Scoms Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2

Contents

129 Editorial (by Sara Greco & Katharina Lobinger)

General Section 135 Benjamin Lange, Aylin Bayirli & Frank Schwab: Sprachniveau in Online- und TV-Nachrichten: Eine quantitative computergestützte Textanalyse der Online- und TV-Berichterstattung von ARD, ZDF, Sat.1 und RTL 159 Christofer Jost: How to play … popular music: Didactic action and the display of musical expertise in online tutorials 181 Davide Cino & Chiara Dalledonne Vandini: “My kid, my rule”: Governing children’s digital footprints as a source of dialectical tensions between mothers and daughters-in-law

Thematic Section 205 Colin Porlezza & Philip Di Salvo: Introduction: Hybrid journalism? Making sense of the field’s dissolving boundaries SComS 211 Adrienne Russell: Coming to terms with dysfunctional hybridity: A conversation with Andrew Chadwick on the challenges to liberal democracy in the second-wave networked era 227 Christopher Buschow: Practice-driven journalism research: Impulses for a dynamic Studies in understanding of journalism in the context of its reorganization 243 Philip Di Salvo & Colin Porlezza: Hybrid professionalism in journalism: Opportunities and risks of hacker sources Community Communication 257 Florence Van Hove : Médias d’actualité, journalistes et publics sur Twitter : vers un renouvellement des relations ? Résumé de la thèse de doctorat Studies in Communication Sciences Reviews and Reports Volume Issue 20.2 Sciences 267 Marcel Verhoeven: Ursula Ganz-Blättler. Signs of time: Cumulative narrative in broadcast television fiction 273 Sabine Witt: Aebi, Adrian, Göldi, Susan, Weder, Mirjam (Hrsg.). Schrift – Bild – Ton. Beiträge zum multimodalen Schreiben in Bildung und professioneller Kommunikation [Writing – image – sound. Studies on multimodal writing in education and professional communication] 279 Corinne Schweizer: Zukunftswerkstatt der Ulrich Saxer-Stiftung zum Thema «Media Labs»: Schickes Label oder modernes Arbeiten in der Kommunikationswissenschaft?

SComS 20.2

Available online at www.scoms.ch

ISSN 1424-4896

UG SComS 20-2 201123.indd 1-3 23.11.20 11:16 Studies in Communication Sciences (SComS) is a peer-reviewed, platinum Aims and Scope open access journal for communication and media research. The journal is jointly By virtue of the prevailing multilingualism of both the Editorial Board and the Advi- edited by the Swiss Association of Communication and Media Research (SACM) sory Board, SComS provides a unique forum for exchange among media and com- and the Faculty of Communication, Culture and Society of the Università della munication scientists in English, German, French and Italian. As SComS is based Svizzera italiana (USI Lugano). It is published twice a year with the support of the in Switzerland at the German-, French- and Italian-speaking intersections of the Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences (SAHS). world, the journal’s mission is to showcase the developments in communication sciences in these language areas. The platinum open access journal proposes a SComS aims to build bridges between different research cultures, and publishes multidisciplinary approach to communication sciences that is quite unique. SComS high-quality original articles in English, German, French, and Italian. As a general is becoming a home to different traditions, disciplines, contexts and methodolo- forum for communication scholarship, the journal is especially interested in gies, all dealing with communication in its different facets. research that crosses disciplinary boundaries. Peer Review Process SComS uses double-blind review: Both reviewer and author identities are concealed from the other party throughout the review process. Manuscripts must not Editorial Board have been published elsewhere or be currently under consideration for any other Sara Greco, USI – Università della Svizzera italiana publication. Manuscripts that closely resemble previously published articles will be Thomas Häussler, Universität Bern rejected. Katharina Lobinger, USI – Università della Svizzera italiana Sébastien Salerno, Université de Genève Open Access Policy This journal provides immediate open access to its content without charging pub- Editors of the Thematic Section in this Issue lication fees (platinum open access). SComS is based on the principle that making Colin Porlezza, City, University of London research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of know- Philip Di Salvo, USI – Università della Svizzera italiana ledge. Articles are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncom- mercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.

Book Review Editor Author Guidelines Philipp Bachmann, Hochschule Luzern Manuscripts should be a maximum of 9000 words in length (including the abstract and all references, tables, ﬁgures, appendices and references). However, excep - tions to this maximum, where duly reasoned and demonstrated, are possible. Journal Manager Moreover, authors can submit supplementary material that will be published as Silke Fürst, Universität Zürich online appendix. The ﬁrst page should include an abstract (between 150 and 200 words) and select- Contact ed keywords (e.g., social media, spiral of silence). Please remove all author names and institutional information from manuscripts, so as to enable blind peer review. [email protected] / www.scoms.ch All submitted manuscripts must be prepared in accordance with APA 6th (the c/o 6th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association). Silke Fürst IKMZ Department of Communication and Media Research Andreasstrasse 15, CH-8050 Zurich

