I use academia.edu to post recent papers, working papers, and other writings (because it's so easy to post here). I keep up with all my published work and class information, on my main faculty website (see profiles button, "home," below.) Address: https://www.stephendreese.com/
Where shall we start in understanding the complex communication landscape of a networked China, p... more Where shall we start in understanding the complex communication landscape of a networked China, predicated on a dense web of digital platforms and mediated connections? We begin here by narrowing that challenge to issues of public life: how new networked forms emerge, how the role of the State has evolved, and what implications that raises for, lacking a better phrase, civic engagement. We use that concept loosely here to describe how people become involved with others to advance the future of their community, in
The eco-systemic approach to journalism reflects the complexity of the current information system... more The eco-systemic approach to journalism reflects the complexity of the current information system, joining with other terms that are part of the «spatial turn». These conceptions, however, are in tension with the fundamental idea of institution. This essay reviews this conceptual challenge, especially the idea of assemblage, which has been variously used to describe all kinds of combinations without connecting them back to their institutional value. I explore a case study of one assemblage involving open-source reporting, with implications for institutional norms and values as they relate to journalism, and which suits the idea of «hybrid institution»
The violent spectacle of the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot provides a case study of how onli... more The violent spectacle of the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot provides a case study of how online open-source investigation helped identify members of the mob and provide deeper understanding of the day's events. Considering this form of investigation as an emerging network for the hybrid institution of journalism, an assemblage extending beyond the newsroom, this study takes a mixed-method, networked ethnography approach to map out this open-source space. Using a network analysis of open-source investigators based on Twitter data shows that the recently emerged Bellingcat organization and similar open-source groups serve a liaison function, bridging professional journalists and largely anonymous citizen "sleuthers." Using this network as a guide, depth interviews were conducted with key participants, showing that the community was organized around an accountability ethos and a methodology of verification. We argue that this interlocking network has potential to strengthen the resilience of the journalistic institution, build citizen trust and resist politicized historical revisionism.
The conceptual article can make a valuable contribution to the scholarly conversation but present... more The conceptual article can make a valuable contribution to the scholarly conversation but presents its own special challenges compared to the traditional article that reports empirical findings or interpretive analysis with a familiar organizational structure. This article provides a guide to this task, organized around the process of concept explication-the development of theoretical concepts with careful attention to the interplay between their definition and measurement. From ideation to the final writing stage, one must carefully specify how these concepts are connected together in a broader theoretical argument. Examples of this kind of conceptual work are drawn from the field of journalism studies and communication to guide writers in moving beyond an essay that summarizes literature to an article that makes an original contribution, writing in such a way that the key argument is communicated effectively.
This theoretical essay considers how the institution of journalism, now threatened by authoritari... more This theoretical essay considers how the institution of journalism, now threatened by authoritarian attack and other challenges, has been conceptualized and proposes a refinement on previous defi- nitions:
An institution is a complex social structure—formed by an interlocking network of rules and activities, roles, technologies, norms, and collective frames of meaning–which work together to sustain its coherence, endurance, and value.
Guided by this general definition, and to better accommodate new institutional forms of journalism specifically in the hybrid media system, I introduce a typology based on two dimensions: level-of-analysis and structural emphasis, that is whether on trad- itional news organizations or emerging assemblages. In balancing their roles as critic and champion, I argue that academic observ- ers must not take institutional stability, coherence, and value for granted, which previous perspectives have over-stated, but rather take a more explicitly normative assessment of how different structures contribute to those qualities.
Information workers in Texas are classified as knowledge producers, distributors, market search a... more Information workers in Texas are classified as knowledge producers, distributors, market search and coordination specialists, or information processors, and compared with traditional service and industrial workers in their demographic characteristics, attitudes toward and adoption of communications technology, and use of traditional information media
... The expanded use of hypermedia links within news stories accessed through the Web raises a ..... more ... The expanded use of hypermedia links within news stories accessed through the Web raises a ... Mabry's focus is on the ways in which the technology of computer mediated communication shapes the ... has been particularly useful in understanding the media's role in political life. ...
