SEE ALSO activism; advocacy; community; reformers
Journalism is a method of inquiry and literary style that aims to provide a service to the public by the dissemination and analysis of information including the use of print publishing, electronic broadcasting, the media and digital technology (Harcup, 2009).
In democratic societies the access to verifiable information gathered by independent sources, which adhere to journalistic standards, is a valuable service. Journalism can also provide citizens with the tools they need in order to participate more actively including in influencing the political process. The first so-called civic journalists acted as advocates on behalf of ordinary people and organized public meetings to put specific problems of local communities on the national agenda. As intellectuals and activists entered the field of media advocacy, the concept of citizen journalism has developed and people play a greater role in the process of collecting, reporting, analysing and disseminating information (Laverack, 2013).
Information and communication technology has removed many of the physical barriers to communication as people are able to participate in online discussions. It enables people to find others with whom they share their interests and provides the means to quickly connect with them. This facilitates social interactions in online communities and promotes communication by creating ‘virtual spaces’ in which people can interact, share knowledge and mutual interests in much the same way as they would in the offline world. The internet provides new channels of communication that help to close the gap between professional journalism and the public (Nomura and Ishida, 2003). Citizen journalism challenges the dominance of the established media, but it is unclear if this is because of the development of technology or as a response to public dissatisfaction with the system (Kern and Sang-hui, 2009). Bloggers, for example, regularly engage in citizen journalism and differentiate themselves from mainstream journalists by working through channels that allow them to send information directly to the public (Blood, 2011). This type of technology allows individuals to engage with others on a broad range of social and political issues by allowing the sharing of contacts for better networking and the dissemination of information quickly.
The term ‘alternative press’ most often refers to non-commercial social and environmental justice, internet media, books, radio, video and television. The term usually applies to sources of media that are critical, progressive, leftist, underground and dissident. The alternative press participates in indirect actions such as campaigns or organizational websites where readers can engage in product boycotts, petitioning and online protests. Through purchases and mergers, the mass media became concentrated in the hands of fewer corporations, whose primary interest was maximizing profits. This financial conflict of interest can create conditions for censorship, manipulation, propaganda and disinformation (Andrzejewski, 2007).
Investigative journalism is used to discover the truth and to identify lapses from the truth in whatever media available by deeply examining a single topic of interest such as corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist spends long periods of time researching and preparing a report on the subject from public records, legal documents, interviews and technical reports. The findings of the investigative journalism is then normally published in printed media, television, radio or online (de Burgh, 2008). Investigative journalism, for example, helped to expose the extent to which the Tuskegee study had misused men with untreated syphilis in order to document the course of the disease. The men were not told that they had syphilis and did not receive any counselling or treatment for the disease even though it was available. The study was brought to a halt by a media scandal, which was uncovered by investigative journalism (Cwikel, 2006).
Corporations can use their influence over journalists to control what they report even if this is against the public interest. Corporations fund experts to speak to journalists and employ sophisticated media management companies to help define and shape issues using advertising campaigns. Even though most journalists have to conform to professional and ethical standards, corporations can cultivate their support by providing helpful funding and travel opportunities for their work. Corporate media and public relations firms have developed methods of creatively packaging selective information designed to gain public support for policies and practices beneficial to their agenda. A major part of public relations work is in targeting journalists to try to stop them from reporting on a specific issue; for example, corporations can seek community or professional groups as third parties to give credibility to their agenda. Journalism can also influence the selection, framing and debate of topics by the mass media. The mass media continues to frame health issues within a bio-medical discourse, for example, access to treatment (waiting lists) or the need to change unhealthy behaviours. This perspective then comes to the attention of policymakers. Media advocacy attempts to challenge this dominance by changing the frame and addresses the broader social and political agendas, rather than taking an individualistic point of view on health issues (Wallack et al., 1993). Media advocacy also addresses marketing, advertising and pricing in relation to products such as alcohol and tobacco (Gasher et al. 2007).
Governments have widely varying policies and practices towards journalists, which control what they can research and write and what press organizations can publish. Some governments guarantee the freedom of the press while others severely restrict what journalists can do. Independent media sources are still viewed as a powerful alternative by many governments because they can offer a different political perspective on national and international issues.
KEY TEXTS
•Corcoran, N. (ed.) (2013) Communicating Health: Strategies for Health Promotion. 2nd edn (London: Sage)
•de Burgh, H. (ed.) (2008) Investigative Journalism. 2nd edn (London: Routledge)
•Harcup, T. (2009) Journalism: Principles and Practice (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage)