From investigative to critical local journalism
Journalism is considered to fulfil a societal watchdog role. However, research indicates that local news rarely lives up to established state-of-the-art definitions of investigative journalism. Therefore, this article argues that the assessment of local accountability journalism must include researc...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Danish |
| Published: |
Royal Danish Library
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Journalistica |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://tidsskrift.dk/journalistica/article/view/133089 |
| _version_ | 1827751762099961856 |
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| author | Magnus Danielson Ari Nykvist |
| author_facet | Magnus Danielson Ari Nykvist |
| author_sort | Magnus Danielson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Journalism is considered to fulfil a societal watchdog role. However, research indicates that local news rarely lives up to established state-of-the-art definitions of investigative journalism. Therefore, this article argues that the assessment of local accountability journalism must include research on the extent to which it assumes a societal watchdog role in a more basic sense, namely by being critical of events and conditions in the local society in some way. A content analysis of approximately 1600 articles in three local Swedish newspapers shows that criticism, even in its mildest form, constitutes less than a fifth of the overall output, and that journalists themselves are the agents of criticism in less than 15 % of the critical articles, disregarding editorials, and that they more often criticize national than local power. In news articles, journalists are less often agents of criticism than both politicians, the public, and representatives of organizations. Actors in the public sphere are targets of criticism in 75 % of the critical articles, whereas those articles rarely target the private sector or civil society.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T07:01:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8f643391fb7a4a93be48170f624135c7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1904-7967 |
| language | Danish |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T07:01:41Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | Royal Danish Library |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journalistica |
| spelling | doaj.art-8f643391fb7a4a93be48170f624135c72023-11-17T09:11:23ZdanRoyal Danish LibraryJournalistica1904-79672023-06-0117110.7146/journalistica.v17i1.133089From investigative to critical local journalismMagnus Danielson0Ari Nykvist1Linneaus University, KalmarLinneaus UniversityJournalism is considered to fulfil a societal watchdog role. However, research indicates that local news rarely lives up to established state-of-the-art definitions of investigative journalism. Therefore, this article argues that the assessment of local accountability journalism must include research on the extent to which it assumes a societal watchdog role in a more basic sense, namely by being critical of events and conditions in the local society in some way. A content analysis of approximately 1600 articles in three local Swedish newspapers shows that criticism, even in its mildest form, constitutes less than a fifth of the overall output, and that journalists themselves are the agents of criticism in less than 15 % of the critical articles, disregarding editorials, and that they more often criticize national than local power. In news articles, journalists are less often agents of criticism than both politicians, the public, and representatives of organizations. Actors in the public sphere are targets of criticism in 75 % of the critical articles, whereas those articles rarely target the private sector or civil society. https://tidsskrift.dk/journalistica/article/view/133089Local journalismInvestigative journalismCritical journalismWatchdog journalismNews |
| spellingShingle | Magnus Danielson Ari Nykvist From investigative to critical local journalism Journalistica Local journalism Investigative journalism Critical journalism Watchdog journalism News |
| title | From investigative to critical local journalism |
| title_full | From investigative to critical local journalism |
| title_fullStr | From investigative to critical local journalism |
| title_full_unstemmed | From investigative to critical local journalism |
| title_short | From investigative to critical local journalism |
| title_sort | from investigative to critical local journalism |
| topic | Local journalism Investigative journalism Critical journalism Watchdog journalism News |
| url | https://tidsskrift.dk/journalistica/article/view/133089 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT magnusdanielson frominvestigativetocriticallocaljournalism AT arinykvist frominvestigativetocriticallocaljournalism |