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UG SComS 20-2 201123.indd 4-6 23.11.20 11:16 SComS Studies in Communication Sciences Volume 20 (2020), Issue 2

Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 129–131

Editorial Sara Greco*, Università della Svizzera italiana (USI), Faculty of Communication, Culture and Society, Switzerland Katharina Lobinger, Università della Svizzera italiana (USI), Faculty of Communication, Culture and Society, Switzerland *Corresponding author: [email protected]

Dear SComS readers, prises two book reviews of recent publications in our field and a report on a scientif- The publication of issue 20(2) of SComS ic workshop held in Zurich. marks an important occasion, namely the The three articles included in the Ge- 20th anniversary of our journal, which was ne ral Section deal with different sphe res founded at USI – Università della Svizzera and practices in communication. In italiana twenty years ago, and consequent- «Sprach niveau in Online- und TV-Nach- ly published its first issue in early 2001. As rich ten: Eine quantitative computer ge- you might know, SComS was merged with stützte Textanalyse der Online- und TV- Medienwissenschaft Schweiz (a publica- Bericht erstattung von ARD, ZDF, Sat.1 und tion by the SACM – Swiss Association of RTL», Benjamin P. Lange, Aylin Bayirli and Communication and Media Research) in Frank Schwab propose an evaluation of 2007, keeping the name Studies in Com- the language level of German online news munication Sciences. Seizing the occasion from public and private sectors compar- of this achievement, we would like to share ing them with the language level of origi- some important information with you. nal TV news transcriptions. Their analysis First, speaking about the history of our is based on quantitative methods, and re- journal, we remind you that the early is- lies on the program Linguistic Inquiry and sues of SComS and of Medienwissenschaft Word Count, which allows a computer-aid- Schweiz are fully accessible on our website ed text analysis of language level accord- (section “Archives”), thanks to our collab- ing to different standard parameters (such oration with e-periodica. Second, we are as vocabulary diversity, word complexity happy to announce that SComS now has and sentence complexity). The findings of an online first publishing policy, meaning this paper show that online news have a that articles are quickly made available higher language level according to some of online. This policy increases the pace and the considered parameters, which can be visibility of articles published in SComS, explained due to the differences between which is a clear advantage for both our written and oral language. This study also authors and readers. Finally, if you wish to shows that online news are more similar receive regular updates on news, themat- among them than TV news are, which is ic sections and articles published, we en- interpreted by Lange and colleagues as a courage you to follow SComS on Twitter (@ phenomenon of convergence of online me- SComS_Journal). dia versus the concurrence of TV systems Moving on to discuss the contents of with different goals and traditions. SComS 20(2), we are pleased to announce The second article of the general sec- that this issue contains a variety of topics tion, entitled “How to play … popular mu- and perspectives in our field. Alongside a sic: Didactic action and the display of General Section and a Thematic Section, mu sical expertise in online tutorials” and it also contains a Community Section, in written by Christofer Jost, investigates mu- which we publish a summary of the PhD sical practices on social media, examining thesis that has won the SACM Dissertation the display of expertise within the field of Award 2020. Finally, this issue includes a popular music-related online tutorials dis- Reviews and Reports Section that com- tributed on YouTube. More specifically, Jost

