The Reconstruction of International Journalism

Tuesday, 15 May, 2012

The Tow Center for Digital Journalism is hosting an evening panel discussion Tues May 22 at Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism. The event will take place from 5-7pm in the Stabile Center, on the main level of the Journalism building ("Pulitzer Hall"). 

The discussion will explore changes in large international newsrooms, and what these changes mean for the future of journalism.

Chair: Chris Anderson (CUNY)

Respondent: Michael Schudson (Columbia University)

Panelists:

Caitlin B. Petre (New York University): "Interviewing the Interviewer: The Challenges and Opportunities of Questioning Journalists"

Social scientists are trained to steer interviewees away from "scripted" accounts so the researcher can figure out what they really think and feel. But how do you interview a subject who interviews people for a living? This was the challenge that confronted Caitlin Petre, a sociology PhD candidate at NYU, as she set out to study how journalists use audience metrics in their work. Petre will talk about her efforts to get access and build rapport with reporters, editors, bloggers and analysts at top print and online news organizations, during a time when their professional lives are busier and more unstable than ever. She will explore the cultural variations between academia and journalism that can lead to different understandings of what an interview is and is good for. Finally, at a moment when reporters and scholars alike are trying to understand the rapid changes in the news media, Petre will discuss what interviews with journalists can reveal.

Nikki Usher (George Washington University): "Ethnography in a Time of Big Newsroom Uncertainty"

Just two weeks before starting research at The New York Times, Nikki Usher was confronted with some sad news from the newsroom: unprecedented staff reductions. The newsroom's reaction: no, you can't come and do research. The story ended happily, but not so much for other attempts at research in other newsrooms. Dr. Usher will bring her experiences of doing research (or at least trying to) at some of the biggest newsrooms in the country, giving a sense of why some newsrooms have difficulty understanding the mission of newsroom field research, and why some newsrooms seem open to having visitors. The underlying ethics of this relationship between newsrooms and researchers will be explored through a conversation about NDAs, review rights, and the like.

Valerie Belair-Gagnon (City University, London): "Beyond the Physicality of the BBC Newsroom(s)"

In 2011, Valerie Belair-Gagnon undertook an ethnographic study of the BBC newsroom. She was researching BBC news production when the Arab Spring unfolded. From her observations of the BBC news process, Belair-Gagnon considers this event a watershed moment for ethnographers and journalists. The newsroom organization and configuration were transformed during this period, and the examples she will use demonstrate how journalists are increasingly tapped into social media spaces, conducting journalism beyond traditional boundaries.

Details are available here:

http://towcenter.org/reconstruction-of-international-journalism/