Papers by Amy Schmitz Weiss
Journalism Practice, 2016
The idea of using sensors for journalism is not new, as the practice of doing so has existed for ... more The idea of using sensors for journalism is not new, as the practice of doing so has existed for years. However, the application by which they can be implemented
for news reporting in a variety of ways at varying costs (from inexpensive to expensive) has created a new realm for the profession. This article identifies the forms in which sensor journalism is currently being practiced and how it may be used in the profession moving forward. A case
study of a sensor journalism project is also presented for context. As sensor journalism evolves, it’s important to note the pitfalls that one must take into account ranging from sensor manufacturer challenges to user error
with the sensor. The implications of this kind of work are discussed in terms of the academy and the profession.
Latin Americans are living in an unprecedented era of democracy while experiencing a spike in inv... more Latin Americans are living in an unprecedented era of democracy while experiencing a spike in investigative journalism production. Investigative journalism holds its own conundrums of ethical decision-making related to techniques used and consequences of its content. This study analyzes ethical interpretations in the region's investigative journalism community through a comparative analysis based on a survey conducted with journalists, journalism educators, and students from 20 Latin American and Caribbean countries. Our findings highlight the prevalence of a deontological perspective to ethics, with the majority of the respondents rejecting the use of soft-lies as investigative techniques. The study found, however, variability in ethical perspective within Latin America and Caribbean's geo-cultural regions, with Central America and the Caribbean region leading in opposition and Brazil and the Southern Cone indicating more lenience towards controversial practices. When it comes to source-related controversial techniques, the journalism community in the region overwhelmingly rejects such practices.
This study investigates how young adults use news and location-based services on their smartphone... more This study investigates how young adults use news and location-based services on their smartphones, in addition to examining how many news organizations offer mobile news apps with geo-location features. Based on the survey findings, young adults are consuming news on their smartphones. Furthermore, there is a high use of location-based services by smartphone consumers, but news organizations are only using geo-location features in their mobile apps for traffic and weather. This study highlights that a gap exists between what news consumers, particularly young adults, are doing and using on their smartphones and what news organizations are able to provide.
This study investigates how information and geographic space can be connected to a concept called... more This study investigates how information and geographic space can be connected to a concept called place-based knowledge that can be applied within a journalistic framework of how we see journalism practice, news producers, consumers, and the news experience within this light. This connection of geographic space with place-based knowledge can form a unique concept called spatial journalism that is the main premise of this article. Future research directions are explored using this concept and implications of this approach are discussed for the future of the academy and profession.
Despite the proliferation of research on social media and journalism, only a few studies have ana... more Despite the proliferation of research on social media and journalism, only a few studies have analyzed how journalists in Latin America integrate social media platforms into journalistic practice. Based on a survey of 877 Latin American reporters, this article examines the social media platforms journalists use and how they use them. This research reveals that despite the popularity of Facebook in the region, Twitter is the most important platform for daily news-gathering and journalistic work. Journalists turn to Twitter to find sources and stories, showing an important openness to participatory journalism. Yet, there is also mistrust of information provided from political sources. Our findings show that different regions in Latin America work with social media in different ways, and local journalistic cultures have an impact on these adoptions. Brazil in particular deviates significantly from other Latin American countries in how journalists use social media platforms. Further research and implications for the field are discussed.
International Journal on Media Management, 2012
Books by Amy Schmitz Weiss
Given the interdisciplinary nature of digital journalism studies and the increasingly blurred bou... more Given the interdisciplinary nature of digital journalism studies and the increasingly blurred boundaries of journalism, there is a need within the field of journalism studies to widen the scope of theoretical perspectives and approaches. Theories of Journalism in a Digital Age discusses new avenues in theorising journalism, and reassesses established theories.
Contributors to this volume describe fresh conceptssuch as de-differentiation, circulation, news networks, and spatiality to explain journalism in a digital age, and provide concepts which further theorise technology as a fundamental part of journalism, such as actants and materiality. Several chapters discuss the latitude of user positionsin the digitalised domain of journalism, exploring maximal–minimal participation, routines–interpretation–agency, and mobility–cross-mediality–participation. Finally, the book provides theoretical tools with which to understand, in different social and cultural contexts, the evolving practices of journalism, including innovation, dispersed gatekeeping, and mediatized interdependency. The chapters in this book were originally published in special issues of Digital Journalism and Journalism Practice.
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Papers by Amy Schmitz Weiss
for news reporting in a variety of ways at varying costs (from inexpensive to expensive) has created a new realm for the profession. This article identifies the forms in which sensor journalism is currently being practiced and how it may be used in the profession moving forward. A case
study of a sensor journalism project is also presented for context. As sensor journalism evolves, it’s important to note the pitfalls that one must take into account ranging from sensor manufacturer challenges to user error
with the sensor. The implications of this kind of work are discussed in terms of the academy and the profession.
Books by Amy Schmitz Weiss
Contributors to this volume describe fresh conceptssuch as de-differentiation, circulation, news networks, and spatiality to explain journalism in a digital age, and provide concepts which further theorise technology as a fundamental part of journalism, such as actants and materiality. Several chapters discuss the latitude of user positionsin the digitalised domain of journalism, exploring maximal–minimal participation, routines–interpretation–agency, and mobility–cross-mediality–participation. Finally, the book provides theoretical tools with which to understand, in different social and cultural contexts, the evolving practices of journalism, including innovation, dispersed gatekeeping, and mediatized interdependency. The chapters in this book were originally published in special issues of Digital Journalism and Journalism Practice.
for news reporting in a variety of ways at varying costs (from inexpensive to expensive) has created a new realm for the profession. This article identifies the forms in which sensor journalism is currently being practiced and how it may be used in the profession moving forward. A case
study of a sensor journalism project is also presented for context. As sensor journalism evolves, it’s important to note the pitfalls that one must take into account ranging from sensor manufacturer challenges to user error
with the sensor. The implications of this kind of work are discussed in terms of the academy and the profession.
Contributors to this volume describe fresh conceptssuch as de-differentiation, circulation, news networks, and spatiality to explain journalism in a digital age, and provide concepts which further theorise technology as a fundamental part of journalism, such as actants and materiality. Several chapters discuss the latitude of user positionsin the digitalised domain of journalism, exploring maximal–minimal participation, routines–interpretation–agency, and mobility–cross-mediality–participation. Finally, the book provides theoretical tools with which to understand, in different social and cultural contexts, the evolving practices of journalism, including innovation, dispersed gatekeeping, and mediatized interdependency. The chapters in this book were originally published in special issues of Digital Journalism and Journalism Practice.