https://doi.org/10.24434/j.scoms.2020.02.000 © 2020, the authors. This work is licensed under the “Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial – NoDerivatives 4.0 International” license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). 130 Greco & Lobinger, Editorial / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 129–131 studies how musical knowledge is embod- rithms, artificial intelligence or machine ied in performative acts during the tutori- learning. In addition to their introductory als and how this embodiment is processed guest editorial, the guest editors Colin Por- via audio-visual media. On the basis of the lezza and Philip Di Salvo have collected analysis of a sample of YouTube clips, the three papers that focus on “hybrid jour- author discusses current trends in online nalism” from various perspectives and tutorials of popular music, concluding that aim at discerning ongoing transfor- that the following characteristics are sa- mations of journalism against the back- lient: gender-related and national dispar- ground of networked communication and ities, a tendency to professionalization datafication. The examined topics include, and emergent recurring didactic patterns, e. g., a detailed discussion of the concept which are partly dependent on the specific and theoretical origin of hybridity and the YouTube environment. usefulness of this concept for grasping Finally, in “‘My kid, my rule’: Govern- the changing character of (digital) jour- ing children’s digital footprints as a source nalism. Furthermore, the approach of of dialectical tensions between mothers practice-theoretical journalism research and daughters-in-law”, Davide Cino and is presented as one example of theoretical Chiara Dalledonne Vandini shed light on toolboxes that provide alternate and in- communication issues emerging from novative perspectives for analyzing digital the delicate interaction of the private, journalism. Finally, new and controversial “domestic” sphere and the public sphere “hybrid players”, such as hackers that be- on social media. They investigate social come journalistic sources, are examined media dilemmas (SMDs) that mothers ex- regarding the implications for the negotia- perience regarding their children’s social tion of journalistic roles, norms and prac- media presence, for example when their tices. For more information on the The- mothers-in-law engage in online sharing matic Section, we invite you to read the about their offspring, thus going against introduction by our guest editors. mothers’ expectations about their own Another feature of this issue is a Com- agency and violating their boundary ex- munity Section, in which SComS provides pectations. Cino and Dalledonne Vandi- an arena for current debates and import- ni’s article is based on the analysis of 224 ant issues in Swiss Communication and online posts from discussion threads, in Media Research. As you might know, this which mothers discuss and seek support section is also used for announcements on this topic. Findings from this study that are relevant to the field. We are very reveal the main boundary issues experi- proud to dedicate the Community Section enced by mothers in relation to mothers- in SComS 20(2) to a particularly pleasant in-law sharing about their grandchildren. announcement, as this section contains More in general, this paper explores dia- the summary of Florence Van Hove’s doc- lectical tensions between the nuclear and toral thesis. In 2020, Florence Van Hove the extended family regarding SMDs and was awarded the SACM Dissertation opens questions about the inter-genera- Award for her thesis entitled «Médias d’ac- tional negotiation of boundaries in family tualité, journalistes et publics sur Twitter: communication. vers un renouvellement des relations?». This issue’s Thematic Section is enti- The SACM Dissertation Award annually tled “The dissolving boundaries of hybrid honors the best PhD thesis in communi- journalism” and concerned with current cation and media research completed at a transformations of journalism, its shifting Swiss University, or by researchers of Swiss boundaries, and the advent of new forms origin. We congratulate Florence Van Hove of journalistic work that are often based on this achievement and invite our audi- on collaborations with actors outside the ence to read the summary of her innova- journalistic field, such as activists or hack- tive and inspiring work that is dedicated to ers, or that use technological innovations the analysis of transforming relationships such as information security tools, algo- between media actors and their audiences Greco & Lobinger, Editorial / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 129–131 131 against the background of the increasing tion of this latter review, alongside its orig- relevance of social media for digital jour- inal version in German. nalism. In the last contribution, Corinne This issue is concluded by two book Schweizer reports on this years’ «Zukunfts- reviews and a workshop report. The book werkstatt» of the Ulrich Saxer Foundation reviews discuss work published in the field that took place on 23 October 2020 in hy- of communication studies within the last brid form at the University of Zurich. The two years. In chronological order, Marcel participants of the workshop examined Verhoeven reviews Ursula Ganz-Blätt- the question of whether “Media Labs” were ler’s “Signs of time: Cumulative narrative just a fancy label for already existing forms in broadcast television fiction”. Sabine of collaboration or whether they could en- Witt reviews the recent edited volume by able innovative forms of working and con- Adrian Aebi, Susan Göldi, and Mirjam ducting research in the field of media and Weder entitled «Schrift – Bild – Ton. Bei- communication research. träge zum multimodalen Schreiben in We hope our readers will enjoy this Bildung und professioneller Kommunika- issue with its manifold contents and ap- tion». In order to foster scientific dialogue proaches! across different languages and communities, SComS publishes an English transla- Sara Greco & Katharina Lobinger

SComS General Section Volume 20 (2020), Issue 2

Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 135–158

Sprachniveau in Online- und TV-Nachrichten: Eine quantitative computergestützte Textanalyse der Online- und TV-Bericht- erstattung von ARD, ZDF, Sat.1 und RTL Benjamin P. Lange*, Aylin Bayirli und Frank Schwab Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Fakultät für Humanwissenschaften, Institut Mensch- Computer-Medien, Arbeitsbereich Medienpsychologie, Germany *Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract Nachrichten stellen ein beliebtes Forschungsfeld der Kommunikationsforschung dar. In der entsprechenden deutschsprachigen Forschung werden vielfach die Hauptnachrichten der beiden deutschen Rundfunksys- teme (öffentlich-rechtlich vs. privat) miteinander verglichen – zuletzt z. B. hinsichtlich ihres Sprachniveaus. Allerdings existiert wenig Forschung, die sich dem Online-Nachrichtenangebot widmet. Daher lag unser Ziel in der Analyse des Sprachniveaus von deutschen Online-Nachrichtenangeboten beider Systeme sowie einzelner Sender (ARD, ZDF, RTL SAT.1) mit Hilfe von vier Kategorien des Textanalyseprogramms Lin- guistic Inquiry and Word Count sowie von zwei weiteren Massen (Umgangssprache, Flesch-Index), die unterschiedliche Dimensionen des Sprachniveaus erfassen. In Form einer künstlichen Nachrichtenwoche wurden insgesamt 84 Online-Nachrichtentexte hinsichtlich ihres Sprachniveaus analysiert. Online-Nach- richten der Privatsender wiesen durchschnittlich längere Texte und mehr Wörter pro Satz auf. Ein Unter- schied hinsichtlich Wortschatzdiversität und Wortkomplexität konnte nicht gefunden werden. Die Ergeb- nisse zum Flesch-Index zeigen, dass Online-Nachrichten beider Systeme ähnlich schwer verständlich sind. Diese Ergebnisse wurden aktuellen Daten zum Sprachniveau klassischer TV-Nachrichten gegenübergestellt. Dabei wurde evident, dass Online-Nachrichten höhere Werte bei einigen Markern des Sprachniveaus auf- wiesen, was u. a. mit Hilfe des Kontinuums Mündlichkeit-Schriftlichkeit kontextualisierbar ist, und dass sich das Sprachniveau in Online-Nachrichten zwischen den Systemen und Sendern, im Unterschied zu TV-Nachrichten, eher ähnelte, was im ersten Fall als Konvergenz, im zweiten als Konkurrenz interpretiert werden kann.

