaphors – as it often is the case in reporting – must have been part of the media discourse on refugees in 2015. Figurative language types such as metaphor are powerful devices in framing societal issues and shaping public discourse. Based upon Lakoff and Johnson’s Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT), and against the background of framing theory, this study explores whether metaphors used in the refugee issue have the power to establish prejudiced opinions towards refugees, depending on their meanings and implications.continue to article

Edition 01/2020, Essay

From outsiders to top stars to the impeded Self-image and prospects of German sports journalists

by Jonas Schützeneder / Sports journalism and those involved in it face an enormous challenge: Demand for and interest in top-level sport remains consistently high, yet competition is growing, not least from sports clubs who now offer their own media services. What impact is this technically driven, emotionally charged environment having on the work of sports journalists? continue to article

Edition 01/2020, Paper

Max Weber and the age of Trump On the relevance and topicality of the sociologist and media researcher on the 100th anniversary of his death

by Siegfried Weischenberg / He has been called one of the greatest Germans of all time, the most important social scientist ever, a significant source of inspiration and irritation in attempts to observe and describe modern society. Even today, exactly 100 years after his death, his works are respected all over the world. In both the USA and China, The Protestant Ethic in particular – a holistic attempt to analyze the driving forces of American society that has never been equaled to this day – has lost none of its influence. Max Weber was a scholar of every field, following meticulous (empirical) studies with profound publications on national economics, legal and religious history, politics, music, the mass media, and much more. Yet the international career of the ›bourgeois Marx‹ did not really begin to take off until after his premature death in 1920.continue to article

Edition 03/2019, Paper

How do news entrepreneurs view the future of their profession? Four theses on tomorrow’s journalism

By Alexa Keinert, Annett Heft and Leyla Dogruel / In view of fundamental transformations in the media landscape, the future of professional journalism is not only debated among communication scholars but also among journalists and media professionals. Relying on interviews with journalists and founders of German news start-ups, we contribute to this debate and present news entrepreneurs’ perceptions on (1) the core functions of journalism in the future and (2) trends regarding journalism concepts, organisational forms, and revenue models of professional journalism. Based on our findings, four trends can be identified: (1) Professional journalism must focus on comprehensively investigated ›good stories‹. (2) The illusion of objective journalism is replaced by journalism with attitude. (3) Collaboration is the future organisational form in journalism. (4) The funding of professional journalism must increasingly come from civil society.

Edition 03/2019, Paper

Means of power Gandhi’s journalistic ethics

By Gerret von Nordheim / Gandhi saw journalism as an irreplaceable means of power in his fight against oppression. As a publisher and deskman, he developed the ethical principles that are presented systematically in this paper. Even today, 150 years after Gandhi’s birth, they still give us cause to reflect. Gandhi’s principles are not those of a journalist who idealizes practice at a hypothetical level, nor those of a theorist guilty of creating an implausible utopia. Instead, they bear witness to a life spent dealing practically with the ethical problems of journalistic work. Given the increasing fragmentation and sense of outrage in today’s society, his publications’ absolute proximity to the reader – in both form and content – and his strict avoidance of unnecessary affectation appear almost prophetic. Other aspects appear stranger: Gandhi rarely reported on political events and rejected both advertising and the exercise of journalism as a profession.