Wiebke Loosen: The Journalism/Audience-­‐Rela5onship as a Communicaitve Figuration. Presentation at the International Communication Association's 65th annual conference, May 22nd 2015, San Juan @ WLoosen

1. The
Journalism/Audience-­‐Rela5onship
as
a
Communica5ve
Figura5on
Wiebke
Loosen
@WLoosen
ICA
|
San
Juan|
May
22nd
2015
Panel:
“Pushing
the
Boundaries
of
Journalism
Studies”:
The
Audience
Turn
in
Journalism
(Studies)

2. The
audience
turn
in
journalism
(studies)
• Blurring
boundaries
between
news
producers
and
consumers:
a
focal
point
in
discussions
of
monumental
changes
in
media
pracMces
(e.g.
Bruns
2008;
Bird
2011;
Heinonen
2011)
• ARempt
to
“push
the
boundaries
of
journalism
studies”
– by
focusing
on
the
journalism/audience-­‐relaMonship
and
considering
it
the
focal
point
of
the
ongoing
transformaMon
of
journalism;
– by
interrelaMng
journalism‘s
change
to
societal
change
within
a
fundamentally
changing
media
environment
2

3. Media
transforma5on
<>
transforma5on
of
journalism
• Modern
journalism
is
a
genuine
mass
media
phenomenon
–
intrinsically
Med
to
a
changing
media
environment
(in
a
historical
perspecMve:
Birkner
2012).
• Fundamental
changes
in
the
media
environment
appear
in
journalism
as
if
seen
through
a
magnifying
glass:
– CommunicaMon
condiMons
are
no
longer
solely
characterized
by
mass
media,
but
increasingly
complemented
by
social
media
(e.g.
Deuze
et
al.
2007;
Singer
et
al.
2011).
– Journalism
is
“mulMchannel
communicaMon”
–
content
is
produced,
distributed
and
used
via
various
kinds
of
media
and
pla^orms
(Neuberger
et
al.
2014).
• A
main
consequence:
expansion
and
amplificaMon
of
the
communicaMve
opMons
between
journalism
and
(its)
audiences
–
leading
to
a
diversificaMon
and
dynamizaMon
of
roles
and
relaMonships
(Loosen/Schmidt
2012).
3

4. The
communica5ve
figura5on
of
the
journalism/audience-­‐rela5onship
• No
doubt:
the
journalism/audience-­‐relaMonship
is
transforming
• …
but
how
to
assess
the
journalism/audience-­‐relaMon
and
analyze
its
transformaMon
theoreMcally
and
empirically?
• Approach
here:
addressing
transformaMon
as
„communica(ve
transformaMon“,
i.e.
changes
in
the
communicaMve
figuraMon
of
the
journalism/audience-­‐relaMonship
4

5. The
communica5ve
figura5ons
approach
I
• “CommunicaMve
figuraMons”
(Hepp/Hasebrink
2014)
aim
to
describe
social
domains
(groups,
organizaMons,
publics,
etc.)
in
relaMon
to
their
i)
communicaMve
pracMces
across
a
media
ensemble,
ii)
their
actor
constellaMon,
and
iii)
their
themaMc
framings.
• Example:
The
communicaMve
figuraMon
of
a
family
(Hepp/Lunt/
Hartmann
2015):
– is
based
on
a
certain
set
of
communica(ve
prac(ces
across
a
media
ensemble
(e.g.
communicaMon
via
mobiles,
social
media,
digital
photo
albums,
watching
TV
together);
– has
a
constella(on
of
actors
that
can
be
regarded
as
its
structural
basis
(Schimank
2010:
202-­‐206),
a
network
of
actors
being
interrelated
with
each
other;
– has
a
thema(c
framing,
that
is
a
shared
orientaMon
that
serves
to
guide
pracMces
and
therefore
defines
the
character
of
this
communicaMve
figuraMon:
the
“family”
5

