Objectivity is a cornerstone in the journalistic profession. There is a widespread acknowledgement that a one-to-one representation of reality is not possible, and thus the norm must be interpreted by journalists in their daily work. Based on a journalist survey among Danish journalists (N = 2008) we find that journalists’ role perceptions have substantial explanatory power in regard to how journalists implement the objectivity norm. The objectivity norm pervades the news production process by guiding journalists when they select, gather, and present the news, and the results give a hint about how journalistic role perceptions might affect the production process through the objectivity norm and subsequently also the news content.
This article discusses the total quality management (TQM) movement and then elaborates about W. Edwards Deming’s experiences and views. Finally, there is a comparison of total quality management and the Deming approach to quality management. The TQM movement was attractive to many organizations during the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s. To succeed, total quality management had many long‐term require‐ments. One of these was that top management must have a passion for the subject. Without this sustained passion top management’s attention and energy towards TQM would be diverted to other pressing needs. While Deming insisted that there was no “instant pudding”, many consultants in establishing themselves with a client suggested short‐term gains. Because of this search for short‐term gains, process improvement and reductions in cycle time became very popular and in some cases a final objective. Unfortunately, after they ran their short‐term course, many efforts collapsed and TQM was often declared a failure.
Constructive journalism has become a popular term in recent years, and has been the basis of a number of seminars, conferences, courses at journalism schools, fellowship programs, and research projects. This article traces the origins of constructive journalism by describing and discussing the proponents, precedents, and principles of the movement. The article shows that constructive journalism is no new term and that its inherent principles share similarities with other well-known movements in the history of journalism. These include action journalism that was popular on both sides of the Atlantic at the turn of last century and public journalism that flourished at the turn of this century. Common for most of these movement are, however, their lack of conceptual clarity. The differences and similarities between constructive journalism, past movements, and more classical conceptions of journalism are analyzed through the framework of the Journalistic Compass that delineates four classical roles within journalism. The article concludes by describing the opportunities–and difficulties – that this recent movement faces as still more persons and organizations lay claim to practicing constructive journalism and it discusses how the proponents might learn from former movements that have gained popularity for a period but whose importance has since diminished.
Past models of norms in news reporting have been characterized by the particular geographical and historical, practical and theoretical context from which they have been constructed. This has limited their interdisciplinary applicability and, in the light of normative developments in recent years, it has become increasingly clear that we need a more contemporary explanatory model to capture current developments on both sides of the Atlantic. Such a normative model - drawing on the dichotomies of active or passive journalism, and deliberative or representative journalism - is introduced in this article. This model can be used as an analytical tool by researchers and as an operational tool by news providers with a need for a normative navigation instrument, and as such it may help create or reshape a common culture between two increasingly interrelated professions: news reporters and researchers.
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