Keywords Online-Nachrichten, Sprachniveau, sprachliche Gewandtheit, Eloquenz, quantitative computergestützte Textanalyse

1 Einleitung in Deutschland adressiert werden kann (Meckel & Kamps, 1998; Unz & Schwab, Nachrichten erfüllen in modernen In- 2004; Zubayr & Gerhard, 2018). Das Fern- formationsgesellschaften eine zentrale sehen kann damit als zentrale Informa- Aufgabe bei der Vermittlung von tagesak- tionsquelle der Gesellschaft angesehen tuellen Informationen (z. B. Schwiesau & werden (Meckel & Kamps, 1998; Zubayr & Ohler, 2016; Unz & Schwab, 2004). Eine Gerhard, 2018). spezielle Rolle wird hierbei dem Fern- Nachrichten, insbesondere TV-Nach- sehen zugeschrieben, da es sich um das richten, stellen daher einen beliebten und am meisten genutzte Medium handelt, viel untersuchten Gegenstandsbereich durch welches die Mehrheit der Bürger1 und der einfacheren Lesbarkeit und impli- 1 Die vorliegende Arbeit verwendet das ge- ziert gleichermassen die weibliche Form nerische Maskulinum (z. B. «Bürger») aus («Bürgerin»). Es sind stets Personen jeden Gründen der sprachlichen Vereinfachung Geschlechts gleichermassen gemeint.

