A Trojan Horse for marketing? Solutions journalism in the French regional press

Abstract

This article examines recent efforts to bring ‘solutions journalism’ – an approach to news coverage developed in the United States that encourages journalists to propose potential solutions to social problems – to the French regional press. Drawing on interviews and company documents from news organizations, we show that solutions journalism has found support among both management and journalists, though for different reasons. Whereas management see solutions journalism as a way to bolster shrinking audiences, journalists perceive an opportunity to regain relevance in diversified media companies whose emphasis on news has declined over time. Though solutions journalism changes little in terms of journalist’s everyday practices, its presence legitimates and valorizes marketing discourses, as journalists use it to describe efforts to grow audiences, boost sales and monetize content. As a result, we suggest that solutions journalism’s primary effect on the French regional press may be its operation as a ‘Trojan horse’ for marketing.

For People, For Policy: Journalists’ Perceptions of Peace Journalism in East Africa

“…Several schools of thought contribute to how models for professional practice are adopted, including the influence of national press systems (Hallin and Mancini 2004, 2011), organizational dynamics (Amiel and Powers 2019; Breed 1955), and individual resolve or interpretation (White 1950). While these perspectives all provide valuable insights, most of which acknowledge the interplay of all three influences, of particular interest to this inquiry is the level of individual interpretation.…”

Crime News Under Digitization Process in French and German Newsrooms: Standardization and Diversification of News under Web-First Pressure

“…Looking at discussions on the recent transformations within media system models, it appears that the economic weakness of the media belonging to the polarized pluralist model (including France) makes them more prone to commercialization logics (Amiel & Powers, 2019;Powers & Vera-Zambrano, 2019). In France for instance, crime and soft news occupy a relatively important historical place in the mainstream media (M'Sili, 2000;Sécail, 2012), although not to the same extent as in the North American press (Benson, 2013).…”

“…One may assume that the increasing prominence of online media and social networks has contributed to promoting crime reporting, which is said to appeal to the broadest audience. About international patterns (Amiel & Powers, 2019;Christin, 2018), French journalists may be expected to be more receptive to these changes. But in this regard, the comparative analysis of television channels in eleven European and North American countries carried out by Walgrave and Sadicaris (2009) shows how the competition between media outlets has an impact on the way television channels deal with crime news.…”

“…While the online-first process looks similar, there is one important difference between the two countries. In matters of crime news as well as in solution journalism, the economic vulnerability of the French media has forced reporters to take on these transformations in person (Amiel & Powers, 2019). On the contrary, in Germany, the lower economic pressure and, above all, the influ-ence of the tabloid Bild, have led reporters to adopt a more distant approach.…”

“…In some newsrooms, editors may be engaged in an alternative use of metrics, thus leading to disagreements about the roles and functions of each person within the editorial team (Ferrer-Conill & Tandoc, 2018). Reporters can sometimes take advantage of these metrics to become less dependent on their hierarchy, thus turning metrics into something other than a "marketing trojan horse" (Amiel & Powers, 2019;Powers & Vera-Zambrano, 2019). Moreover, Internet users and social networks may now even be considered by journalists as singular and legitimate sources of information that are highly valued in the context of increased competition between media looking to publish faster and faster, to be the best ranked online, and thus generate more traffic (Benson et al, 2012;Esperland & Sauder, 2007;Powers & Vera-Zambrano, 2019;Ruffio, 2020).…”