Recent research on the differential effects of newspapers and television news has offered a wide ... more Recent research on the differential effects of newspapers and television news has offered a wide variety of operationalizations of media exposure, reliance, and dependency. While these operationalizations have been drawn from the same general theoretic domain, they have led to contradictory findings and conceptual difficulties. This article examines media dependency as a complex construct involving the interactions of exposure to television news, exposure to nespapers, and expressions of reliance on one medium or the other. Data are from the 1976 University of Michigan CPS national election study. As hypothesized, reliance on a medium enhances positive associations between exposure to that medium and political efficacy and activity.
Recent research on the differential effects of newspapers and television news has offered a wide ... more Recent research on the differential effects of newspapers and television news has offered a wide variety of operationalizations of media exposure, reliance, and dependency. While these operationalizations have been drawn from the same general theoretic domain, they have led to contradictory findings and conceptual difficulties. This article examines media dependency as a complex construct involving the interactions of exposure to television news, exposure to nespapers, and expressions of reliance on one medium or the other. Data are from the 1976 University of Michigan CPS national election study. As hypothesized, reliance on a medium enhances positive associations between exposure to that medium and political efficacy and activity.
Where shall we start in understanding the complex communication landscape of a networked China, p... more Where shall we start in understanding the complex communication landscape of a networked China, predicated on a dense web of digital platforms and mediated connections? We begin here by narrowing that challenge to issues of public life: how new networked forms emerge, how the role of the State has evolved, and what implications that raises for, lacking a better phrase, civic engagement. We use that concept loosely here to describe how people become involved with others to advance the future of their community, in
The eco-systemic approach to journalism reflects the complexity of the current information system... more The eco-systemic approach to journalism reflects the complexity of the current information system, joining with other terms that are part of the «spatial turn». These conceptions, however, are in tension with the fundamental idea of institution. This essay reviews this conceptual challenge, especially the idea of assemblage, which has been variously used to describe all kinds of combinations without connecting them back to their institutional value. I explore a case study of one assemblage involving open-source reporting, with implications for institutional norms and values as they relate to journalism, and which suits the idea of «hybrid institution»
The violent spectacle of the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot provides a case study of how onli... more The violent spectacle of the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot provides a case study of how online open-source investigation helped identify members of the mob and provide deeper understanding of the day's events. Considering this form of investigation as an emerging network for the hybrid institution of journalism, an assemblage extending beyond the newsroom, this study takes a mixed-method, networked ethnography approach to map out this open-source space. Using a network analysis of open-source investigators based on Twitter data shows that the recently emerged Bellingcat organization and similar open-source groups serve a liaison function, bridging professional journalists and largely anonymous citizen "sleuthers." Using this network as a guide, depth interviews were conducted with key participants, showing that the community was organized around an accountability ethos and a methodology of verification. We argue that this interlocking network has potential to strengthen the resilience of the journalistic institution, build citizen trust and resist politicized historical revisionism.
The conceptual article can make a valuable contribution to the scholarly conversation but present... more The conceptual article can make a valuable contribution to the scholarly conversation but presents its own special challenges compared to the traditional article that reports empirical findings or interpretive analysis with a familiar organizational structure. This article provides a guide to this task, organized around the process of concept explication-the development of theoretical concepts with careful attention to the interplay between their definition and measurement. From ideation to the final writing stage, one must carefully specify how these concepts are connected together in a broader theoretical argument. Examples of this kind of conceptual work are drawn from the field of journalism studies and communication to guide writers in moving beyond an essay that summarizes literature to an article that makes an original contribution, writing in such a way that the key argument is communicated effectively.
This theoretical essay considers how the institution of journalism, now threatened by authoritari... more This theoretical essay considers how the institution of journalism, now threatened by authoritarian attack and other challenges, has been conceptualized and proposes a refinement on previous defi- nitions:
An institution is a complex social structure—formed by an interlocking network of rules and activities, roles, technologies, norms, and collective frames of meaning–which work together to sustain its coherence, endurance, and value.
