1. Institute of Media and Communication
“A maturing discipline: The development of
comprehensive theories and designs in
communication research.”
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Donsbach
Institute of Media and Communication
Technische Universität Dresden
www.donsbach.net
Higher School of Economics - Moscow, Russia
Conference "Communication as a Discipline and as a Field”
July 11, 2015
www.donsbach.net

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Topics
 A struggling discipline

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What defines a discipline?
 Object
 Theory
 Methods
 Problem

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– General competence: keen awareness of relevant
history, current affairs, and analytical thinking
– Subject competence: expertise in the specific
subjects about which he or she reports
– Process competence: scientifically based
knowledge about the communication process
– Journalistic skills
– Professional values: conduct himself or herself
within the norms of professional ethics
The Five Basic Competences of
Journalism
= the Authority of Journalism

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Conditions for a professional journalism?
”Many/most J&MC programs don’t do a very good job of teaching the
philosophy of journalism, the history of journalism, and/or purpose of
journalism, particularly how journalism is absolutely necessary, not
irrelevant or harmful, to both democracy and capitalism”
„Most deans/directors are largely fund-raisers and administrators“
(Claussen 2012)
No leadership/no excellence

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Topics
 A struggling discipline
 How disciplines advance

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Advancement of disciplines
Phase Activity Example from sciences
Young Description collecting and sorting stones
Developing Correlation finding similarities and „laws“
among them
Mature Explication Explaining their genesis and
composition through
quantum mechanics

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Topics
 A struggling discipline
 How disciplines advance
 Our Higgs boson?!

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The ultimate „driving force“ in communication?
Annie Lang: We need just one paradigm? Adaption to the environment
• „humans are born to change“  adoption to environment
• communication as a natural evolutionary development which
serves to promote the continued existence of the species and
the individual as it attempts to adapt through change to an
unpredictable and unstable environment.
• “From this perspective, the whole notion of effects is
ridiculous”
• Changes are the result of a combination of environmental
pressures and stimuli, as well as internal forces such as
development, education, and biological imperatives.
Lang 2013

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Or is it communibiology?
 Betty & McCroskey: individual differences in communication
behavior and responses to messages are manifestations of
individual differences in inborn thresholds for activation of
the neurobiological systems responsible for the particular
response.
 From genes to neurobiological traits and patterns to
communication behavior?
 Twins research: Inheritable
 70% of variation in traits related to interpersonal affiliation
(e.g., extraversion, friendliness, verbal expressiveness,
gregariousness, empathy, perspective-taking)
 65% of the variance in social anxiety traits
 58% of the variance in aggressiveness

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Topics
 A struggling discipline
 How disciplines advance
 Our Higgs boson?!
 Descriptive and superficial theories
 Gatekeeper and news value ‚theory‘

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What is the problem?
• We are good in modelling these processes but weak in
theorizing

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Ideological level
Extramedia level
Organizational level
Media routines level
Individual level
Shoemaker & Reese (1991)
Models of News Decisions

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What is the problem?
• We are good in modelling these processes but weak in
theorizing
• Input known, output known
• But what happens in the blackbox
Available
news/“reality“
News media
content??

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What is the problem?
• We are good in modelling these processes but weak in
theorizing
• Input known, output known
• But what happens in the blackbox
• E.g. news value theory: only structure of news content
• Schulz: “principles of journalists’ construction of reality”
• But: no explanatory concept why these principles exist
and why they change!

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Changing News Ideologies
Percent of News Containing Some Form of
Criticism in Swedish News Media
Quelle: Westerstahl & Johanssen 1986, S. 142
1912 24 36/37 48 60 72 80/81 81/84
Met Press TV2 Radio TV1%
Ideology of critical
journalism
Traditional news ideology/
Paternalistic ideology

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Bad News
Negative Coverage of Presidential Candidates
Quelle: Patterson 1993; 2000
1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000
Bad New s%
50%

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What is the problem?
• We are good in modelling these processes but weak in
theorizing
• Input – output known
• But what happens in the blackbox
• E.g. news value theory: only structure of news content
• Schulz: “principles of journalists’ construction of reality”
• But: no explanatory concept why these principles exist
and why they change!
• We treat the process of news in many aspects without
really unveiling the underlying processes

