{"title":"360° Journalism and Empathy: Psychological Processes and Communication Outcomes","authors":"Ivanka Pjesivac, Sun Joo (Grace) Ahn","doi":"10.3390/journalmedia5030064","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia5030064","url":null,"abstract":"This study (N = 199) examined the impact of a 360° news coverage of the Iraqi war on cognitive and emotional empathy, and the mechanisms through which an audience’s empathic responses are enhanced, as well as the role of empathy in impacting perceptions of news credibility. We build on earlier studies on immersive journalism to provide a nuanced investigation on different dimensions of empathy and their impact on perceptions of news credibility. The findings demonstrated that, when compared to online news, 360° news led to greater spatial presence, cognitive and positive emotional empathy, as well as higher levels of perceived news credibility. Spatial presence mediated the relationship between news modality and empathy, while the impact of 360° news on empathy was contingent upon individual differences in dispositional empathy. The results are discussed in the context of immersive journalism theory and practice.","PeriodicalId":17629,"journal":{"name":"Journalism and Media","volume":"26 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141813665","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Rethinking the Relation between Media and Their Audience: The Discursive Construction of the Risk of Artificial Intelligence in the Press of Belgium, France, Portugal, and Spain","authors":"Cristian González-Arias, Xosé López-García","doi":"10.3390/journalmedia5030065","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia5030065","url":null,"abstract":"It is believed that the way in which media speak about emerging technologies can influence the public perception of their benefits and risks. Risk statements highlight the possible negative effects, real or imaginary, that a particular event could have on audiences. Just as journalism varies over space and time, what is considered a risk is deeply rooted in specific social, economic, and technological contexts. This variability implies that journalistic practices are neither universal nor static; instead, they change and adapt according to circumstance. Moreover, technological advances have allowed the press to better understand their audiences and adhere to their demands. In this context, the discursive construction of the risk of artificial intelligence was studied in the press of four European countries: Belgium, Spain, France, and Portugal. In total, 290 texts published in January 2024 were examined. Mentions of “artificial intelligence” were found in the following newspapers: Le Soir, El País, Le Figaro, and Público. Fourteen risk categories and seven groups of voices responsible for their enunciation were identified, with significant variations between the studied newspapers. It was concluded that national contexts make it possible to differentiate the way in which the press communicates the risks associated with artificial intelligence. Although these results do not directly reflect public awareness of the risks in each of these countries, they open a line of research on the possible influences of the progressive monitoring and knowledge of audiences in the construction of the media agenda.","PeriodicalId":17629,"journal":{"name":"Journalism and Media","volume":"134 29","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141811205","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Intermediaries between Journalism and Arts: Shared Concerns, Work Processes and Strategies Outlining an Emergent Practice","authors":"Stijn Postema","doi":"10.3390/journalmedia5030066","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia5030066","url":null,"abstract":"Innovation, creativity, and interdisciplinary collaboration in journalism are generally viewed as necessary goods, given the profound challenges of the profession, but institutionalised repertoires and routines tend to keep radical transformation at bay. Change in journalism therefore tends to rely on intermediaries, operating both within and outside of the profession, to facilitate innovation. This article explores the shared concerns of one such community of intermediaries working at the boundary between journalism and the arts. Through a series of in-depth interviews, this study documents key issues, how they solve problems, and how this shapes the practice of artistic journalism. These intermediaries create, facilitate, and promote an interdisciplinary practice of rigorously researched journalism and impact-focused storytelling using art-inspired methods. The key issues found in this study include the effort going into vocabulary alignment, managing expectations on what counts as professionalism, dealing with ‘uncertainty’ as a structural feature of the work, and dealing with occupational value clashes, such as regarding autonomy and rigour. The findings suggest these practitioners and intermediaries between journalism and the arts feel they shape the contours of an emergent practice.","PeriodicalId":17629,"journal":{"name":"Journalism and Media","volume":"70 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141810543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Russia–Ukraine Propaganda on Social Media: A Bibliometric Analysis","authors":"Mahedi Hasan","doi":"10.3390/journalmedia5030062","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia5030062","url":null,"abstract":"This study presents a systematic review of the scholarly literature on Russia–Ukraine Propaganda on Social Media over the last ten years. This study performs a bibliometric analysis of articles published in the last ten years (2012–2022) and acquired from the Scopus database, followed by a brief content analysis of