Resisting the resistance (journalism): Ben Smith, Ronan Farrow, and delineating boundaries of practice

Abstract

In May 2020, New York Times media columnist Ben Smith critiqued Ronan Farrow, charging Farrow with practicing “resistance journalism.” Smith’s column generated significant discussion among journalists. This article analyzed the metajournalistic discourse that emerged following Smith’s column to examine how journalism’s boundaries are negotiated and contested. “Resistance journalism” has three main elements: it is unobjective, targeted, and truth-bending. “Resistance journalism” falls outside of the boundaries of journalism, according to the discourse, due to three practices: it lacks verification, focuses on narrative, and has a propensity to advocate. We argue that the current political economic and technological disruptions within digital media and networked society are creating new spaces for the rhetorical competition over journalism to occur, upending journalistic routines and creating hybrid journalism cultures.

Periodistas deportivos e inversores estadounidenses en LaLiga: desintermediación y "disneyización" en el RCD Mallorca

“…La proliferación de creadores de contenido provenientes de la periferia del periodismo (Schapals et al, 2019) que actúan sobre todo en las plataformas digitales ha hecho reaccionar a los informadores de los medios tradicionales para desmarcarse y defender su profesión (Deuze, 2005;Lewis, 2012;Peters & Broersma, 2013) apelando a la vigilancia y el cumplimiento de las normas y las rutinas de siempre (Waisbord, 2013), a valores como la labor crítica y la independencia respecto a las fuentes (Revers, 2014) o a la aplicación de los códigos éticos como salvaguarda de la misión de servicio público (Singer, 2003). Asimismo, los entornos digitales han propiciado la creación de espacios para la adopción de nuevas rutinas periodísticas más alejadas del normativismo profesional y que tienden a buscar soluciones híbridas (Ferrucci & Canella, 2021) en un escenario cada vez más social y participativo.…”

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