Reimagining Journalism and Social Order in a Fragmented Media World

Robert E. Gutsche, Jr., Kristy Hess, Robert E. Gutsche, Jr., Kristy Hess

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780367497996
• eBook ISBN: 9781000706789
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Journalism
• Index: Computer Science

This book examines journalism's ability to promote and foster cohesive and collective action while critically examining its place in the intensifying battle to maintain a society's social order.

From chapters discussing the challenges journalists face in covering populism and Donald Trump, to chapters about issues of race in the news, intersections of journalism and nationalism, and increased mobilities of audiences and communicators in a digital age, Reimagining Journalism and Social Order in a Fragmented Media World focuses on the pitfalls and promises of journalism in moments of social contestation. Rich with perspectives from across the globe, this book connects journalism studies to critical scholarship on social order and social control, nationalism, social media, geography, and the function of news as a social sphere.

In a fragmented media world and in times of social contestation, Reimagining Journalism and Social Order in a Fragmented Media World provides readers with insights as to how journalism operates in order to highlight—and enhance—elements and actions that bring about order. This book was originally published as a special issue of Journalism Studies and a special issue of Journalism Practice.

JOURNALISM AND THE “SOCIAL SPHERE”

Reclaiming a foundational concept for beyond politics and the public sphere

Kristy Hess and Robert E. Gutsche Jr.

This article realigns the field of journalism studies to acknowledge within itself the multiple dimensions of social life and, as well, to provide greater clarity on the social and cultural forms and functions of journalism. It reclaims the importance of the “social sphere” as a key foundational concept for journalism studies with its links to collective identity, sociability, social honour, and soft coercion. We argue the relevance of the social sphere has been subsumed over time by the dominance of the “public sphere” and, most recently, has been considered synonymous with the rise of social networking platforms and tools. Here, we recommend that scholarship shifts from the dominant influence of political theory in explanations of journalism’s societal function to the value of critical cultural sociology, which reconciles power with the basic human desire for social order within individual–institutional–cultural interactions informed by and through journalism.

Introduction

When homeowners plan extensive renovations in Australia, there is a term surveyors refer to as “re-stumping.” It is where the structural footings of a building are assessed and work is needed to remove or strengthen supports that have rotted or weathered. The rationale for re-stumping is clear: there is no point in advancing the structure’s integrity without a solid foundation. When it comes to understanding journalism’s relationship to social life—or, indeed, social order, as this special issue seeks to address—we argue that foundational work is required to provide a stronger foothold for scholars in this space. Specifically, we excavate an integral key concept for journalism studies: that of social sphere(s).

Our call for evaluating—or re-evaluating—the role of social spheres in journalism studies might seem superfluous given the increased attention to “the social” that scholars have applied to advancements in journalistic uses and influences of social media (Garcia de Torres and Hermida 2017; Goode 2009; Hill and Lashmar 2014; Phillips 2012; Singer 2015). It is our contention, however, that the real potential of social spheres as a foundational concept has not been fully illuminated by those well placed to light the scholarly runway for journalism studies. In fact, we argue, the flurry of scholarship that emerges in massive progressions of media technologies and alterations to business models sustaining news all leads to diffused understandings of just what is occurring in practical and theoretical developments of journalism. In this movement, ironically, the richness of what the “social sphere” offers journalism studies has become slighted.

Social sphere(s) are not new. As we highlight, the concept is as old as social theory itself (Arendt 1958; Bourdieu 1989, 1990; Durkheim 1958; Sennett 1977, 2012; Weber 1947, 1968). Yet, theoretically speaking, our full appreciation of the “social” has largely been subsumed by a term that has become almost synonymous with journalism: the public sphere. A key argument in this paper is that the dominance of the public sphere in journalism studies—with its emphasis on political action and participation, democracy, deliberation, and public opinion—overshadows the importance of the wider social sphere. Habermas (1974, 49) himself, for example, reminds us that the public sphere is just one dimension of the social—“a realm of social life in which something approaching public opinion can be formed.”¹

Misunderstanding or equating the political and social realms, we know, is not restricted to the journalistic field alone. Across disciplines, confusion relating to the delineation between social and public worlds “is as old as the translation of Greek terms into Latin and their adaption to Roman and Christian thought” (Arendt 1958, 28). This article, therefore, is designed to realign the field to acknowledge within itself the multiple dimensions of social life and, as well, to reaffirm the social and cultural forms and functions of journalism. In turn, we define social spheres as the realm of our everyday within which our social lives help us make sense of who we are as individuals and ultimately as collectives. It is within these spheres where we construct connections to others beyond our intimate lives and where appropriate, meaningful behaviour and practices are negotiated.