Guided by this general definition, and to better accommodate new institutional forms of journalism specifically in the hybrid media system, I introduce a typology based on two dimensions: level-of-analysis and structural emphasis, that is whether on trad- itional news organizations or emerging assemblages. In balancing their roles as critic and champion, I argue that academic observ- ers must not take institutional stability, coherence, and value for granted, which previous perspectives have over-stated, but rather take a more explicitly normative assessment of how different structures contribute to those qualities.
Information workers in Texas are classified as knowledge producers, distributors, market search a... more Information workers in Texas are classified as knowledge producers, distributors, market search and coordination specialists, or information processors, and compared with traditional service and industrial workers in their demographic characteristics, attitudes toward and adoption of communications technology, and use of traditional information media
... The expanded use of hypermedia links within news stories accessed through the Web raises a ..... more ... The expanded use of hypermedia links within news stories accessed through the Web raises a ... Mabry's focus is on the ways in which the technology of computer mediated communication shapes the ... has been particularly useful in understanding the media's role in political life. ...
Recent research on the differential effects of newspapers and television news has offered a wide ... more Recent research on the differential effects of newspapers and television news has offered a wide variety of operationalizations of media exposure, reliance, and dependency. While these operationalizations have been drawn from the same general theoretic domain, they have led to contradictory findings and conceptual difficulties. This article examines media dependency as a complex construct involving the interactions of exposure to television news, exposure to nespapers, and expressions of reliance on one medium or the other. Data are from the 1976 University of Michigan CPS national election study. As hypothesized, reliance on a medium enhances positive associations between exposure to that medium and political efficacy and activity.
Recent research on the differential effects of newspapers and television news has offered a wide ... more Recent research on the differential effects of newspapers and television news has offered a wide variety of operationalizations of media exposure, reliance, and dependency. While these operationalizations have been drawn from the same general theoretic domain, they have led to contradictory findings and conceptual difficulties. This article examines media dependency as a complex construct involving the interactions of exposure to television news, exposure to nespapers, and expressions of reliance on one medium or the other. Data are from the 1976 University of Michigan CPS national election study. As hypothesized, reliance on a medium enhances positive associations between exposure to that medium and political efficacy and activity.
back to in-person teaching version of this signature class of 100 and updated reading list. all ... more back to in-person teaching version of this signature class of 100 and updated reading list. all Texas freshmen take a signature course of their choice, offered by faculty from across the campus and a topic of their choice. so, students are from across the campus, which makes for some good discussion.
Course description: The flood of misinformation in the public sphere has become an existential th... more Course description: The flood of misinformation in the public sphere has become an existential threat to democratic society, abetted by the post-truth environment where authoritarian assertion replaces traditional norms of reasoned argument. From 9/11 "truthers" and "antivaxxers" to QAnon, the rise of conspiracy theories poses a particularly vexing challenge to the political system, aided notably by former president Trump, who first exploited the raciallytinged "birtherism" conspiracy to gain attention and question the legitimacy of President Barack Obama. Trump's false charges of election fraud later laid the groundwork for the January 2021 attack on the capitol by violent extremists.
Course objectives: • To orient students to the field of journalism and media research-history, sc... more Course objectives: • To orient students to the field of journalism and media research-history, scope and current issues-within the larger field of communication, as a craft, profession and career • To introduce students to selected practitioners and major areas of research in the field as carried out within the School of Journalism and Media, and to broader opportunities and resources within the Moody College of Communication and University of Texas • To demystify and help students cultivate academic creativity (beyond method), scholarly skills, ethical norms, and clarity of written and spoken communication: that is, intellectual craftsmanship The School of Journalism graduate faculty called some years ago for a common "proseminar" experience for our doctoral and academically-oriented master's students, as well as for other doctoral students in the College. It presents a map of the field (combination of communication, media and journalism studies) but emphasizes developing student ability to conduct significant research. The course is offered in parallel with, and designed to complement, first-year seminars in theory and methods. It also is meant to provide a socialization function, as the student takes what is learned in those courses and integrates it with insights from the proseminar into a viable scholarly plan of attack. The sequence of readings and discussion follows a logical order: as a new academic you begin with a general sense of mission, become familiar with the historical roots and currents in the chosen field, consider what issues to investigate in your own work and learn the craft of doing it (beyond methodology per se). Then you become more keenly aware of the current layout of the field, its most salient ongoing conflicts, and the differences among institutional contexts, before being thrust into that field as a new member. Your personal mission and projects are then reviewed and continually revised in anticipation of this future role. Of course, you won't be fully socialized in one semester, but this telescoping of steps will provide a feel for what we hope to emphasize in the doctoral program. You join a conversation that has been going on for many years, familiarize yourself with it, and become prepared to meaningfully contribute to it through your own career. Text books to purchase: Becker, H. (1997). Tricks of the trade: how to think about your research while you're doing it. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago.
