radio journalists and the internet
DESCRIPTION
Presented at the "Radio Evolution" conference, da European Communication Reasearch and Education Association (ECREA 2011, Braga, 14-16 de Setembro)TRANSCRIPT
Radio journalists and the Internet:
A study on perceptions
Helder BastosHelena Lima
Nuno Moutinho Isabel Reis
Universidade do Porto2011
Aim
This study investigates how Portuguese radio
journalists evaluate the changes that have occurred
in the profession since the Internet has been
integrated in newsrooms
The main purpose is to understand how these
professional perceive the influence of the Internet on
journalism practices, roles and ethics
Sample
30 journalists working at the four main Portuguese
radio stations newsrooms:
RDP (public radio station)
TSF
Rádio Renascença
Rádio Clube Português (shortly after the survey, the
ending of this radio station was announced)
Methodology
Online questionnaire submitted to participants
All questions use a Likert scale where 1 indicates a strong negative influence of the internet to that factor and 5 a strong positive impact
Work enhancement
RQ1) Is the Internet considered a source of new
opportunities in terms of work enhancement, speed,
and opportunity to reach and interact with a wider
audience?
On the whole, the Internet is considered as having a
positive influence on journalism. However, to radio
journalists there's some degree of ambivalence such
as speed factor, which seems to be not too relevant
Work enhancement Radio journalists still seem to have in great account
traditional journalistic routines, such as face to face
or telephone conversation with sources. But they
also valorise web search tools to find information
Therefore: In the process of newsgathering, speed
would be the most negative effect, If they stopped
using the Internet
Work enhancement
Most radio journalist's show their disagreement
when asked if citizen journalism and blogging can
be considered serious journalism
Furthermore, journalism “do it yourself” is not
perceived as being a possible threat to radio
journalism
Changes in professional role
RQ2) Do radio journalists rate positively the changes
wrought by the Internet on their traditional profile, as
gatekeeper, investigative, and disseminative functions?
Yes: they give great importance to the influence of the
Internet, such as getting news as fast as possible,
contact with the public, broadcasting credible
information
Changes in professional role
Still, more traditional journalists’ roles, such as
watchdogging, providers of in-depth analyses or
spokespersons for groups, are seen as less
significantly influenced by the Internet
Nevertheless, radio stations must migrate to the
Internet in order to survive
Changes in professional role
Radio journalists strongly agree that online
journalism provides better tools to deliver contextual
information
On the negative side, Internet is perceived as having
some responsibility in transforming journalism in a
more sedentary or at the desk job
Professional ethics
RQ3) Are journalists developing a new ethical outlook
that mingles traditional and new values?
Journalists have a non-consensual perception on this
matter (They always enhance the tool factor)
Professional ethics
At the same time, they recognize that the Web
increases the volume of information which is hard to
confirm
Respondents do not consider Internet a threat to the
quality of journalism but are not clearly convinced
that the interactivity can help turn journalism into a
more credible profession in the eyes of the public
ConclusionsPortuguese radio journalists positively assess the
impact of the Internet on major journalistic
practices such as:
getting news as fast as possible
keeping contact with the public
broadcasting credible information
Conclusions
On a more negative perspective:
transforming journalism in a more sedentary or at
the desk job
the increase of the volume of information makes it
hard to confirm and to access its credibility
Conclusions Portuguese radio journalists tend to perceive the
Internet as an optimizer of journalistic routines
Above all it’s seen as an useful tool that serves practical
needs and purposes and not so much as an instrument
that enhances journalism traditional roles
They also tend to emphasize empirical achievements
instead of important changes in their professional
identity