gijc2015

Research: “Manipulation in Philippine News Reporting: Real or Imagined?”

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This study examines from the lens of Critical Discourse Analysis the presence of manipulation in news reporting in the three leading online English broadsheets in the Philippines.

It attempts to describe using the conceptual categories proposed by Teun van Dijk (1989/2006) how the macrostructure or the schematic structure of news reports can contribute to the attainment of manipulation in news discourse. The data of the study consists of 75 news reports on the alleged cheating during the 2004 presidential elections involving the President and an unidentified Commission on Elections officer, which first surfaced on June 6 and reported until June 20, 2005.

It is hypothesized that the sequencing of these categories helps promote or perpetuate a particular value, belief, or ideology that both the journalists and readers implicitly use in the production and understanding of news. In view of the above findings, there is a need to look at how lessons on reading newspapers are taught in the classrooms. It may also be helpful to impress upon the learners that news reports, like any accounts of any events, are the reporters’ interpretations or versions of the events and situations that would require close and critical reading.

gijc2015

Research: “Bringing data into journalism: the IndiaSpend project”

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IndiaSpend is India’s first data journalism initiative. And is now rapidly growing to become an `agency of record’ when it comes to data and facts on the Indian economy, particularly in areas like education and healthcare as well as data on Indian states. We utilize open data available on the internet to analyse a range of issues, to generate awareness among masses (netizens) as a means of computer assisted reporting.

The National e-governance plan of the government of India launched in 2006 with the objective to provide easy & reliable access of government records and data to public, has enabled computer assisted reporting in the country promoting of data journalism.

The idea of IndiaSpend (data journalism) emerged from the Jan Lokpal (Citizen’s Ombudsman) movement in 2011 against corruption and bringing in transparency and accountability among government officials and agencies. The Right to Information Act (RTI) 2002, passed by Indian Parliament, too helped strengthen this notion.

gijc2015

Research: “Study on financing and sustainability of high quality journalism models”

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The question of how to produce and disseminate high quality news reporting while attaining financial stability and making the most of what digital technology has to offer is perhaps the most pressing question facing journalists today. Many of the new outlets are successful in one of these areas but not in all three (Massing 2015). Much of the current literature that media practitioners could learn from is focused on US media outlets and emphasizes financial sustainability rather than quality of news. While we will draw on the literature of innovation and social network analysis in order to understand how ideas are spread we are mostly interested in the diffusion of news and information as a public good rather than an as an expansionary commercial venture.

In order to expand the discussion of how digitally-minded journalists can successfully launch and grow high quality news outlets, we are assembling a large data set of international online news initiatives around the world in order to see if there are discernable points in common and to understand patterns of success and failure.

gijc2015

Research: “The simultaneous development of a Teaching Lab and a non-profit platform for investigative journalism in The Netherlands: An integrated practical and methodological approach”

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Four years ago an experienced investigative journalist (the author), and a small, re¬spected weekly magazine in The Netherlands, started a program for training young journalists called The Investiga¬tive Teaching Lab, which was subsequently em¬bedded in a new non-profit organisation for investigative journalism called De Onder¬zoeksre¬dactie (The In¬vestigative Desk).

GIJC2013

Research: “Data journalism in an Environment of Competing Government Media: Where to begin? Ecuador case” (Spanish)

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This academic essay explores which first steps could be taken by journalists and media to boost data journalism amid an atmosphere of constant struggle between the government and the press. The essay focuses on the analysis of the Ecuadorian case, with brief references to data journalism developments in other countries. In Ecuador there is an Access to Public Information law, but compliance with the law is not fully achieved.

GIJC2013

Research: “Journalism and Social Appropriation of Knowledge” (Spanish)

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In Latin America, the 1997 UNESCO directives and the laws that protect the provision of higher education consider, besides the teaching, extracurricular activities and research as a central part of its mission. The research should foster the search and generation of knowledge of the universities.

Consequently, social communication and journalism programs, in pursuit of increasingly competent and comprehensive students who aim for long term journalism and not just breaking news, urgently need to depend less on curricular program training and rather pursue an investigative culture that contributes to the professional skills of their graduates.

GIJC2013

Research: “Learning to be Guided by Data: The Training of Journalists Team Estadão Data” (Portuguese)

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The article presents the partial results of over 50 hours of non-participant observation of the routines of the first team of data -driven journalism ( JGD ) formed in the Brazilian press : journalists and programmers responsible for publishing Estadão data, from the newspaper O Estado de São Paul . The observations are complemented by interviews with team members and by document analysis , following the suggestion of Singer (2011 ), for an ethnographic approach including a triangulation of information sources. The focus of the material collected is based on identity, cultural and biographical factors that led these journalists to learn the techniques of JGD and act professionally in this specialty.

GIJC2013

Research: “Development Efforts to Promote Investigative Reporting: A Preliminary Assessment of Centers in Azerbaijan, Jordan, Bangladesh, and Bosnia”

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Over the past decade the international development community, from the World Bank to USAID, has come to regard investigative journalism as a silver bullet to fire at corruption and public apathy in its fight for good governance in emerging democracies. Internationally, governments spend more though media development than do private media on investigative reporting. This has contributed to the emergence of more than 100 investigative centers around the world, according to Center for International Media Assistance reports on global trends in investigative reporting. But while the goals of these centers are similarly lofty – reduce corruption, empower citizens, increase transparency, improve government accountability — results are mixed.
This paper will compare and contrast the evolution of four centers: The Center for Investigative Reporting in Bosnia-Herzegovina, The Caucasus Media Investigations Center in Azerbaijan, The Journalism Training and Research Initiative in Bangladesh and the Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism in Jordan. Two of these are thriving; two have stumbled. We will explore the organizational, economic, political, and social environment of each

GIJC2013

Research: “Toward Construction of New Paradigms in Teaching Journalism in Mexico” (Spanish)

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In the last decade, Mexico has become one of the most difficult parts of the continent to be a journalist. Apart from the huge amount of violence against journalists, there is also job insecurity linked to a deep stagnation of investigative methods and tools in journalism schools. While student enrollment in the journalism schools is going down, and some universities close their journalism schools, many experienced journalists have benefited from an agreement of the Ministry of Education that allows the extemporaneous qualification through an exam; and the training demand has led to the opening of new Master’s programs in journalism.

This work intends to show, from a general analysis of the gaps, challenges and opportunities for journalism schools, a proposal for incorporating new content in journalism education to strengthen the technological capabilities of their graduates.

GIJC2013

Research: “The Relationship (im)possible: Access to Public Information As a Tool of Investigative Journalism in Mexico” (Spanish)

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The access to public information has become an important tool for investigative journalism. In Mexico, the law that guarantees access to public documents is ten years old and has been recognized as a pioneer law in the world. However, neither the progress on transparency and accountability in the country, nor the journalism projects using institutional resources appear to have met the expectations but, in fact, may actually reflect a setback.

Given this view, this paper analyzes the two forces that have been combined in the Mexican context. On the one hand, the current conditions affecting investigative journalism in Mexico, both in their development and publication, in its social significance. And on the other hand, the structural features that have impacted positively and negatively on transparency and accountability. This combination allows a broad view of the current situation: from the power of corruption and impunity in a country, to the training deficiencies of the journalists and the information portrayed in the media.