Defending the Profession: U.S. Journalists’ Role Understanding in the Era of Fake News

Responding to “Fake News”: Journalistic Perceptions of and Reactions to a Delegitimising Force

“…In addition, journalists stressed the value of existing standards and best practices, affirmed the authority and legitimacy of their work, and, in doing so, emphasised the value of journalism as a public good overall-irrespective of whether they worked for a mainstream or emerging outlet. As such, these findings align with similar studies in the US (Jahng et al, 2021) and Germany (Koliska & Assmann, 2021) which have found editors defending their best practices when faced with the external force that the "fake news" phenomenon represents. In the authors' words, "the editors' discursive practices…aim to shore up trust and justify journalistic authority and legitimacy, but especially to ensure institutional survival" (Koliska & Assmann, 2021, p. 2742.…”

“…Our findings from this study are limited in that both countries-Australia and the UK-are major parliamentary democracies; with regards to media systems, both can generally be grouped within the liberal media model (Hallin & Mancini, 2004), thus operating within broadly similar media environments. It is therefore unsurprising that the journalists' narratives most closely resembled the critical/monitorial role (Standaert et al, 2021) we have also seen in studies emanating from the US (Jahng et al, 2021), thus underscoring that the implications of the "fake news" phenomenon are also broadly applicable in other Western contexts. Elsewhere, however, and perhaps especially in countries where democratic structures are currently even more significantly threatened by a slide towards populism and illiberalism, we may well have found different perceptions of and responses to external threats.…”

“…If something as authoritative as the NYT [The New York Times]…can be dismissed as "fake news" by the president of America, then that seems to be really, really not a good scenario….I think that in the short term, this is going to continue, and I'm sure that the same treat-ment is being given to all kinds of other serious journalism offerings….I don't expect that situation to get any better for a bit. (18U) Empowered by the "Trump bump" phenomenon experienced in the aftermath of Trump's inauguration, however, some journalists discursively stressed the value of journalism as a public good, and, in so doing, defended their profession (see also Jahng et al, 2021). One journalist at The Age newspaper in Australia stressed the normative role of journalism as a pillar of democracy-a role she believed had become even more important at the height of his presidency.…”

El periodismo mexicano frente a la desinformación: percepciones sobre los responsables, las estrategias implementadas y las potenciales soluciones ante el problema

“…El problema de la desinformación tiene el potencial de trastocar al periodismo, puesto que dificulta los procesos de realización de este trabajo y porque merma el potencial impacto de dicha labor, en vista de que investigaciones y notas periodísticas circulan a la par de numerosos mensajes desinformativos. Algunos autores han estudiado la perspectiva de los medios y los periodistas ante este fenómeno (Blanco-Herrero y Arcila-Calderón, 2019;Carlson 2018;Jahng et al, 2021;Saldaña y Vu, 2021;Schapals, 2018;Tandoc et al, 2019) con el fin de conocer los puntos de vista de estos actores en torno al impacto y las causas de este problema, así como a la forma en la que se afronta desde esta profesión. No obstante, aún existe un vacío en la literatura en el estudio de las percepciones de periodistas del Sur Global, aunque hay algunas excepciones (e.g., Balod y Hameeleers, 2021; Canavilhas y Thaïs de Mendonça, 2022).…”

“…A través de tal narrativa, el periodismo logra crear a un otro desviado y se posiciona a sí mismo como fuente de la verdad y digno de confianza (Carlson, 2018). De manera similar, Jahng et al (2021) encontraron que los periodistas de Estados Unidos defienden la narrativa de que su profesión es crucial en la defensa de la democracia en el contexto de la desinformación.…”