Presentation by Wiebke Loosen & Armin Scholl held at the ECREA Journalism Studies Section Conference, 15 February 2019, Vienna, Austria

1. Binaries⏋
Seeing Differences as Relationships
Wiebke Loosen & Armin Scholl
15 February 2019 | Vienna| ECREA Journalism Studies Section Conference

2. ► Loosen & Scholl | 15 February 2019 | Vienna
Wiebke Loosen | January 24, 2019 | Amsterdam

3. ► Loosen & Scholl | 15 February 2019 | Vienna
Wiebke Loosen | January 24, 2019 | Amsterdam
draw a distinction

4. ► Loosen & Scholl | 15 February 2019 | Vienna
Wiebke Loosen | January 24, 2019 | Amsterdam

5. ► Loosen & Scholl | 15 February 2019 | Vienna
Wiebke Loosen | January 24, 2019 | Amsterdam
journalism

6. ► Loosen & Scholl | 15 February 2019 | Vienna
Wiebke Loosen | January 24, 2019 | Amsterdam
Look at the distinction of “journalism” in the
context of its distinction from something else

7. ► Loosen & Scholl | 15 February 2019 | Vienna
Wiebke Loosen | January 24, 2019 | Amsterdam
journalism everything else
but journalism

8. ► Loosen & Scholl | 15 February 2019 | Vienna
Wiebke Loosen | January 24, 2019 | Amsterdam
Realize that the excluded “everything but journalism” is as
important for the identification of “journalism” as the marking
of “journalism” as different from “everything but journalism”.

9. ► Loosen & Scholl | 15 February 2019 | Vienna
Wiebke Loosen | January 24, 2019 | Amsterdam
journalism everything else
but journalism
(Baecker, https://catjects.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/george-spencer-brown-wird-90/)

10. ► Loosen & Scholl | 15 February 2019 | Vienna
„Draw a distinction and a universe
comes into being“
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11. ► Loosen & Scholl | 15 February 2019 | Vienna
Breaking Binaries?
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• Do binaries hinder us from coping with the (increasing?) complexity of
journalism?
• Is it really the case that binaries obscure to observe certain
transformations, occurrences etc. – or do they rather allow to do so?
→ Questioning the proposition that we must break binaries
in order to be able explore the diverse meanings of journalism

12. ► Loosen & Scholl | 15 February 2019 | Vienna
Clarifying Binaries
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• Arguing for
a) making distinctions,
b) considering both sides of the distinction,
c) understanding differences as relationships, and
d) asking who makes a distinction (second-order observation)
• Such a clarification is not only a cognitive and philosophical exercise
but also of normative and practical interest

13. ► Loosen & Scholl | 15 February 2019 | Vienna
Rehabilitating binaries
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• The criticism of binaries, dichotomies and boundaries neglects their
- epistemological status,
- pragmatic meaning, and
- strategic use.
• Complexity « Binaries
• Without binaries no observation of blurring boundaries

14. ► Loosen & Scholl | 15 February 2019 | Vienna
Epistemological and normative value of
binaries within journalism (research)
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Binaries are
1) dynamic rather than stable,
2) pragmatic relationships rather than given ontologies, and
3) serve a strategic purpose of legitimation, which has emerged as
boundary work (cf. Carlson 2016).

15. ► Loosen & Scholl | 15 February 2019 | Vienna
Exemplary Applications
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• Typical diagnosis: continuous evolution towards blurring boundaries
and breaking binaries
• Soft news/hard news
• Fact/fiction
• Public/private
Ø Empirical observation: distinctions are rather re-arranged, re-sorted,
or re-grouped

16. ► Loosen & Scholl | 15 February 2019 | Vienna
Conclusion
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• Dichotomies, binaries and boundaries should not be ruled out as
unreliable or invalid logical tools.
• Instead: Using them as process-related and observer-related
categories rather than ontological realities.
• Binaries are more stable than we might expect and re-emerge in
different guises
• The blurring of boundaries (re-)stimulates negotiations of
demarcations lines