Course objectives: • To orient students to the field of journalism and media research-history, sc... more Course objectives: • To orient students to the field of journalism and media research-history, scope and current issues-within the larger field of communication, as a craft, profession and career • To introduce students to selected practitioners and major areas of research in the field as carried out within the School of Journalism and Media, and to broader opportunities and resources within the Moody College of Communication and University of Texas • To demystify and help students cultivate academic creativity (beyond method), scholarly skills, ethical norms, and clarity of written and spoken communication: that is, intellectual craftsmanship The School of Journalism graduate faculty called some years ago for a common "proseminar" experience for our doctoral and academically-oriented master's students, as well as for other doctoral students in the College. It presents a map of the field (combination of communication, media and journalism studies) but emphasizes developing student ability to conduct significant research. The course is offered in parallel with, and designed to complement, first-year seminars in theory and methods. It also is meant to provide a socialization function, as the student takes what is learned in those courses and integrates it with insights from the proseminar into a viable scholarly plan of attack. The sequence of readings and discussion follows a logical order: as a new academic you begin with a general sense of mission, become familiar with the historical roots and currents in the chosen field, consider what issues to investigate in your own work and learn the craft of doing it (beyond methodology per se). Then you become more keenly aware of the current layout of the field, its most salient ongoing conflicts, and the differences among institutional contexts, before being thrust into that field as a new member. Your personal mission and projects are then reviewed and continually revised in anticipation of this future role. Of course, you won't be fully socialized in one semester, but this telescoping of steps will provide a feel for what we hope to emphasize in the doctoral program. You join a conversation that has been going on for many years, familiarize yourself with it, and become prepared to meaningfully contribute to it through your own career. Text books to purchase: Becker, H. (1997). Tricks of the trade: how to think about your research while you're doing it. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago.
Course Objectives • To introduce the framing perspective and related research • To provide opport... more Course Objectives • To introduce the framing perspective and related research • To provide opportunity for critical synthesis of this area of the field • To carry out original research within the framing paradigm • To investigate the application of framing perspectives to big data As one of the communication field's most widely-invoked concepts, framing provides a valuable window into the political and cultural role of media. This remains true in spite of the hybrid and networked logics of the new media ecosystem. To previous concerns over legacy media influence have been added issues of political narratives and memes. Framing refers to the way events and issues are organized, and made sense of, especially by media, media professionals, and their audiences. Frames are organizing principles that are socially shared and persistent over time, that work symbolically to meaningfully structure the social world. This approach moves beyond simple media "bias" to consider the deeper message structure. And it makes connections between visual and verbal analysis, quantitative and qualitative, critical and social scientific, psychological and sociological, production and reception. Under this approach, issues are not unproblematic; labeling, classifying, and reducing them to a simple theme is not a straightforward task. We will consider possibilities for both group and individual seminar research projects related to framing. As a result, the readings will be front-loaded in the term so as to prepare as quickly as possible for your own projects. Students will ideally have had some familiarity with communication theory and methods, although the seminar is available to other advanced students outside the School of Journalism. As a new addition to the seminar, we will explore the application of framing perspectives to big data techniques. This may help provide some empirical project possibilities for interested students.
This is the most recent version of this class, now online with synchronous engagement sections wi... more This is the most recent version of this class, now online with synchronous engagement sections with otherwise recorded video-lectures.
At the ICA conference in Washington, fellows inducted the previous year were invited to give brie... more At the ICA conference in Washington, fellows inducted the previous year were invited to give brief reflections at one of three panels set aside for the occasion. Here's what I shared.
