Jane B. Singer is an associate professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Iowa and a visiting professor in the School of Journalism, Media and Communication at the University of Central Lancashire (UK). From 2007 to 2009, she was the Johnston Press Chair in Digital Journalism at Central Lancashire. Her research explores digital journalism, including changing roles, perceptions, norms and practices. Before earning a Ph.D. in journalism from the University of Missouri, she was the first news manager of Prodigy Interactive Services. She also has worked as a newspaper reporter and editor. Jane is co-author of "Participatory Journalism," published in 2011 by Wiley-Blackwell, and "Online Journalism Ethics," published in 2007 by M.E. Sharpe. She is immediate past president of Kappa Tau Alpha, the national US journalism honor society.
This comparative study of user-generated content (UGC) in 10 Western democracies examines the pol... more This comparative study of user-generated content (UGC) in 10 Western democracies examines the political economic aspects of citizen participation in online media, as assessed by journalists who work with this content. Drawing on interviews with more than 60 journalists, we explore their perceived economic motivations for an ongoing redefinition of traditional journalistic roles, as UGC becomes an increasingly dominant feature of news websites.
This study of local British newspaper journalists focuses on three aspects of entrenched newsroom... more This study of local British newspaper journalists focuses on three aspects of entrenched newsroom culture—news values and norms, work routines and outputs, and occupational roles—to explore the boundaries that journalists see as distinguishing them from outside contributors. Findings suggest they view user-generated content (UGC) from a traditional professional perspective and weigh its benefits in terms of its contribution to the journalism they produce. While most are open to its inclusion on newspaper websites, particularly as a traffic builder and supplemental source of hyperlocal information, they believe UGC can undermine journalistic norms and values unless carefully monitored—a gatekeeping task they fear cannot fit within newsroom routines threatened by resource constraints of increasing severity.
This study explores how Web sites affiliated with leading U.S. newspapers covered the 2008 campai... more This study explores how Web sites affiliated with leading U.S. newspapers covered the 2008 campaign and election. It traces changes over a decade in which the Internet moved from the periphery to the center of political, public, and media attention. Although a 2004 study suggested online editors were rethinking their function as information gatekeepers, this study indicates a reassertion of traditional journalistic roles despite an increase in options for user input.
In May 2007, Scots voted into office a party and a political leader publicly committed to holding... more In May 2007, Scots voted into office a party and a political leader publicly committed to holding a referendum on independence from Great Britain within four years. This study analyzes nearly forty-eight hundred comments appended to stories on the scotsman.com Web site, offering one of the first detailed looks at user-generated content on a newspaper-affiliated Web site in the context of a national election. It explores the evolving nature of online political community and the ways in which newspapers are accommodating a networked environment in their political coverage, addressing issues of citizen and journalistic engagement within a communal space.
The authors explore how technology has altered the work processes and activities in news organiza... more The authors explore how technology has altered the work processes and activities in news organizations. They show how story idea generation, research, sourcing, processing, packaging, and repurposing have changed and created needs for news skills and capabilities.
This case study examines how journalists at Britain's Guardian newspaper and affiliated Web site ... more This case study examines how journalists at Britain's Guardian newspaper and affiliated Web site are assessing and incorporating user-generated content in their perceptions and practices. A framework of existentialism helps highlight constructs and professional norms of interest. It is one of the first data-driven studies to explore how journalists are negotiating personal and social ethics within a digital network.
A Shifting Rationale for the Gatekeeping Role and the …
The move to a networked media environment presents a range of challenges to journalistic routines... more The move to a networked media environment presents a range of challenges to journalistic routines, roles, and norms. This article suggests that professional ethics have evolved to articulate and safeguard a traditional gatekeeping role that no longer exists; as a result, the rationale behind hose ethics must shift to accommodate interconnections rather than discrete products and functions. Similarly, the notion of journalistic objectivity is open to renewed debate when detachment can translate into isolation from the rest of the network.