6. The
communica5ve
figura5ons
approach
II
• Concept
developed
with
the
aim
to
analyze
comparaMvely
the
media-­‐
related
transformaMon
of
social
domains
within
the
present,
rapidly
changing
media
environment:
How
is
media
change
related
to
social
change
and
vice
versa?
• Research
network:
hRp://www.kommunikaMve-­‐figuraMonen.de/
• “Features”
of
the
communicaMve
figuraMons
approach
(Hepp/
Hasebrink
2014)
:
a) transmedia:
not
looking
at
one
“new”
medium,
but
at
the
media
ensemble
in
certain
social
enMMes
b) scalable:
reaching
from
groups
to
the
society
as
a
whole
usable
across
the
levels
of
the
micro,
meso
and
macro
c) process-­‐oriented:
not
only
focused
on
‘given’
phenomena
but
on
the
ongoing
process
by
which
enMMes
are
“produced”,
“constructed”,
or
“arMculated”
6

7. The
communica5ve
figura5on
of
the
journalism/audience
rela5onship
Change of media
environment
Features of
figuration
t1 t2 Transformation of
figuration
- differentiation
- innovation density
- omnipresence
- datafication
communicative
practices
monologic,
predominantly
mass media
oriented
dialogic, also
social media
oriented
increasing variety of
practices; acceleration
of communication
processes
actor constellation producer/
recipient
e.g. “social media
editor”, “active
user”, “measured
audience/user”,
multiple audiences
role shifts; role
diversification;
dynamization of
relationships
thematic framing supply/
demand
dialog,
participation,
reciprocity
increase of contingency
7

8. Empirical
applica5ons
and
ques5ons
• ComparaMvely
invesMgate
communicaMve
figuraMons
of
the
journalism/
audience
relaMon,
e.g.:
– different
segments
of
journalism:
news
vs.
entertainment-­‐oriented
journalism
– different
insMtuMonal
senngs:
established
newsrooms
vs.
journalisMc
start-­‐ups;
freelance
journalists
vs.
newsroom
editors
– across
levels:
individual
journalist
vs.
newsroom
• How
does
a
certain
communicaMve
figuraMon
of
the
journalism/audience-­‐
relaMon
influences:
– journalisMc
role
concepMon?
– journalist’s
images
of
the
audience?
– news
producMon
processes
–
and/or
consumpMon?
• Diachronic
perspecMve:
Tracing
how
the
communicaMve
figuraMon
of
the
journalism/audience-­‐relaMon
develops
over
Mme:
Which
“pathways”
follows
a
movement
of
innovaMve
communicaMve
pracMces
from
the
periphery
to
the
centre?
8

9. Conclusion
–
or
beIer:
follow-­‐up
ques5ons
• Journalism
is
under
a
high
innovaMon
pressure:
re-­‐defining
its
audience-­‐relaMon
is
one
focal
point
…
• …
but
the
transiMon
doesn’t
follow
a
linear
nor
a
simultaneous
process
for
all
segments
of
journalism,
for
all
journalists
or
audience
members
• Role
ships:
journalisMc
and
audience
roles
became
more
permeable,
but
journalism
is
sMll
about
producing
certain
kinds
of
communicaMon
offerings
–
audiences
have
the
power
to
accepted
them
or
not.
• Increasing
variety
of
communicaMve
pracMces
between
journalism
and
its
audiences:
Does
a
more
intensive
contact
with
audiences
helps
to
produce
different/“beRer”
journalism?
• Increase
of
conMngency:
More
“visible”
than
ever
–
journalism’s
descripMon
of
the
world
is
“only”
one
possible
construcMon
9

10. Thank
you!
Wiebke
Loosen
w.loosen@hans-­‐bredow-­‐insMtut.de
@Wloosen
hRp://www.hans-­‐bredow-­‐insMtut.de/
hRp://www.kommunikaMve-­‐figuraMonen.de/

11. References
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S.
E.
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11