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A few attempts to overcome this problem
• Evolutionary theory of news values

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Significance
Social
Evolution
Deviance
Biological
Evolution
 Statistical deviance
 Deviance through
social change
 Normative deviance
 Political
 Economic
 Cultural
 Public
Theory of Deviance and Significance (Shoemaker 2002)
Negativity bias/
automatic vigilance

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A few attempts to overcome this problem
• Evolutionary theory of news values
• Need for protection of one’s predispositions

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• hypothesis theory of perception
• Schema theory
• Theory of cognitive dissonance
General theories about the power of cognitive
predispositions
Specific theories on news decisions
• Theory of instrumental actualization
• Framing theory

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Theory of Instrumental Actualization
Desired effects
among
audience
Selection
Instrumentality
of news for
desired effects
among audience
Motivation for decision-making
Available
news
Kepplinger 1989

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A few attempts to overcome this problem
• Evolutionary theory of news values
• Need for protection of one’s predispositions
• Need for social validation of perceptions

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 What is true? ( Truth)
 Was ist relevant? ( news value)
 Was ist good/acceptable? ( evaluation)
Time
pressure
Lack of objective
criteria
Pressure of
competition
publicness
„Undetermined
situations“
Explaining journalists’ behavior through socio-
psychological drivers: Journalists’ dilemma
Help by in-groups

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The power of group decision-making
Shared Reality: Perception through communication
„…we suggest that in the absence of social verification,
experience is transitory, random, and ephemeral… But once
recognized by others and shared in an ongoing, dynamic process
of social verification we term ‘shared reality’, experience is no
longer subjective…That is, experience is established as valid and
reliable to the extent that it is shared with others”
(Hardin & Higgins 1996: 28)

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 "frames of reference“ (Halloran et al.)
 "news ideologies“ (Westerstahl and Johanssen (1986)
 “news frames” (Entman 1989)
 “scripts” (Kerbel and Ross 1999)
 Role of key events
Examples for consequences of shared
reality in news content

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0
10
20
30
40
50
60
4 weeks
before
4 weeks
after
SZ
FAZ
STZ
AZ
Key events:: Announcement of Rock Hudson being infected with AIDS virus July 7, 1985, Major truck
accident in Germany July 7, 1987; San Francisco earthquake October 17, 1989. Coded: Coverage of people
being infected by AIDS, truck accidents, earthquakes (in each case excluding coverage of key events)
No. of
stories
Influence of Key Events on News Values in
Subsequent Reporting
Source: Kepplinger, Habermeier 1995

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Topics
 A struggling discipline
 How disciplines advance
 Our Higgs boson?!
 Descriptive and superficial theories
 Gatekeeper and news value ‚theory‘
 Selective exposure ‚theory‘
 Most cases de-facto-selectivity = descriptive
 Explanations behind?

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Topics
 A struggling discipline
 How disciplines advance
 Our Higgs boson?!
 Descriptive and superficial theories
 Gatekeeper and news value ‚theory‘
 Selective exposure ‚theory‘
 Agenda setting ‚theory‘
 descriptive
 Why-Question unanswered
 Advancement through cognitive theories

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Topics
 A struggling discipline
 How disciplines advance
 Our Higgs boson?!
 Descriptive and superficial theories
 Gatekeeper and news value ‚theory‘
 Selective exposure ‚theory‘
 Agenda setting ‚theory‘
 Variables behind variables?
 Go below surface of existing „domain“ variables
 Integrate theories  comprehensive theories

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Motivation for interest in politics
 Paramount research question in a democracy

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Interest in politics on the decline
Interest in politics is decreasing particularly among adolesents of
the lower class
Adolescents from 14-24 who have at least a slight interest in politics:
67
57
45
65
49
32
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
high socio-economic status middle socio-economic
status
low socio-economic status
1995
2011
Source: Allensbacher Markt- und Werbeträgeranalyse 1995 and 2011
[%
]

34. www.donsbach.netSource: Pew Research Center
„I enjoy keeping up with the news“ (USA 2006-2012)
52 52
45
43
38 38
27
24
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
2006 2008 2010 2012
all
18-29
* Soule, S. (2001). Will They Engage? Political Knowledge, Participation and Attitudes
of Generations X and Y. Available at: http://www.civiced.org/papers/research_
engage.pdf [August 30, 2013].