This article is a contribution to the debate on audience participation in online media with a two... more This article is a contribution to the debate on audience participation in online media with a twofold aim: (1) making conceptual sense of the phenomenon of participatory journalism in the framework of journalism research, and (2) determining the forms that it is taking in eight European countries and the United States. First, participatory journalism is considered in the context of the historical evolution of public communication. A methodological strategy for systematically analysing citizen participation opportunities in the media is then proposed and applied. A sample of 16 online newspapers offers preliminary data that suggest news organisations are interpreting online user participation mainly as an opportunity for their readers to debate current events, while other stages of the news production process are closed to citizen involvement or controlled by professional journalists when participation is allowed. However, different strategies exist among the studied sample, and contextual factors should be considered in further research.
When everyone can be a publisher, what distinguishes the journalist? This article considers conte... more When everyone can be a publisher, what distinguishes the journalist? This article considers contemporary challenges to institutional roles in a digital media environment and then turns to three broad journalistic normative values—authenticity, accountability, and autonomy—that affect the credibility of journalists and the content they provide. A set of questions that can help citizens determine the trustworthiness of information available to them emerges from the discussion.
Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, Jan 1, 2008
Despite the spread of blogs in mass media and in academia, little scholarly work has explored the... more Despite the spread of blogs in mass media and in academia, little scholarly work has explored their use within the journalism and mass communication curriculum. This study, based on incorporation of blogs in ten classes during five semesters -- undergraduate and graduate, skills and conceptual -- examines student use of the format in relation to theories of social and blended learning. Findings suggest that although students tend to approach blogging as yet another assignment, blogs facilitate their engagement with course materials and one another.
Commitments to truth and to “transparency,” or public accountability, are two central normative a... more Commitments to truth and to “transparency,” or public accountability, are two central normative aspects of professional journalism. This article considers ways in which both are challenged and complemented by popular communicators, particularly bloggers, in today's media environment. While all professions claim autonomy over articulation and enactment of their own norms, definitions of professional constructs are now open to reinterpretation, and oversight of professional behavior is increasingly shared.
Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Jan 1, 2006
In their coverage of the 2004 political campaign, editors of Web sites affiliated with major U.S.... more In their coverage of the 2004 political campaign, editors of Web sites affiliated with major U.S. newspapers continued to emphasize their role as providers of credible information. But they moved toward seeing that information less as an end product than as a basis for user engagement, participation, and personalization. This study, which builds on a similar study conducted after the 2000 election, suggests journalists may be taking steps toward reshaping their gatekeeping role to accommodate the interactive nature of the Internet.
This study explores how the increasingly popular blog format, as adopted by journalists affiliate... more This study explores how the increasingly popular blog format, as adopted by journalists affiliated with mainstream media outlets, affects long-standing journalistic norms and practice. It focuses on non-partisanship, transparency and the gatekeeping role, using a content analysis of 20 weblogs dealing with politics or civic affairs. Although expressions of opinion are common, most journalists are seeking to remain gatekeepers even in this highly interactive and participatory format. Political j-bloggers use links extensively - but mostly to other mainstream media sites. At least in their early use, journalists are ‘normalizing’ the blog as a component, and in some ways an enhancement, of traditional journalistic norms and practices.
Cultural Meanings of News: A Text-Reader, Jan 1, 2010
In an open and virtually boundless media environment, old responses to the question of who is a j... more In an open and virtually boundless media environment, old responses to the question of who is a journalist, based primarily on roles associated with the process of gathering and disseminating information, no longer apply. This article suggests a reconceptualization of the journalist based instead on normative constructs. Specifically, it advocates a blend of two competing philosophical approaches, existentialism and social responsibility theory, as well as two roughly corresponding professional norms, independence and accountability. The combination produces a “socially responsible existentialist”, a journalist who chooses to act as a trustworthy source of information that serves the public interest. That framework is applied at both a concrete level, through consideration of weblogs and the proliferation of partisan information sources, and a conceptual level, through consideration of gatekeeping and agenda-setting functions.