top articles from leading sources. Furthermore, the study aims to find gaps in the literature and identify the research area that could be developed in this context. VOSviewer application was used for data mining and data visualization from Microsoft Excel. Some interesting facts were found in the bibliometric analysis regarding research and other perspectives. Though the study was related to the propaganda of Russia and Ukraine, the USA is identified as the most attentive country in terms of research and publication on the topic. On the other hand, Russia published many articles regarding its own propaganda on social media.","PeriodicalId":17629,"journal":{"name":"Journalism and Media","volume":" 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141828061","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Profile, Incidence, and Perspectives of Disinformation among Ecuadorians","authors":"Abel Suing, J. Suárez-Villegas","doi":"10.3390/journalmedia5030063","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia5030063","url":null,"abstract":"The phenomenon of disinformation raises serious questions for society, affecting public trust and democratic stability. In this context, an attempt is made to configure a profile of the practices of identification and fight against disinformation, assess the incidence of social networks, and identify citizens’ perceptions of media literacy in Ecuador. The methodology used is quantitative and qualitative, with a descriptive approach, using a survey, interviews with experts, and focus groups. The converging points between experts and citizens are the need to develop media literacy processes that begin in basic education and the institutionalisation of the fight against disinformation, which should be assumed through an articulation between citizens and schools. On the other hand, training to identify fake news is directly related to information verification practices. Likewise, statistical evidence shows that Ecuadorians who verify information perceive themselves as fully informed citizens.","PeriodicalId":17629,"journal":{"name":"Journalism and Media","volume":" 40","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141829392","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"What Does Media Say about Mental Health: A Literature Review of Media Coverage on Mental Health","authors":"Hao Zhang, A. Firdaus","doi":"10.3390/journalmedia5030061","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia5030061","url":null,"abstract":"As global attention to mental health issues increases, its media portrayal becomes increasingly important. This literature review explores the representation of mental health in the media. The study found that the media plays a key role in shaping the public’s views on mental health issues. Positive media reports can help increase public awareness, reduce stigma, and promote help-seeking behaviors and policy improvements. However, negative reports may deepen misunderstandings and prejudices, increase stigma, and hinder people from seeking help. Several topics including violence and threats have become common themes in media reports on mental health issues. In addition, the portrayal of mental health on social media is emphasized, which provides a platform for discussing mental health issues, but also brings challenges to information authenticity and privacy protection. Social media interactions can provide support for mental health issues, but negative comments and cyberbullying may exacerbate the problem. The significance of this literature review is to provide theoretical support for improving media coverage and formulating public strategies, calling on media practitioners to report mental health issues in a responsible manner to promote healthier public attitudes and more effective policy interventions.","PeriodicalId":17629,"journal":{"name":"Journalism and Media","volume":"35 30","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141645665","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Thomai Voulgari, Alexandros K. Angelidis, Charalambos Bratsas, Rigas Kotsakis, A. Veglis, Antonis Skamnakis
{"title":"The Usage of Twitter (Now 𝕏) Amplifiers in the European Elections of 2019","authors":"Thomai Voulgari, Alexandros K. Angelidis, Charalambos Bratsas, Rigas Kotsakis, A. Veglis, Antonis Skamnakis","doi":"10.3390/journalmedia5030060","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia5030060","url":null,"abstract":"The aim of this study is to investigate how amplifiers (automated accounts controlled by bot software) are used in Twitter (now called “X”) during election campaigns. Specifically, the main purpose is to identify the role and engagement of Twitter amplifiers in the 2019 European elections, the visibility of political parties and leaders, and the way in which automated tools are used to manipulate public opinion by influencing voting decisions. The countries considered in the study are two economic powers of Western Europe, France and Germany, as well as two countries of the European South, which are affected by the economic and financial crisis, Greece and Italy. The countries from Southern Europe were included in the sample as they are often used by mass media as political campaign tools. This paper emphasizes the Twitter platform through which the data collection was implemented using the official API of the social networking tool, focusing on the 2019 European elections. We collected data on 88 party leaders and MEP candidates between 10 May and 30 May 2019, as well as on 44,651 accounts that retweeted them. We concluded using 237,813 election-related tweets and used network theory to analyze and visualize the data. The results demonstrate that all political parties use amplifiers to promote their tweets, and some use the same amplifiers between different