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Information Intake by age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
14–17 18–29 30+
News Topic 1
News Topic 2
Both Topics
What proportion of the population got information about the news topics?
n=600 (each)
Basis: Whole population!
%
42% informed
themselves
about both news
items

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Motivation for interest in politics
 Paramount research question in a democracy
 Needs comprehensive theories
 Needs dynamic models (ongoing interaction process)
 Changes in motivation = result and cause
 What drives motivation to get engaged in politics?
 Traditionally: Media malaise hypothesis
 Unidirectional and superficial (still true)

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-30
-20
-10
0
10
20
30
1949 1953 1957 1961 1965 1969 1972 1976 1980 1983 1987 1990 1994 1998 2002 2005 2009
Kandidaten der CDU/CSU Kandidaten der SPD Gesamt
Candidates in the German press
Balance between positive and negative reports/election year
Wilke & Reinemann 2003
- Mean for both candidates

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Declining Reputation of Politicians
“Do you think it needs great capabilities to become a member of parliament?
East GermanyWest Germany
Not needed Not needed

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Bad News - Bad Opinions
Günstige und ungünstige Erw ähnungen der Präsdentschaftkandidaten
in Time und New sw eek, n= 4.263 und Durchschnitt der Wählermeinung für die jew eiligen
Kandidaten
Quelle: Patterson 1993, S. 20, 23
#
#
# #
#
#
#
#
#
1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992
Bad New s negative Wähler-Meinung#%
Prof. Donsbach
50%
Classic Model of Media Malaise: Negative Content  Negative
Attitudes: Coverage of Candidates for US Presidency
Balance of negative over positive
attitudes
Balance of negative over
positive news

40. www.donsbach.net
Motivation for interest in politics
 Paramount research question in a democracy
 Needs comprehensive theories
 Needs dynamic models (ongoing interaction process)
 Changes in motivation = result and cause
 What drives motivation to get engaged in politics?
 Traditionally: Media malaise hypothesis
 Unidirectional and superficial (still true)
 Looking for more deeper drivers of behavior

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Motivation for engaging in political communication
 concept of the self = „motivational engine“ of political
communication behavior
 Closely related to cognitive dissonance
 Three elements:
 Competent
 Moral
 Able to predict own behavior (De Marree et al. 2007)
 Hypothesis: When attacks on concept of self: dis-identification with
the domain in question (Aronson et al. 1995)
 Dynamic model

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Relevance
of politics
(low)
Dis-Identification from
politics
External pol.
efficacy
(low)
News use
(low)
Media coverage of
politics
(negativism)
Spiral of political dis-
identification
Treatment of
politics in
interpersonal
communication
Political knowledge
(low)
Political
Information
Internal political
competence
(high)Disso-
nance
Political talk
(low)
Political
malaise
(high)
Internal pol.
Efficacy
(low)
Com-
plex
issues

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Wave 1
July 2013
Wave 3
December 2013
22.09.2013
Federal election
Political
exception phase
(vgl. Boczkowski & Mitchelstein 2012)
Political
routine phase
(vgl. Boczkowski & Mitchelstein 2012)
Wave 4
July 2014
Wave 2
September 2013
Panel-Design

44. 50
Quality of Information
• Information about politics
• Information about issue
• Talking about politics
• Talking about specific issue
• Exposure to professional media
Attitudes towards politics: Interactive effects
Political complexity
High/low complexity of issues
Personal Relevance
• Interest in Politics
• Interest in election
• Interest in issue
Perceived general political efficacy
In time elapsed
JUNE 2013 SEPTEMBER 2013
Age
Education
Male
Empfundene
Kompetenz
in Bezug auf Politik
im Allgemeinen
Perceived general competence
In time elapsed
JUNE 2013 SEPTEMBER 2013
+
+
+ +
+
+
Attack on
concept of
self
Dis-identifica-
tion politics

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Studies needed for comprehensive theories
 Individual-level data
 Longitudinal data
 More fine-grained measurement of exposure
 Inclusion of social networks
 Concrete communication exposure
 Concrete communication content
 Combination of citizen variables and content variables