https://doi.org/10.24434/j.scoms.2020.02.001 © 2020, the authors. This work is licensed under the “Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial – NoDerivatives 4.0 International” license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). 136 Lange et al. / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 135–158 der Medien- und Kommunikationsfor- 2 Forschungsstand zu Online- schung dar (Meckel & Kamps, 1998; Unz & und TV-Nachrichten Schwab, 2004; Wittwen, 1995). Vielfach wurden in entsprechenden deutschen For- In diesem Kapitel legen wir den für un- schungsarbeiten die Nachrichtenformate sere Arbeit relevanten Forschungsstand der beiden deutschen Rundfunksysteme zu Online- und TV-Nachrichten dar. (öffentlich-rechtliche vs. private Sender; Schwerpunkte sind dabei grundsätzliche im Folgenden meist kurz: System) mitein- Unterschiede zwischen den beiden Rund- ander verglichen (z. B. Krüger, 1998; Lange, funksystemen und einzelnen Sendern so- Kouros & Schwab, 2019; Weiss, 2003; Witt- wie die sprachliche Gestaltung verschie- wen, 1995). dener Nachrichtenangebote. Unter anderem wurden TV-Nachrich- ten dabei hinsichtlich ihres Sprachniveaus 2.1 Das Selbstverständnis der untersucht (z. B. Krüger, 2009; Lange et al., öffentlich-rechtlichen und privaten 2019). Dabei wurde u. a. deutlich, dass sich Nachrichtensender die TV-Nachrichten der öffentlich-rechtli- Die TV-Nachrichtenangebote der beiden chen Nachrichtensender (im Folgenden: Systeme können hinsichtlich ihres Selbst- ÖRS) durch ein in vielerlei Hinsicht höhe- verständnisses bezüglich des Informa- res Sprachniveau auszeichnen als die der tions- und Unterhaltungsgehalts differen- Privatsender (im Folgenden PS), wobei ziert werden. Die Programmrichtlinien der insbesondere die Tagesschau durch ihr ÖRS unterliegen in Deutschland, anders hohes Sprachniveau herausstach. als die der PS, dem Rundfunkstaatsvertrag. Nachrichten werden mittlerweile und Ersteren kann deshalb eine gewisse Pflicht zunehmend aber auch online rezipiert unterstellt werden, ihren Zuschauern (z. B. Arnold, 2016). Während jedoch For- möglichst neutrale Informationen dar- schung zur sprachlichen Gestaltung klassi- zubieten, die einen gleichfalls möglichst scher TV-Nachrichten vorliegt (z. B. Lange objektiven Überblick über das Weltge- et al., 2019), mangelt es an derartiger For- schehen vermitteln, zur Meinungsbildung schung zu Online-Nachrichten. An dieser beitragen und damit zur Teilnahme am Forschungslücke setzt der vorliegende politischen Geschehen befähigen (Halff, Beitrag an. 1998; Unz & Schwab, 2004). Trotz einiger Zunächst legen wir den Forschungs- Kritik an den ÖRS haben Zuschauer ein stand zu Online- und TV-Nachrichten hohes Vertrauen in deren Sendungen und dar. Diesbezüglich beginnen wir mit einer sprechen diesen eine hohe Glaubwürdig- Darlegung des Selbstverständnisses der keit zu, was sich u. a. an der gleichbleibend öffentlich-rechtlichen verglichen mit dem grossen Reichweite dieser Nachrichten- der privaten Nachrichtensender. Im An- formate zeigt (Krüger & Zampf-Schramm, schluss gehen wir detailliert auf bisherige 2018; Newman, Fletcher, Kalogeropoulos, Ansätze und Forschungsergebnisse zur Levy & Nielsen, 2018; Unz & Schwab, 2004; sprachlichen Gestaltung von Nachrich- Zubayr & Gerhard, 2018). ten ein. Daran anknüpfend thematisieren Demgegenüber steht das Selbstver- wir den Unterschied zwischen Informati- ständnis der PS, das sich vor allem über on und Unterhaltung in Nachrichtenfor- die Nähe zum Zuschauer definieren lässt maten und wie sich dieser Unterschied (Krüger, 1998); sie zielen eher darauf ab, sprachlich ausdrückt. Schliesslich gehen bestimmte Grundbedürfnisse der Bür- wir auf Online-Nachrichten ein, um aus ger anzusprechen, sowie Nachrichten für dem Dargelegten die Forschungsfrage, ob alle Zuschauer verständlich zu vermit- sich Unterschiede im Sprachniveau zwi- teln (Krüger, 1998). So stellen PS bewusst schen den beiden Rundfunksystemen und Themen aus dem Alltagsgeschehen, von zwischen den einzelnen Sendern in On- denen Menschen persönlich betroffen line-Nachrichten finden lassen, sowie eine sind, sowie zwischenmenschliche Bezie- Hypothese abzuleiten, die dann empirisch hungen in den Mittelpunkt der Bericht- untersucht wurden. erstattung (Kamps, 1998; Krüger, 1998; Lange et al. / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 135–158 137

