At the crossroads of participation and objectivity: Reinventing citizen engagement in the SBS newsroom. (September 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hujanen, Jaana
• Is Part Of: New media & society. Volume 15:Number 6(2013)
• Page Start: 947
• Page End: 962
• Publication Date: 2013-09
• Subjects: Discourse -- journalism -- news -- objectivity -- participation -- Special Broadcasting Service (SBS); Mass media -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Mass media and culture -- Periodicals; Information technology -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Internet -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; 302.2305
• DOI: 10.1177/1461444812460721
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1461-4448

Abstract

The article examines how the challenge of participation is becoming a part of professional journalism culture in a newsroom where news policy relies on articulating the plurality of its ethnically diverse audiences. This study moreover attempts to understand the dynamics of the organizational and professional discourses and practices determining how the culture of journalism evolves. The article relies on conceptualizations from critical discourse analysis and cultural historical activity theory. The data analyzed consists of in-depth interviews with journalists from the Australian Special Broadcasting Service. Two discourses are analyzed: those of participation and objectivity. The case study illustrates through the merging of the discourses and the emergence of hybrid news ideals how the process of change is inherently complex and contradictory and suggests how the notions of participation and objectivity need to be explored as historical and contextual constructions.