Index | Editorial | Birds-eye view | Opening Opening the the toolbox | Zoom-in on the newsroom | Media landscapes Photograph: photocase/hannesleitlein
Action! By TOBiAS eBerwein how media research can have a lasting impact on journalists and the public How can media research have a lasting impact on the behaviour of journalists and other social actors? Why is it that so many newsrooms have no discernible interest in any kind of academic analyses, while for many researchers their main motivation is in initiating a wide social debate on the quality of the media, thus contributing to journalism’s advancement? There have been countless discussions on the question of the relevance of academic research – and media studies in particular (see Fengler, Eberwein and Jorch, 2012). Despite many attempts to bridge the gap between journalism and academia, at best, the relationship between them still seems to be ambivalent in most European countries. As the comparative survey by the multinational <strong>MediaAcT</strong> consortium demonstrates, media research hardly receives any attention from journalists across Europe (and the Arab world). When asked what impact journalistic practitioners give to the academic analysis of journalism, as compared to other Instruments of Media Accountability (MAIs), such as press councils, ombudspersons or media criticism on the social web, a mere 19% of respondents claimed that it had at least some influence on their behaviour. Only few other MAIs received worse ratings (for more details see Fengler, Eberwein, Mazzoleni, Porlezza and Russ-Mohl, forthcoming). Do most initiatives by media scholars to launch a public debate on media performance and correcting journalistic mistakes simply vanish into thin air? Transgress the academic boundaries In order to cope with this problem, the <strong>MediaAcT</strong> project devised a way to change this: major research results that have been generated over the project’s life, the past 31/2 years, are not only being published in the traditional form of academic papers, but also in other media formats that can help to address all stakeholder groups with an interest in a free and pluralistic media landscape – most notably media practitioners and the public. The collection of articles and essays in this journal may serve as one example – summarising the project’s findings and presenting them in an easily accessible form, not the conventional mode of academic writing. To illustrate the benefit of well-functioning Media Accountability Instruments, the project also identified many international best-practice examples and these are presented in a guidebook for journalists and newsrooms (see box below). Let’s start! Online and offline training Moreover the project participants developed two online platforms that are intended to highlight the societal relevance of the discussion about media accountability and transparency: one of them, a web-based training tool for journalists, is integrated in the project’s homepage on the web (http:// www.mediaact.eu); the other, a dynamic website for bloggers and other interested citizens, is accessible under http://www.mediaspeak.org. For the journalist’s training tool, the <strong>MediaAcT</strong> consortium developed a seminar series on media accountability. It consists of 14 separate sessions on topics ranging from theoretical perspectives and insights into the concepts of media self-regulation and co-regulation, to a practical introduc- tion to the functionality of different MAIs, such as press councils, codes of ethics, ombudspersons, media journalism and the particular potential of web-based accountability processes. Each session is accompanied by a set of Powerpoint slides, ready to use in a classroom setting. In addition, the training tool also includes a variety of flash cards for key terms, suggested reading assignments, a collection of case studies on characteristic ethical dilemmas in journalistic practice and multimedia elements (e.g. video interviews with international experts in the field). All materials draw on the research from the <strong>MediaAcT</strong> project, communicating key findings from its studies that directly relate to everyday work in the newsroom. The <strong>MediaAcT</strong> citizens’ platform is dynamic and interactive. It collects critical blog posts by media users about journalistic misbehaviour and offers room for public discussion. The site also presents different codes of conduct for media professionals and provides simple instructions about how to make complaints if these codes are disobeyed. Moreover, it also works as a forum to connect other decentralised citizen initiatives on media criticism and accountability. Both the citizen platform and the training tool are unconventional ways of presenting the findings of an academic survey. Nonetheless, they not only serve their audiences in professional journalism and civil society – but also media researchers in their long struggle to bridge the gap between themselves and their objects of study. lInks website of the <strong>MediaAcT</strong> project: http://www.mediaact.eu <strong>MediaAcT</strong>’s online platform for journalists and citizens: http://www.mediaspeak.org fUrThEr rEAdIng Bichler, klaus; harro-loit, halliki; karmasin, Matthias; kraus, daniela; lauk, Epp; loit, Urmas; fengler, susanne; schneider- Mombaur, laura (2012): Best practice guidebook: Media Accountability and Transparency across Europe. Url: http:// www.mediaact.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/guidebook/ Best_practice_guidebook_new.pdf fengler, susanne; Eberwein, Tobias; Jorch, Julia (eds.) (2012): Theoretisch praktisch!? Anwendungsoptionen und gesellschaftliche relevanz der kommunikations- und Medienforschung. konstanz: Uvk. fengler, susanne; Eberwein, Tobias; Mazzoleni, gianpietro; porlezza; colin; russ-Mohl, stephan (eds.) (forthcoming): Journalists and Media Accountability. An International study of news people in the digital Age. new york etc.: peter lang. Index | Editorial | Birds-eye view | Opening the toolbox | Zoom-in on the newsroom | Media landscapes
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