Krüger & Zampf-Schramm, 2018; Unz & den dabei wesentlich verfolgten Fragen Schwab, 2004). Dies soll den Zuschauern lauteten: Ist die Nachrichtensprache eher vermutlich ein breites «Empathieange- elaboriert oder eher einfach und schlicht? bot» (Kamps, 1998, S. 43) unterbreiten, Und lassen sich diesbezüglich Unterschie- so dass sie sich leichter mit den gezeigten de einerseits zwischen den Angeboten Inhalten identifizieren können und somit der beiden Systeme und andererseits der emotional involviert werden (Krüger & einzelnen Sender (d. h. ARD, ZDF, RTL und Zampf-Schramm, 2018). Unz und Schwab Sat.1; im Folgenden meist kurz: Sender) (2004) sprechen in diesem Kontext von feststellen? einer Einflussnahme auf das Rezeptions- In der Gesamtschau kann von einem erleben durch eine emotionale und mo- höheren Sprachniveau der ÖRS die Rede ralische Adressierung des Rezipienten. sein (Lange et al., 2019; s. auch Wittwen, Insgesamt kann insbesondere bei den 1995). Lange et al. (2019) konnten mit ei- Nachrichten der PS von einer Unterhal- ner quantitativen computergestützten tungsorientierung gesprochen werden, Textanalyse der Sprache in den Haupt- die vielfach mit den Begriffen des Info- nachrichtensendungen der vier Sender tainments und der Boulevardisierung in mittels der Textanalyse-Software Lingu- Verbindung gebracht wird (Bartel, 1997; istic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC; s. Bruck & Stocker, 1996; Donsbach & Bütt- Wolf, Horn, Mehl, Haug, Pennebaker & ner, 2005; Wittwen, 1995). Kordy, 2008) zeigen, dass die ÖRS moderat effektstark komplexere Wörter und hoch 2.2 Nachrichten und ihre sprachliche effektstark komplexere Sätze verwende- Gestaltung ten als die PS. Der erstgenannte Befund Die unterschiedlichen Philosophien der kam dabei fast ausschliesslich durch die beiden Systeme wirken sich darauf aus, Tagesschau zustande, d. h., dass heute wie versucht wird, auf das Rezeptionser- diesbezüglich eher auf dem Niveau der leben der Zuschauer Einfluss zu nehmen, PS lag (vgl. Wahdat, 2009). Lediglich bei d. h. darauf, wie der Zuschauer adressiert der Wortschatzdiversität lagen die PS über wird (Unz & Schwab, 2004). Dies kann auf den ÖRS, wobei dieser Unterschied über- visuell-bildlicher, aber auch auf sprachli- wiegend durch die SAT.1 Nachrichten zu- cher Ebene geschehen (z. B. Brosius, 1998; stande zu kommen schien. Die Autoren Burger & Luginbühl, 2014; Machill, Köhler, vermuteten als Erklärung für das höhere Waldhauser, 2006; McQuail, 2001; Paet- Sprachniveau der PS bei diesem speziellen zold, 1973; Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000; Mass u. a. einen höheren Anteil an Um- White, 1950). gangssprache in den SAT.1 Nachrichten. Hinsichtlich der sprachlichen Ebene hat die vorherige Forschung (Lange et al., 2.3 Information und Unterhaltung 2019) u. a. das sog. Sprachniveau von in Nachrichtenformaten und ihre TV-Nachrichten in den Blick genommen, sprachlichen Korrelate d. h. die Frage verfolgt, wie sprachlich ge- In einer sprachlichen Analyse von TV- wandt bzw. eloquent sich die Nachrich- Nachrichten identifizierte Wittwen (1995) tensprache darstellt. Sprachniveau wird verbal-auditive Unterhaltungselemente hierbei als wertfreier Begriff verstanden, des Infotainments, wie z. B. der Einsatz der sich als (partiell) synonym zu sprach- von Umgangssprache (s. dazu auch Man- licher Gewandtheit sowie Eloquenz auf- gold, 2004). Damit im Einklang konnte er fassen und sich u. a. über Wortschatzdi- in den Nachrichtenangeboten der PS ein- versität (Anteil unterschiedlicher Wörter), fache Sprache nachweisen, die sich u. a. Wortkomplexität (grob: Länge der Wörter) durch den Einsatz von Umgangssprache und Satzkomplexität (grob: Länge der und kurzen Sätzen auszeichnet (s. dazu Sätze) definieren lässt (s. Lange, 2012; auch Landmeier & Daschmann, 2011). Lange, 2016; Lange, Hennighausen, Brill & Auch Arnold (2016) zeigte, dass Boulevard- Schwab, 2016; Lange, Bögemann & Zarets- medien einfache Sprache, bis hin zur Um- ky, 2017; s. dazu auch weiter u.). Die bei- gangssprache, verstärkt einsetzen. Damit 138 Lange et al. / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 135–158 scheint der Einsatz von Umgangssprache sich besonders Nachrichtensender die ein weiteres untersuchungswürdiges Mass entsprechende Ausweitung der medialen für Sprachniveau in Nachrichten zu sein. Kanäle zunutze machen, was sich in der Die bisherigen Befunde zeigen somit, Ausdifferenzierung ihres Online-Angebots dass das Sprachniveau mit der inhaltlichen feststellen liess: TV-Nachrichtenanbieter Ausrichtung der diversen Formate und ih- bieten sowohl auf Senderebene (z. B. ard. rer Philosophien nicht unkorreliert zu sein de, zdf.de) als auch auf Sendungsebene scheint: Die Tagesschau als hochseriös und (z. B. tagesschau.de, heute.de) ein spezifi- glaubwürdig wahrgenommene Instanz der sches Internetangebot zur Informations- deutschen Nachrichtenwelt (Bartel, 1997; vermittlung an. Das Internet stellt somit Matzen, 2009; Meckel & Kamps, 1998; Wah- gerade für Nachrichtensender wie auch re- dat, 2009) weist bei zwei zentralen Massen zipienten ein wichtiges Zusatzangebot dar des Sprachniveaus (Wort- und Satzkom- und ist insbesondere für die Adressierung plexität) die höchsten Werte auf (Lange eines jüngeren Publikums der wichtigste et al., 2019). Die Sendung heute liegt nur Informationskanal (Hölig & Hasebrink, bei der Satzkomplexität auf dem Niveau 2018; Schneller, 2017; Weiss, 2003). der Tagesschau, ansonsten aber eher auf dem Niveau der PS (Lange et al., 2019). 