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Diversity of Journalisms. Proceedings of ECREA/CICOM Conference, Pamplona, 4-5 July 2011
communication studies and journalism research draw our attention to the necessity of
developing theories which are able to explain journalism as a social phenomenon of
modern society (Singer, 2006; Zelizer, 2004).
The aims of this approach are:
Firstly, to describe the function of journalism in society and to explain
journalism’s relationship with other systems (macro-level: journalism and
society).
Secondly, to describe the internal structure of journalism. Therefore, this theory
is also a theory of journalistic organizations, explaining the elements journalism
is comprised of and how these elements relate to each other (meso level:
internal structure of the journalistic system).
And thirdly, this model includes the level of action and communication of the
actors in their role as journalists (micro-level).
This approach contains two further advantages relevant to the research project. Since
systems theory describes the dynamics and progression of journalism it is convenient
for conceiving potential changes. In addition, it identifies system-specific boundaries,
enabling us to distinguish between journalism and non-journalism.
Journalism and Society (macro-level)
In order to cope with its increasing complexity, modern society has delegated individual
functions to specialized social systems. This process is called the functional
differentiation of society. While the overall aim of social systems is to reduce
complexity, social systems themselves are separate from each other and can be
characterized by the exclusive function(s) they fulfil for society (Scholl & Görke, 2006,
p. 647; Weischenberg, 1992, pp. 429-430; Kneer & Nassehi, 1993, p. 40).
This research project understands journalism as one social system besides others
such as politics or economics. Since the 17 th century, journalism has evolved as an
autonomous social system and its essential function is information dissemination for
public communication (Blöbaum, 2004, p. 205).
Social systems constitute their identity by delineating themselves from their
environments (Kneer & Nassehi, 1993, p. 38; Kohring, 2004, p. 190). In order to
differentiate which elements belong to a system and which ones to its environment,
social systems have developed system-specific binary codes. For journalism, the code
is information/non-information (Blöbaum, 2004, p. 206; Luhmann, 1995b, p. 17).
Every system has created a specific “expert role” which is complementary to the role of
a layman. In journalism the profession of the journalist has developed vis-à-vis the
recipients. Besides its function, code and role, each system bears a specific form of
organization. In journalism we can identify two types of organization: firstly, mass
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