countries.","PeriodicalId":17629,"journal":{"name":"Journalism and Media","volume":"63 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141652424","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Framing Income Inequality: How the Spanish Media Reported on Disparities during the First Year of the Pandemic","authors":"Javier Odriozola-Chéné, Rosa Pérez-Arozamena","doi":"10.3390/journalmedia5030059","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia5030059","url":null,"abstract":"This paper addresses the problem of how Spanish digital media reported income inequality during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this way, the goal was to study the framing of definition, contextual aspects, and depth. For this article, a tool was designed to analyse the content of the items. An analysis of news published by six digital media in Spain from March 2020 to February 2021 was conducted using content analysis. Within a sample of 2727 media stories in which there was a connection between the coronavirus and inequality, a stratified sample was used (n = 958) according to the content production by quarter and by media. The results of this study show that income inequality was the most common type of inequality reported in the media, and they cantered more on the micro level. Also, it appeared to be linked to the social gap and showed poverty as the main consequence. The frame was focused on social issues, international and national contexts, and expert sources. Finally, different levels of depth can be observed in the news items analysed, depending on the frame.","PeriodicalId":17629,"journal":{"name":"Journalism and Media","volume":"135 49","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141656370","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Information Consumption Habits of Young Colombian University Students","authors":"Andrés Barrios-Rubio","doi":"10.3390/journalmedia5030058","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia5030058","url":null,"abstract":"The younger generations are exerting a profound influence on the future of the media. The current crisis of reputation facing traditional media is compelling those involved in the creation, production, and distribution of content to rethink the logic underpinning these processes. The consumption of entertainment and information via smartphones is becoming increasingly concentrated in screen devices and social platforms. In light of the particularities of a convergence of media and the characteristics of the digital sphere of users, it is necessary to investigate the information consumption habits and preferences of young university students towards conventional and digital media platforms, as well as social networks within the digital sphere. The objective of this research was to ascertain the news consumption habits of young university students in the context of the new digital landscape, characterised by the pervasiveness of connectivity and the ascendency of smartphones as the primary gateway to the internet. A survey of 1300 students was conducted in October 2023 to investigate their adoption, use, and consumption of traditional and digital media, as well as the devices they use and the importance of podcasts. The results, viewed through the lens of a specific ecosystem, such as that of Colombia, challenge prevailing stereotypes and suggest that younger generations continue to value traditional journalistic brands, potentially due to familial influence. The majority of content is accessed through screen devices and social media platforms. Despite the existence of prejudices, young people supplement their musical preferences with informational content and leisure and entertainment products.","PeriodicalId":17629,"journal":{"name":"Journalism and Media","volume":"19 13","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141661511","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Transfictionality, Extensions and Transmedia Journalism: Expanding the Storyworld of Slavery of The 1619 Project","authors":"Eleni Chalikiopoulou, A. Veglis","doi":"10.3390/journalmedia5030057","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia5030057","url":null,"abstract":"Transmedia storytelling combines various concepts and respective strategies that were originally intended for the expansion of fictional storyworlds. Gradually, technological convergence and the digitization of information facilitated their adoption by the field of journalism. This study examines if and how transfictionality and its extensions are incorporated into transmedia journalistic projects, with the aim of expanding non-fictional storyworlds. The research methodology follows the scheme of qualitative content analysis in a sample of six essays of the online special issue of The 1619 Project, a transmedia journalistic venture published by The New York Times. In this context, Scolari’s taxonomy of extensions (2009) was used as an objective research tool through which the research sample was analyzed and interpreted. The research findings reveal that the research sample includes various stories whose functions are similar to those of extensions while audience actively participates in the construction of the represented storyworld. Moreover, the whole project incorporates ‘expansion’, a form of transfictionality that extends fictional storyworlds, by using extensions (e.g., sequels, prequels). Therefore, it seems that the field of transmedia journalism adopts both transfictionality and extensions, with the aim of expanding non-fictional storyworlds, enhancing the development of collaborative transmedia journalistic efforts.","PeriodicalId":17629,"journal":{"name":"Journalism and Media","volume":" 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141677741","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}