2.5 Forschungslücke und vorliegende Dies lässt sich damit erklären, dass sich Studie heute insofern quasi in einer Zwischenwelt Trotz einiger Studien zur Nachrichten- zwischen der Tagesschau und den Nach- sprache lässt sich eine Forschungslücke richten der PS befindet, als sie u. a. auch identifizieren: Erstens liegen zum jetzigen unterhaltungsorientiert ausgerichtet ist Zeitpunkt kaum quantitativ-empirische (Bartel, 1997). Analysen des Online-Informationsange- bots von Fernsehnachrichten i. A. vor, 2.4 Online-Angebote der die die bereits grosse Zahl an Studien mit Nachrichtensender qualitativem Ansatz zur Fernsehnachrich- Die bisher referierten Befunde beziehen tenanalyse (z. B. Bruns & Marcinkowski, sich allesamt auf klassische TV-Nachrich- 1997; Krüger & Zampf-Schramm, 2018; ten. Das Einholen aktueller Informatio- Uribe & Gunter, 2007; Weiss, 2003) sinnvoll nen erfolgt jedoch mittlerweile in starkem ergänzen würden. Das heisst, es besteht Masse auch Online; Nachrichten werden insbesondere hinsichtlich des Sprachni- mittlerweile auch Online «in Echtzeit» (Ar- veaus des Online-Nachrichtenangebots nold, 2016, S. 11) rezipiert. Der technische der beiden Systeme eine Forschungslü- Fortschritt mit dem Entstehen und der cke. Unseres Wissens existiert keine em- Verbreitung des Internets konnte nicht fol- pirische Forschung, die die Sprache an genlos für den Nachrichtenjournalismus sich und das Sprachniveau im Besonde- sein (Arnold, 2016; Meckel & Kamps, 1998; ren von Online-Nachrichten quantitativ Rankl, 2014; Unz & Schwab, 2004). Neben analysiert und hinsichtlich dieser Analy- Herausforderungen bieten sich auch neue seebene klassischen Fernsehnachrichten Möglichkeiten der Verbreitung von Nach- gegenübergestellt hat. Dabei könnte der richten (s. z. B. Arnold, 2016; Hölig & Hase- (crossmediale) Produktionsprozess in Ab- brink, 2018; Meckel & Kamps, 1998; Neu- hängigkeit vom Medium eine unterschied- berger, 2018; Rankl, 2014; Stanyer, 2008). liche sprachliche Aufbereitung einfordern: Der Einfluss des Internets lässt sich Online-Nachrichten könnten – als anderes in der Tat als ein Wandel in der Nachrich- neues Medium – andere Charakteristika tenlandschaft auffassen (Meckel & Kamps, aufweisen und eigenen Regeln folgen als 1998; Rankl, 2014; Unz & Schwab, 2004). ihre TV-Pendants (vgl. Lange et al., 2019); Durch das Internet bieten sich für den und dies könnte sich auch auf die sprachli- Nachrichtenjournalismus neue Möglich- che Gestaltung in Form des Sprachniveaus keiten der Veröffentlichung und der Ad- auswirken. ressierung der Rezipienten (Rankl, 2014). In Form einer aktuellen Publikation Weiss (2003) konnte etwa zeigen, dass (Lange et al., 2019) liegen aktuelle Da- Lange et al. / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 135–158 139 ten zum Sprachniveau von klassischen gen. Gleichwohl können diese hinsicht- TV-Nachrichten vor, die ein teils deutlich lich des konzeptionellen Aspekts eher der höheres Sprachniveau der Nachrichten Schriftlichkeit zugeordnet werden, da ihr der ÖRS dokumentiert (s. o.). Auf Basis Duktus einer eher gewählten Ausdrucks- dieser Befunde lässt sich fragen, ob sich weise entspricht: Sie sind zwar mündlich, die teils auffallend grossen Unterschie- weisen aber Charakteristika der Schrift- de im Sprachniveau von TV-Nachrichten lichkeit auf (vgl. Koch & Oesterreicher, zwischen den beiden Systemen bzw. zwi- 1985, S. 15). Hinsichtlich des medialen schen den einzelnen Sendern auch in den Aspekts wird der Unterschied zwischen Online-Pendants finden lassen (Lange beiden Nachrichtenformen jedoch deutet al., 2019): Werden die sprachlichen Un- lich: So sind Online-Nachrichten grafisch, terschiede also von der Offline- in die On- TV-Nachrichten hingegen (überwiegend) line-Welt transferiert? Zeigt sich z. B. die phonisch realisiert (vgl. Koch & Oester- Sonderstellung der Tagesschau nicht nur reicher, 1985; s. auch Dürscheid, 2003). Offline, sondern auch Online? Zwar mögen Dies kann zum Anlass genommen wer- die Online-Redaktionen nicht deckungs- den, Online-Nachrichten auf dem Konti- gleich mit den Redaktionen sein, die die nuum Mündlichkeit-Schriftlichkeit eher TV-Inhalte liefern; wenn die sprachliche bei Schriftlichkeit, TV-Nachrichten hin- Gestaltung in Form des Sprachniveaus je- gegen eher bei Mündlichkeit zu veror- doch als Ausdruck einer bestimmten jour- ten. Wie sehr Online-Nachrichten dabei nalistischen Kultur und Philosophie eines schriftlich und wie sehr TV-Nachrichten Senders oder als wiedererkennbares Mar- mündlich sind, ist zweitrangig; wichtig ist kenmerkmal verstanden wird (vgl. Lan- nicht ihre absolute, sondern ihre »relative ge et al., 2019), wäre ein solcher Transfer Situierung» (Koch & Oesterreicher, 1985, durchaus denkbar. Ist also die Selbstinsze- S. 18). Und in diesem Sinne lassen sich nierung der Anbieter bzgl. des Sprachni- Online-Nachrichten als eher schriftlich veaus crossmedial gleichbleibend? und TV-Nachrichten als eher mündlich Oder stellte das Internet sozusagen auffassen. «Alles auf Null» und hat damit im Zuge Interessant ist nun, dass Hinweise des Wandels von «Offline Only» zu «On- dafür existieren, dass Mündlichkeit mit line Too» zu einer Konvergenz zwischen einem niedrigen Sprachniveau bzw. mit den beiden Systemen und den verschie- Markern eines niedrigen Sprachniveaus denen Sendern geführt (vgl. Neuberger, einhergeht (Koch & Oesterreicher, 1985; s. 2018; Weiss, 2003)? Werden also aufgrund auch Dürscheid, 2003; Storrer, 2013). der relativen Neuartigkeit und der eigenen Zusammenfassend ergibt sich aus den Regeln der Online-Welt derartige System- o. g. Ausführungen folgende Forschungs- und auch Senderunterschiede nivelliert? frage: Die Fragen lauten also, inwiefern sich das Existieren Unterschiede hinsicht- Sprachniveau je nach Medium (Online vs. lich der verschiedenen Dimensionen des TV) unterscheidet und ob und wenn ja, Sprachniveaus von Online-Nachrichten wie versucht wird, ein bestimmtes Sprach- zwischen den beiden Rundfunksyste- niveau, z. B. als Art Markenmerkmal, beim men sowie – feiner aufgelöst – zwischen crossmedialen Produzieren wiedererkenn- verschiedenen Sendern? Anders ausge- bar zu gestalten. drückt: Lassen sich die Unterschiede im Beim Vergleich von klassischen TV- Sprachniveau klassischer TV-Nachrichten mit Online-Nachrichten sticht darüber hi- zwischen den Systemen und zwischen naus eine wesentliche Unterscheidung ins den einzelnen Sendern auch in Online- Auge, nämlich die zwischen Mündlichkeit Nachrichten finden? und Schriftlichkeit (Koch & Oesterreicher, Die oben angestellten Überlegungen 1985). Zwar liegen nicht nur Online-Nach- zur Unterscheidung zwischen Mündlich- richten, sondern auch die Inhalte der keit und Schriftlichkeit führten zudem zu TV-Nachrichten zunächst schriftlich vor; folgender Hypothese: diese werden jedoch mündlich vorgetra- 140 Lange et al. / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 135–158

