Knowledge-production in journalism: Translation, mediation and authorship in Brazil

Abstract

Based on a multi-site ethnography of two influential newspapers in Brazil, this article examines how Brazilian journalists mediate knowledge claims made by experts, policy makers and the lay public. It asks whether and how these journalists experience themselves as knowledge-makers. More specifically, it argues that Brazilian journalists index their production of knowledge in reference to four main characteristics: depth, authorship, influence, and expertise. Journalists tend to consider newsmaking a contribution to knowledge when: (1) they have the resources to do proper investigative reporting (depth); (2) they are able to help define the public agenda through their reporting and to express their opinion (authorship); (3) they have impact on the polity, the economy or other fields they cover (influence) and (4) their journalistic knowledge is recognized by readers and by specialists (expertise). In practice, however, there are multiple obstacles that make Brazilian journalists hesitant about their contribution to knowledge, including intensified working conditions, the lack of plurality within the mainstream presses, and their informal methods for dealing with knowledge claims from other fields. This research reveals that Brazilian journalists have different understandings of the nature of knowledge in journalism. These understandings cluster around two distinct poles: an expert notion of knowledge associated with disciplinary boundaries, and a distinct conception associated with journalists' capacity to mediate between jurisdictions. When journalists' production is assessed from the former point of view, the informality of their methods is seen as undermining their knowledge credentials. By contrast, when journalists' contribution is assessed from the latter point of view, their 'interactional expertise' comes to the fore.

Epistemology and Journalism

“…Contemporary journalism involves journalists acting with profiled authorship articulating their own interpretations; journalists claiming expertise within particular fields; reporters acting as mediators of trustworthy information; and reporters performing the role of a detached and neutral distributor of seemingly unproblematic facts or voices representing both sides of a story. The different roles and reliance of sources represent tensions within contemporary journalism associated with different truth claims and performed authority (Undurraga, 2017a).…”

“…Speed affects the opportunity for the journalists to collect information independent of public relation activities and elite sources, and to provide different perspectives, possible explanations, and critical examinations. The latter relate to highly valued professional norms in journalism that in practice tend to be marginalized as the speed and productivity requirements increase (Undurraga, 2017a;Wiik, 2014;Witschge, 2012).…”

Toward a Theorization of Student Journalism Collaboration in International Curricula

“…Decolonial scholarship refutes assumptions that knowledge comes from the Global North (Comaroff & Comaroff, 2011). We are cognizant of research that has conceptualized journalism as a source and medium of knowledge (Meditsch, 2005; see Undurraga, 2018; Wihbey, 2017) underpinning the need to promote local sources of journalistic knowledge and training. Mbembe (2015) believes the major aims of the decolonial movement include critiquing prevailing Western models of knowledge while seeking to promote the development of alternatives.…”

Knowledge Production in the Arts: History, Concept and Methodological Considerations *

“…10 If we trace the concept of knowledge production, we find that it was developed in 20th century economics 11 by what is now deemed the neoliberal thought collective (Mirowski and Plehwe, 2009) which played an active part in creating a larger ideology that has been implemented slowly 10) The understanding of knowledge production as an apparatus presented here has subsequently found it shares areas of alignment with sociologist's studies of knowledge production, for instance in journalism. See (Undurraga, 2018). 11) To develop the term knowledge production, it is necessary to range beyond disciplinary boundaries and especially dive into areas of economy, education, and policy making concerning international political alliances as well as actual practices.…”