Course Description

Established historical and sociological studies of journalism tend to approach their subject in either a nationally bounded space or in terms of abstract institutional models.The course aims to remedy the limitations of these approaches by offering a comparative perspective on journalistic professional practices and values, which, based on the concept of ‘journalistic cultures’, prioritizes questions of socio-cultural and political context. Focusing particularly on Europe, the course investigates the diverse journalistic traditions that continue to exert a shaping influence on news reporting in different countries and regions, as well as on the self perceptions, audience evaluations, public role and professional code of journalists.

Course Objectives

• Understand the core concepts of ‘journalistic culture’ and ‘journalistic field’, and their usefulness in the cross-national study of journalism
• Understand the significance of socio-cultural and political context in the formation of news and journalistic cultures
• Awarness of the impact that diverse journalistic cultures have in the making and framing of news, and, more specifically, of European Union related news
• Appreciation of the heterogeneity of the european journalistic cultures and its repercussions in the workings of the European public sphere

Learning Outcomes

1. Define core concepts and approaches in the comparative study of journalism
2. Explain the dependency of journalistic professional roles and practices on socio-cultural and political context
3. Identify the ways that journalistic cultures shape news agendas and the framing of news
4. Analyze processes of convergence and divergence in contemporary European and global journalism

Class/Learning activities

Lectures, in-class presentations, independent study, written assignments.

Workload

Assessment

Required Reading

• De Burgh, H. (ed.) (2005). Making Journalists. Diverse Models, Global Issues. London: Routledge
• Bourdieu, P (1999). On Television. New Press
• Weaver, D. & L. Willnat (eds.) (2013) The Global Journalist in the 21st Century. London: Routledge

Suggested Reading

• Archetti, Ch. (2010). Explaining News. National Politics and Journalistic Cultures in Global Context. Palgrave Macmillan
• Aumente, J. & P. Gross (1999). Eastern European Journalism: Before, During and After Communism. Hampton Press
• Freedman, E. & R. Scafer (eds.) (2011). After the Czars and Commissars: Journalism in Authoritarian Post-Soviet Central Asia. Michigan State University Press
• Glowacki, M., E.Lauk & A. Balcytiene (eds.) (2014). Journalism that Matters: Views form Central and Eastern Europe. Peter Lang
• Grieves, K. (2012). Journalism across Boundaries: The Promises and Challenges of Transnational and Transborder Journalism. Palgrave Macmillan
• Hallin, D.C. & P. Mancini (2004). Comparing Media Systems: Three Models of Media and Politics. Cambridge University Press
• Kuhn, R. & R. Nielsen (2013). Political Journalism in Transition: Western Europe in a Comparative Perspective. I.B.Tauris
• Loffelholz, M. & D.H Weaver (eds.) (2008). Global Journalism Research. Oxford: Blackwell
• Shoemaker, P. & A. Cohen (eds.) (2006) News around the World: content, practitioners, and the public. New York: Routledge
• Stephens, M. (2006). A History of News. Oxford University Press, 3rd ed.
• MacNair, B. (1998). The Sociology of Journalism. Bloomsbury Academic
• Waisbord, S. (2013) Reinventing Professionalism: Journalism and News in Global Perspective. Polity

Resourses on the Internet

• http://www.worldsofjournalism.org/index.htm