Journalism’s normative foundations and democratic relevance
What are the challenges to the internal maintenance of professional authority and power, and for the external maintenance of journalistic autonomy and its role as the Fourth Estate of democracy? The challenges of new journalistic formats for journalism’s watchdog function and journalism as an expression of culture are of main concern here.
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Martin Eide’s project on reconstructing accountability journalism
Eide will analyse the Fourth Estate function of the press with reference to different Media Accountability Systems. Case studies will also be conducted of editorial efforts to restore journalistic accountability, and of ideas and practices labelled “dialogue journalism” and journalist’s roles as guides and supervisors.
Jan Fredrik Hovden's project on Scandinavian journalistic fields
Hovden combines institutional data and survey data for a comparative analysis of the current state and recent changes in the Norwegian, Swedish and Danish journalistic fields. Central questions are the relative importance of economic capital contra journalistic capital (internal recognition) and the different and shifting hierarchy of types of media and genres.
Helle Sjøvaag’s PhD project on news legitimacy and the social contract of the press
Sjøvaag's competed PhD project investigated how professional ideology performs boundary work to sustain the status of journalistic institutions in an increasingly challenging media landscape. Digitalisation processes fundamentally challenge the established business model for news and journalism. Such market changes have consequences for how journalism functions as a profession. Journalistic ideology is primarily communicated through professional activities that recycle and confirm vocational values through practice. As these practices are digitalised, the results of these technological processes should also have an effect on such practice. However, the findings of this project indicate that digitalisation does not weaken journalistic ideology.
Leif Ove Larsen and Karl Atle Knapskog’s project on cultural journalism in online newspapers
Larsen and Knapskog will develop an ongoing project on cultural journalism. They will carry out a critical comparative analysis of differences in the representation of culture, genre, expression and how to address the audience in the transfer from print to Internet. Larsen’s subproject investigates changes in the genres of cultural journalism in the Norwegian leading newspapers, including the use of multimedia and linking. Knapskog will study commentary journalism with particular regard to its expansion to new journalistic areas, genre-related innovation and how the commentary genre is being combined with other journalistic genres.
Ragnhild Mølster’s project on reality documentaries as expression of culture
Through interviews, production studies and comparative content analyses, Ragnhild Mølster will study how distinctive cultural characteristics may influence on, and be expressed through, transnational television program formats. The discussion will be based on a Norwegian multiplatform reality documentary series (Ingen grenser) adapted from an originally British concept (Beyond boundaries).
Nina Kvalheim’s project on journalistic multimediality and public deliberation
Nina Kvalheim will in her PhD project investigate newspapers adoption of new digital publishing platforms like smart phones and tablets. She will discuss to what extent the multimedia news production will affect journalism and the newspapers role in the public debate.
