When Journalists See Themselves as Villains: The Power of Negative Discourse. (September 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Moon, Ruth
• Is Part Of: Journalism & mass communication quarterly. Volume 98:Number 3(2021)
• Page Start: 790
• Page End: 807
• Publication Date: 2021-09
• Subjects: international journalism -- postconflict journalism -- metajournalistic discourse -- Rwanda; Journalism -- Periodicals; Mass media -- Periodicals; Communication -- Periodicals; Journalism -- United States -- Periodicals; Journalism -- Bibliography -- Periodicals; 070
• DOI: 10.1177/1077699020985465
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1077-6990

Abstract

This article examines the way journalists talk about themselves and negotiate authority with sources, audiences, and media policy in a postconflict, developmental authoritarian state. Grounded in concepts of metajournalistic discourse and authority, the study shows how members of the journalism field in some contexts embrace a narrative that limits autonomy and situates them as untrustworthy social actors. Interviews collected over a 7-month period in Rwanda show that a shared sense of untrustworthiness defines the contemporary boundaries of the Rwandan journalism field. The findings also suggest that consensus-oriented or postconflict social contexts might encourage journalists to adopt less autonomous social roles.