Certainly, these actions appear in an array of social environments and situations, including those that are mediated through journalism. News media plays a distinct role in establishing social norms which function as forms of social control and order, maintaining approved standards of daily life, institutional structures and practices, and dominant explanations of the world around us. Indeed, as Goffman (1959) argues, journalism serves as a “front stage” in which social norms are presented through setting and performance and addressed by audiences through the reflectivity of internalized norms and expectations for behaviour. Therefore, to explore the multifaceted context of social spheres further, we suggest scholarship shift from the influence of political theory in explanations of journalism’s societal function to the value of critical cultural sociology and theory (Lichterman 2016; Turner 2009), which reconciles power with the basic human desire for social order within individual–institutional–cultural interactions and to complicate issues of social class, honour and disadvantage.

Underpinned by the battle to uphold a common good rather than a “public good” (see Hess 2017), the social sphere becomes a permeable shell through which journalism scholars can better probe ideas of collectivity, virtue and vice, ritual, myth, sociability, social honour, and control. Such existing scholarship in journalism studies appears scattered within rank-and-file debates about methodology, empirical inquiry, and town-and-gown divides between scholars, practitioners, and citizens—divides that will continue to occur until addressed through integration with critical and cultural theory. As a result, the public sphere as a foundational concept is not entirely equipped to build understanding around such dimensions of journalism and journalistic influence. A complementary construct that rotates on a broader philosophical axis is needed.

To position our arguments, this paper is divided into two main sections. We begin by highlighting the importance of salvaging “the social” from the tsunami of scholarship on digital tools, connectivity, and social media. We argue that in an era when social networking and social media are now part of the everyday lexicon of both journalism practice and studies, there has never been a more important time to reassess the notion and value of the “social.”

Our next challenge is to separate clearly and distinguish understandings of the public sphere from social spheres. It is not our intention to discount the importance of matters political and participatory from journalism studies, rather we wish to ensure there is an accessible complementary framework for scholars exploring the social dimensions of news. We tease out the significance of the social sphere through four key dimensions: the common good, collective identity through performance of ritual and mythical practice, sociability, and social coercion and control.

Subsuming the Importance of the Social in Journalism Studies

In journalism studies, dominant understandings of the social is shifting into dangerous territory. Increasingly, the idea of the social is considered synonymous with social media and social networking, in which the public writ large is engaged (or is invited to engage) in a mediated sphere of public meaning (Dutton and Dubois 2015). Terms such as social journalism (Hermida 2012), social news (Goode 2009), and the sociability of news (Phillips 2012) have been coined to explore how social networking is shaping journalism, from its celebrated fifth estate function (Jerico 2012) to audience and journalistic engagement and participation, and perceptions of digital platforms (Holton, Lewis, and Coddington 2016). Phillips (2012, 669), for example, positions “sociability” in journalism as news produced in a form that is capable of spreading virally. Others, such as Correia (2012, 99), seek to clarify the conditions for an effective public sphere in relation to online journalism, emphasizing the desire for “reason without coercion” and “reciprocity between participants in collective debate.”

It is our contention, however, that the significance of structure/agency over rational action, the role of subtle and/or blatant coercion in digital journalism practice, and its relationship to power deserve attention. What is often overlooked in studies that examine the relationship between journalism practice and social media tools is the very significance of the social and cultural life worlds that drive demand for these new platforms.

We acknowledge that inroads have been made in exploring the relationship between social media and journalism in mobilizing collective action and challenging established political institutions that reinforce social order. Events such as the “Arab Spring”—dubbed the Twitter revolution—demonstrate the way in which media systems and communication networks have complexly conditioned and facilitated such uprisings (Cottle 2011; Issawi and Cammaerts 2015). Yet still, a focus on historical revolts and their relationship to journalism inadvertently sidesteps the significance of our everyday social practices around news media that reinforce moral norms and shapes social order (see Goffman 1963).