As media companies test and implement newsroom "convergence," growing numbers of journalists are ... more As media companies test and implement newsroom "convergence," growing numbers of journalists are producing content not only for their own employer but also for other media outlets with which that employer has a business relationship. This article, based on case studies in 4 converged news markets, explores journalists' perceptions of normative pressures in this new media environment, particularly in relation to the overarching concept of public service. The findings suggest that although journalists do not see convergence itself as posing significant ethical problems, they do raise concerns related to specific components of public service, including a devotion to accuracy, an avoidance of sensationalism, and independence from economic pressures.
Journalism and Mass Communcication Quarterly, Jan 1, 2004
Newsroom experiments with convergence-a sharing of news staffs, technologies, products, and geogr... more Newsroom experiments with convergence-a sharing of news staffs, technologies, products, and geography-disrupt not just the norms and routines of newspaper news work but, more profoundly, the professional socialization of print journalists and their perception of themselves as a distinctive kind of news worker. This article draws on case studies of four converged newsrooms to examine conceptual and sociological shifts among newspaper journalists. Findings suggest print journalists are undergoing resocialization to an expanded view of profrssionalism; ingrained habits and learned skills related to newsroom structure and storytelling norms are more resistant to change
This study explores how the social dimensions of a reporter’s world shape ethical decisions throu... more This study explores how the social dimensions of a reporter’s world shape ethical decisions through parallel surveys of daily newspaper reporters in Israel and one Midwestern US state. Through regression analysis, we found that personal factors (gender, years of education) were not related to ethical decisions nor were professional factors (professional experience, professional membership, having studied journalism). In contrast, the social context element (country of practice) was relevant for two of three ethical situations. We also found that personal, professional and social dimensions varied in their utility to ethical decision-making from situation to situation. Considering a reporter’s ethical predisposition, this study found that personal value systems may be more important for ethical decision-making than formal written codes. This study suggests that ethical foundations shared across nations can create cultural bridges – but that diverging ethical perspectives also may create journalistic barriers.
This comparative study of user-generated content (UGC) in 10 Western democracies examines the pol... more This comparative study of user-generated content (UGC) in 10 Western democracies examines the political economic aspects of citizen participation in online media, as assessed by journalists who work with this content. Drawing on interviews with more than 60 journalists, we explore their perceived economic motivations for an ongoing redefinition of traditional journalistic roles, as UGC becomes an increasingly dominant feature of news websites.
This study of local British newspaper journalists focuses on three aspects of entrenched newsroom... more This study of local British newspaper journalists focuses on three aspects of entrenched newsroom culture—news values and norms, work routines and outputs, and occupational roles—to explore the boundaries that journalists see as distinguishing them from outside contributors. Findings suggest they view user-generated content (UGC) from a traditional professional perspective and weigh its benefits in terms of its contribution to the journalism they produce. While most are open to its inclusion on newspaper websites, particularly as a traffic builder and supplemental source of hyperlocal information, they believe UGC can undermine journalistic norms and values unless carefully monitored—a gatekeeping task they fear cannot fit within newsroom routines threatened by resource constraints of increasing severity.
This study explores how Web sites affiliated with leading U.S. newspapers covered the 2008 campai... more This study explores how Web sites affiliated with leading U.S. newspapers covered the 2008 campaign and election. It traces changes over a decade in which the Internet moved from the periphery to the center of political, public, and media attention. Although a 2004 study suggested online editors were rethinking their function as information gatekeepers, this study indicates a reassertion of traditional journalistic roles despite an increase in options for user input.
In May 2007, Scots voted into office a party and a political leader publicly committed to holding... more In May 2007, Scots voted into office a party and a political leader publicly committed to holding a referendum on independence from Great Britain within four years. This study analyzes nearly forty-eight hundred comments appended to stories on the scotsman.com Web site, offering one of the first detailed looks at user-generated content on a newspaper-affiliated Web site in the context of a national election. It explores the evolving nature of online political community and the ways in which newspapers are accommodating a networked environment in their political coverage, addressing issues of citizen and journalistic engagement within a communal space.
The authors explore how technology has altered the work processes and activities in news organiza... more The authors explore how technology has altered the work processes and activities in news organizations. They show how story idea generation, research, sourcing, processing, packaging, and repurposing have changed and created needs for news skills and capabilities.