The life of the mind is under attack from many directions. Concentrated in communities of higher ... more The life of the mind is under attack from many directions. Concentrated in communities of higher education, this life makes an easy target for critics of academia who think it should conform more closely to business values and productivity metrics. And the irrational forces in the larger culture undermine reason itself, diminishing the importance of rational arguments and casting doubt on even issues of scientific consensus. More insidious pressures arise, however, from the inside, with the distractions of always-on information streams that make it harder to carve out space for serious reflection and quality work. There are enough external threats without being self-defeating. As " information workers, " are scholars contending with the same pressures they always have, or have we entered a new era with greater demands on information handling abilities than ever before—requiring new skills and different forms of personal discipline? I think the latter, and want to consider the habits of mind, workflows and tools in the academic routine that can help meet these demands. A vast amount has been written on the general subject of productivity, but in this essay I review the special challenges we face in the academic world in keeping up with professional demands, put them in the context of that larger productivity conversation, and share some of the routines and tools that I've found useful. For an essay like this I recognize that specific tools will come and go, so I focus on general functions they serve. My emphasis is on the daily needs we have in common in staying organizing and keeping up with the academic workflow, leaving aside the more specific pedagogical and methodological skills also required for the job. Writing about productivity implies that I myself have some credibility in this area. I don't profess to have it all figured out, but having been promoted through the ranks at my own institution I hope that I have learned a few things worth sharing. In the length of my career and as an early adopter I've seen the remarkable changes technology has brought to the academic workplace, and been obliged to adapt to them. I do regularly take stock of my own routines and update them, particularly at the beginning of a new year and as office moves have forced some reorganizing and down-sizing. Above all, I take seriously the life of the mind and have been privileged to be allowed to pursue it, so I want to do everything I can to get better at it and help others do the same. These strategies are not usually taught in graduate school, and how we organize ourselves is a very personal side of life, one that can be a source of potential embarrassment and sensitivity. 1 People cobble together some system they think works for them and are resistant to changing it, especially after it's been rooted in place for many years. These are not issues we often share with our colleagues, much like teaching once was, where new
I am very grateful to AEJMC and the standing research committee for this award, and for all of th... more I am very grateful to AEJMC and the standing research committee for this award, and for all of those who made it possible. I'll try to thank them all in a moment. In thinking of what I'd like to say today, I've mainly been reflecting on what a great profession this is, and how glad I am to have been in it—the academic life is one of the few places where, in spite of everything, we still have a lot of freedom, to control our time and to think our own thoughts. And I've tried to take advantage of it, to not take it for granted. Unlike a lot of jobs, we can produce something that's uniquely ours, and that's rewarding. One of my favorite academics, C. Wright Mills, wrote of the sociological imagination and intellectual craftsmanship. Without sounding too pompous, I've relied on some of these high-minded thoughts to keep myself oriented. We need to think for ourselves and use our time and resources wisely in doing something worthwhile. My dad was a professor at Tennessee, so I was exposed to college campuses early on. I loved being able to wander around them as a kid, with so many interesting things to see. So, I knew something about the life, but when I went back to grad school I came to appreciate in a new way what a great place a campus can be. At Wisconsin I remember going to academic conferences for the first time in places like Ann Arbor and Chicago— a great opportunity to travel and hear about what smart people were thinking about. The university would loan a vehicle, with a keychain full of gas cards, and I would always volunteer to pick it up so I could drive. That's how we travelled to my first AEJ conference in Boston in 1980, staying in un-air-conditioned dorm rooms at Boston University. Everybody said it was unbearably hot, but I don't remember that. Dave Weaver was the discussant for my first conference paper, and I certainly had no expectation all these years later that we would be here for this panel. We tend to give our intellectual paths more coherence in retrospect than they really had at the time, and I don't want to get too tedious here so I'll keep this part brief. So much of life is opportunistic, and just being at the right place at the right time. I recommend that! I do recall that when filling out a questionnaire for freshman year in college that I checked journalism and political science as major interests, so I suppose my interest in political communication has remained constant.
