The Jeremiad Over Journalism

commercialization (or Americanization) of the news. 496 On the other hand, variables such as
―sources,‖ 497 ―news technique‖ 498 and ―journalistic style‖ 499 were designed to test the prevalence of
balanced, hard, descriptive and thereby ―objective‖ journalistic content. 500
As a consequence two hypotheses described above were formed to test the independent variables
influence of commercialization and the objectivity norm on the dependent variable which, as stated
above, is the development in news frames found in six newspapers (three in Denmark and three in
the United States) over a 40-year period. The results of the content analysis will then be analyzed
against the broader political context of the chosen countries during this period.
5.2.1 Time Period and Election Campaigns
As noted in chapter 2, election campaigns are useful for studying developments over time, as they
have previously spurred innovation in Danish journalistic practices on. 501 Moreover, election
research offers unique advantages for crossnational comparison since studies of elections have been
conducted systematically ―over time and across societies‖ for decades and additionally constitute
one of the ―most important contributions‖ in the study of political systems. 502
496 Picard, "Money, Media and the Public Interest." Page 342-346. Bourdieu, On Television. Page 56-57. Also Brugge
and Voss, "Politisk Forandring [Political Change]." Page 129.
497 For someone to have been counted as a source in the content analysis, it requires that statements, facts or quotes are
attributed to him/her. The source, whichever category he or she belongs to, must be, whenever possible, identified by
name as well as title, or otherwise labeled an anonymous source.
498 News technique is the overall category used for the distinction between hard and soft news, while journalistic style
distinguishes between interpretative and descriptive reporting. Hard news is defined as stories that follow the ―5W‖
approach and emphasize ―breaking news,‖ recent developments or takes an immediate factual approach to the article
within the first paragraph.Soft news is here defined as stories where the main focus is on human-interest, features or
background articles emphasizing details that do not immediately fit the news criteria of actuality.
499 Descriptive reporting is characterized by its absense of claims concerning significance or results, which would be
considered interpretation and does not assess the merits of policy or accuracy of statements either. These interpretative
elements are attributed to sources in descriptive accounts. In interpretative reporting, on the other hand, the journalist
takes it upon him- or herself to evaluate or interpret information and for example judge its significance.
500 Ward, The Invention of Journalism Ethics: The Path to Objectivity and Beyond. Page 14-22. Also Chalaby,
"Journalism as an Anglo-American Invention: A Comparison of the Development of French and Anglo-American
Journalism, 1830s-1920s." Page 311-312. See also Tuchman, "Objectivity as Strategic Ritual: An Examination of
Newsmen's Notions of Objectivity." Page 664-665. Additionally, Schudson, Discovering the News: A Social History of
American Newspapers. Page 168-171, 186 and 192.
501 Bro, Aktionsjournalistik [Public Journalism]. Page 16.
502 Katz and Warshel, eds., Election Studies: What's Their Use? Page 1-3. Katz and Warshel cite the American National
Election Studies as an example of systematic election studies which have persisted since 1952 and note that ―the
convergence on shared methods is even stronger on an international scope.‖
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