This case study examines how journalists at Britain's Guardian newspaper and affiliated Web site ... more This case study examines how journalists at Britain's Guardian newspaper and affiliated Web site are assessing and incorporating user-generated content in their perceptions and practices. A framework of existentialism helps highlight constructs and professional norms of interest. It is one of the first data-driven studies to explore how journalists are negotiating personal and social ethics within a digital network.
A Shifting Rationale for the Gatekeeping Role and the …
The move to a networked media environment presents a range of challenges to journalistic routines... more The move to a networked media environment presents a range of challenges to journalistic routines, roles, and norms. This article suggests that professional ethics have evolved to articulate and safeguard a traditional gatekeeping role that no longer exists; as a result, the rationale behind hose ethics must shift to accommodate interconnections rather than discrete products and functions. Similarly, the notion of journalistic objectivity is open to renewed debate when detachment can translate into isolation from the rest of the network.
This article is a contribution to the debate on audience participation in online media with a two... more This article is a contribution to the debate on audience participation in online media with a twofold aim: (1) making conceptual sense of the phenomenon of participatory journalism in the framework of journalism research, and (2) determining the forms that it is taking in eight European countries and the United States. First, participatory journalism is considered in the context of the historical evolution of public communication. A methodological strategy for systematically analysing citizen participation opportunities in the media is then proposed and applied. A sample of 16 online newspapers offers preliminary data that suggest news organisations are interpreting online user participation mainly as an opportunity for their readers to debate current events, while other stages of the news production process are closed to citizen involvement or controlled by professional journalists when participation is allowed. However, different strategies exist among the studied sample, and contextual factors should be considered in further research.
When everyone can be a publisher, what distinguishes the journalist? This article considers conte... more When everyone can be a publisher, what distinguishes the journalist? This article considers contemporary challenges to institutional roles in a digital media environment and then turns to three broad journalistic normative values—authenticity, accountability, and autonomy—that affect the credibility of journalists and the content they provide. A set of questions that can help citizens determine the trustworthiness of information available to them emerges from the discussion.
Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, Jan 1, 2008
Despite the spread of blogs in mass media and in academia, little scholarly work has explored the... more Despite the spread of blogs in mass media and in academia, little scholarly work has explored their use within the journalism and mass communication curriculum. This study, based on incorporation of blogs in ten classes during five semesters -- undergraduate and graduate, skills and conceptual -- examines student use of the format in relation to theories of social and blended learning. Findings suggest that although students tend to approach blogging as yet another assignment, blogs facilitate their engagement with course materials and one another.
Commitments to truth and to “transparency,” or public accountability, are two central normative a... more Commitments to truth and to “transparency,” or public accountability, are two central normative aspects of professional journalism. This article considers ways in which both are challenged and complemented by popular communicators, particularly bloggers, in today's media environment. While all professions claim autonomy over articulation and enactment of their own norms, definitions of professional constructs are now open to reinterpretation, and oversight of professional behavior is increasingly shared.
Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Jan 1, 2006
In their coverage of the 2004 political campaign, editors of Web sites affiliated with major U.S.... more In their coverage of the 2004 political campaign, editors of Web sites affiliated with major U.S. newspapers continued to emphasize their role as providers of credible information. But they moved toward seeing that information less as an end product than as a basis for user engagement, participation, and personalization. This study, which builds on a similar study conducted after the 2000 election, suggests journalists may be taking steps toward reshaping their gatekeeping role to accommodate the interactive nature of the Internet.
This study explores how the increasingly popular blog format, as adopted by journalists affiliate... more This study explores how the increasingly popular blog format, as adopted by journalists affiliated with mainstream media outlets, affects long-standing journalistic norms and practice. It focuses on non-partisanship, transparency and the gatekeeping role, using a content analysis of 20 weblogs dealing with politics or civic affairs. Although expressions of opinion are common, most journalists are seeking to remain gatekeepers even in this highly interactive and participatory format. Political j-bloggers use links extensively - but mostly to other mainstream media sites. At least in their early use, journalists are ‘normalizing’ the blog as a component, and in some ways an enhancement, of traditional journalistic norms and practices.