A revised and expanded essay on my previous notes on personal productivity, adapted for an upcomi... more A revised and expanded essay on my previous notes on personal productivity, adapted for an upcoming festschrift volume honoring Pamela Shoemaker, Syracuse.
This season of global pandemic has made international travel difficult, but like other academics ... more This season of global pandemic has made international travel difficult, but like other academics I can still do most of the things I once did. I just have to do them mostly from the narrow boundaries of my own home. Although I miss that travel and the wealth of experiences it made possible, especially in China, this time has given me a chance to reflect on how they have shaped my intellectual directions. I value these international connections, exchanges, and collaborations, especially as new nationalisms around the world threaten to restrict them and turn us inward. Perhaps this journal's readers may be curious about how, as a Westerner, my own China journey came about. This will be a personal reflection, but even global structures are based on countless individuals and their relationships.
Inequality is a difficult subject in political life, signifying an anti-democratic concentration ... more Inequality is a difficult subject in political life, signifying an anti-democratic concentration of power that has been allowed to grow more severe, even since the 2008 financial crisis. So it's largely ignored. French economist Thomas Piketty's 2014 breakout book on the subject, Capital in the 21st century, launched a new reassessment, arguing that, because return on capital exceeds income growth, inequality matters, will continue to grow, and cannot be attributed to merit. The resulting widespread news attention to the work also serves as a focus for this book's questions regarding how the issue of inequality is mediated. Departing from much of mainstream economic thought, Piketty argued that inequality poses serious problems for society but can be ameliorated by changes in tax policy. Indeed, the growing Bezos et al. billionaire class and glaring social disparities in wealth would strike even the casual observer as cause for alarm, even if downplayed by professional observers. Populist appeals, aided by a right-wing media sphere, have exploited and fed public anxieties, but done little to support redistributive policies-seemingly just the opposite. Surely one must ask how much inequality can grow before the social contract becomes unsustainable. This volume's authors do regard inequality as a serious problem, as they do the news coverage that has functioned as apologist for neo-liberal capitalism. In failing to perform a watchdog function and take policy responses seriously, this has in their view prevented a more serious reckoning. If what passes for serious economic discourse has paid little attention to inequality, that only reflects the larger disciplinary myopia of the social sciences. Inequality in wealth obviously begets disparities in communicative power, but this crucial linkage between the economic and political spheres has been underplayed in disconnected fields more interested in micro-modeling than macro fault-lines. That goes as well for empirical research in communication, at least in the U.S., which rarely has concerned itself with structural inequality, save perhaps for studies in the 1970s of "knowledge gaps," thought to be inherently destabilizing for society and in need of closing.
This preface to the book provides what could be a stand-alone essay on how I've experienced the c... more This preface to the book provides what could be a stand-alone essay on how I've experienced the changes in the communication field over the years. Some colleagues have made note of it, so I share it here as a both a short memoir-style view of the field and sample of the larger volume.
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Papers by stephen reese
An institution is a complex social structure—formed by an interlocking network of rules and activities, roles, technologies, norms, and collective frames of meaning–which work together to sustain its coherence, endurance, and value.
Guided by this general definition, and to better accommodate new institutional forms of journalism specifically in the hybrid media system, I introduce a typology based on two dimensions: level-of-analysis and structural emphasis, that is whether on trad- itional news organizations or emerging assemblages. In balancing their roles as critic and champion, I argue that academic observ- ers must not take institutional stability, coherence, and value for granted, which previous perspectives have over-stated, but rather take a more explicitly normative assessment of how different structures contribute to those qualities.
An institution is a complex social structure—formed by an interlocking network of rules and activities, roles, technologies, norms, and collective frames of meaning–which work together to sustain its coherence, endurance, and value.
Guided by this general definition, and to better accommodate new institutional forms of journalism specifically in the hybrid media system, I introduce a typology based on two dimensions: level-of-analysis and structural emphasis, that is whether on trad- itional news organizations or emerging assemblages. In balancing their roles as critic and champion, I argue that academic observ- ers must not take institutional stability, coherence, and value for granted, which previous perspectives have over-stated, but rather take a more explicitly normative assessment of how different structures contribute to those qualities.