The importance of balancing journalism’s power to shape social order both in moments of political and apolitical crisis and in negotiating the banality of the everyday is what renders the social sphere necessary to journalism studies. Too often scholarship addressing news platforms and processes of participation in digital spaces emphasizes the desire for a utopian “public sphere” of involvement and open and free communication guided by a media-centric and politically literate engaged and empowered citizenry. The public sphere—which “comes into being in every conversation in which private individuals assemble [freely] to form a public body” (Habermas 1974, 49), is one of the most widely accepted, discussed, and critiqued concepts in journalism studies (i.e. Allan 2005; Lunt and Livingston 2013; McNair, Flew, and Harrington 2017; Simpson 2014).

A review of scholarship in two leading journalism journals (Journalism Studies and Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism) highlights that the “public sphere” along with “politics” have been among the 10 most-frequently adopted keywords in discussions about journalism between 2007 and 2013 (see Steensen and Ahva 2015). Since the appearance of Habermas’ major texts from the 1960s (for full discussion, see Hansen 2014), the public sphere has been both adopted and challenged as a framework to discuss the relationship between media and democracy. That the social sphere in journalism studies has been overshadowed by the more politically oriented idea of the public sphere is of no surprise. Propagated by Western ideals and socio-political globalization, journalism is celebrated for its democratic, Fourth Estate function, for lubricating wheels of democracy, keeping the powerful accountable, and serving as a conduit of information that helps people connect and deliberate about public affairs.

While it is not our intention to provide an extensive review or critique (see especially Fraser 1990) of the public sphere, we recognize that its dominance—coupled with the emergence of social media—increasingly obscures the conceptual significance of the social and its relationship to journalism studies. Inherent in these realms are challenges to sovereignty of collectives and individuals to operate freely in society without mandated compliance with dominant social norms and expectations of behaviour.

(Un)masking the Social: Excavating Foundations of Social Spheres

Our emphasis on social spheres complements and extends scholarship that reinforces the importance of the social and apolitical dimensions of the news media (Couldry, Livingstone, and Markham 2007; Couldry 2012; Dahlgren 2009; Ettema 2005; Hanitzch and Vos 2016). While scholars tease out the mediated role of everyday thoughts, conversations, and activities, they are not always explored specifically through a journalism studies lens and the objective is often to examine the preconditions for effective democratic politics. Couldry, Livingstone, and Markham (2007), for instance, lay solid foundations for journalism and social spheres in their research on the “mediated public connection,” which highlights the importance of theoretical models beyond deliberative democracy to detail the mediating ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Citation Information
• Notes on Contributors
• Introduction—Contesting Communities: The problem of journalism and social order
• 1 Journalism and the “Social Sphere”: Reclaiming a foundational concept for beyond politics and the public sphere
• 2 From Control to Chaos, and Back Again: Journalism and the politics of populist authoritarianism
• 3 Populism, Journalism, and the Limits of Reflexivity: The case of Donald J. Trump
• 4 Migration Maps with the News: Guidelines for ethical visualization of mobile populations
• 5 Veritable Flak Mill: A case study of Project Veritas and a call for truth
• 6 Re- Thinking Trust in the News: A material approach through “Objects of Journalism”
• 7 Community Repair through Truce and Contestation: Danish legacy print media and the Copenhagen shootings
• 8 Diverging Projections of Reality: Amplified frame competition via distinct modes of journalistic production
• 9 Using the Elaboration Likelihood Model to Explain to Whom “#Black Lives Matter” … and to Whom it Does not
• 10 Coverage of the Surgical Strike on Television News in India: Nationalism, journalistic discourse and India– Pakistan conflict
• 11 Please Follow Us: Media roles in Twitter discussions in the United States, Germany, France, and Russia
• 12 And Deliver Us to Segmentation: The growing appeal of the niche news audience
• 13 Nurturing Authority: Reassessing the social role of local television news
• 14 “Tightening the Knots” of the International Drugs Trade in Brazil: Possibilities and challenges for news media to acquire social capital through in- depth reporting
• Index