Cultural Meanings of News: A Text-Reader, Jan 1, 2010
In an open and virtually boundless media environment, old responses to the question of who is a j... more In an open and virtually boundless media environment, old responses to the question of who is a journalist, based primarily on roles associated with the process of gathering and disseminating information, no longer apply. This article suggests a reconceptualization of the journalist based instead on normative constructs. Specifically, it advocates a blend of two competing philosophical approaches, existentialism and social responsibility theory, as well as two roughly corresponding professional norms, independence and accountability. The combination produces a “socially responsible existentialist”, a journalist who chooses to act as a trustworthy source of information that serves the public interest. That framework is applied at both a concrete level, through consideration of weblogs and the proliferation of partisan information sources, and a conceptual level, through consideration of gatekeeping and agenda-setting functions.
As media companies test and implement newsroom "convergence," growing numbers of journalists are ... more As media companies test and implement newsroom "convergence," growing numbers of journalists are producing content not only for their own employer but also for other media outlets with which that employer has a business relationship. This article, based on case studies in 4 converged news markets, explores journalists' perceptions of normative pressures in this new media environment, particularly in relation to the overarching concept of public service. The findings suggest that although journalists do not see convergence itself as posing significant ethical problems, they do raise concerns related to specific components of public service, including a devotion to accuracy, an avoidance of sensationalism, and independence from economic pressures.
Journalism and Mass Communcication Quarterly, Jan 1, 2004
Newsroom experiments with convergence-a sharing of news staffs, technologies, products, and geogr... more Newsroom experiments with convergence-a sharing of news staffs, technologies, products, and geography-disrupt not just the norms and routines of newspaper news work but, more profoundly, the professional socialization of print journalists and their perception of themselves as a distinctive kind of news worker. This article draws on case studies of four converged newsrooms to examine conceptual and sociological shifts among newspaper journalists. Findings suggest print journalists are undergoing resocialization to an expanded view of profrssionalism; ingrained habits and learned skills related to newsroom structure and storytelling norms are more resistant to change
This study explores how the social dimensions of a reporter’s world shape ethical decisions throu... more This study explores how the social dimensions of a reporter’s world shape ethical decisions through parallel surveys of daily newspaper reporters in Israel and one Midwestern US state. Through regression analysis, we found that personal factors (gender, years of education) were not related to ethical decisions nor were professional factors (professional experience, professional membership, having studied journalism). In contrast, the social context element (country of practice) was relevant for two of three ethical situations. We also found that personal, professional and social dimensions varied in their utility to ethical decision-making from situation to situation. Considering a reporter’s ethical predisposition, this study found that personal value systems may be more important for ethical decision-making than formal written codes. This study suggests that ethical foundations shared across nations can create cultural bridges – but that diverging ethical perspectives also may create journalistic barriers.
This study examines newsroom convergence—a combination of technologies, products, staffs and geog... more This study examines newsroom convergence—a combination of technologies, products, staffs and geography among the previously distinct provinces of print, television and online media—through the framework of diffusion of innovations theory. Convergence is becoming a global trend as media companies continue to expand their holdings beyond their original core products. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative data drawn from case studies of four US newsrooms, it is suggested that, despite culture clashes and other issues of compatibility, journalists see clear advantages in the new policy of convergence. Journalists perceive experience in a converged newsroom as a career booster, say they enjoy working with colleagues whose strengths differ from their own, and admit that convergence has led to respect for people in other parts of the news organization. At the same time, the diffusion of convergence within the newsroom may be hindered by cultural and technological differences in approaches to newsgathering and dissemination, as well as by a lack of training to alleviate concerns about the perceived complexities of new media formats.
Journal article by Jane B. Singer; Newspaper …, Jan 1, 2002
Information Trumps Interaction in Local Papers' Online Caucus Coverage. by Jane B. Singe... more Information Trumps Interaction in Local Papers' Online Caucus Coverage. by Jane B. Singer Both the conduct and coverage of politics took to the Internet during the 2000 elections. While major media organizations created massive online products,.
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