Online-Nachrichten weisen auf den hinsichtlich der präsentierten Themen drei wesentlichen Dimensionen des Sprach - analysiert. Im nächsten Schritt wurde niveaus (Wortschatzdiversität, Wort kom- überprüft, ob zum jeweiligen Themen- plexität und Satzkomplexität) höhere beitrag der TV-Nachrichtensendung eines Wer te sowie auf den zwei Dimensionen jeden Senders ebenfalls ein Online-Bei- Umgangssprache und Verständlichkeit trag auf der Webseite des entsprechenden (Flesch- Index) niedrigere Werte auf als Nachrichtensenders verfügbar war. Das klassische TV-Nachrichten. Ziel war es, drei Themen pro Tag ausfindig zu machen, die sowohl in den Hauptnach- richtensendungen im Fernsehen ausge- 3 Methode strahlt als auch am selben Tag auf der Web- seite veröffentlicht wurden. Insgesamt Zunächst beschreiben wir das analysierte ergab sich anhand der beschriebenen Vor- Material (Texte der Nachrichtenbeiträ- gehensweise eine Gesamtstichprobe von ge). Es folgt eine Beschreibung der einge- N = 84 Online-Texten mit einem Umfang setzten Instrumente (u. a. LIWC) und die von insgesamt über 7000 Wörtern. Für je- Operationalisierung zentraler Konstrukte den der vier Sender wurden im Zuge dieser (Sprachniveau und dessen einzelne Di- Arbeit somit insgesamt n = 21 Nachrich- mensionen). Schliesslich erläutern wir, tenbeiträge untersucht, wobei die Länge wie die statistischen Analysen des Materi- der Texte zwischen 100 und 1122 Wörtern als erfolgten. variierte. Da wir die Werte für die Online-Texte 3.1 Material jenen für klassische TV-Nachrichten ge- Unsere Auswahl der Nachrichtensender genüberstellen wollten, analysierten wir bzw. -sendungen richtete sich nach den neben den Online-Texten zusätzlich die Hauptnachrichtensendern mit der gröss- Original-Transkriptionen der TV-Nach- ten Reichweite der beiden Rundfunksys- richten von Lange, Kouros und Schwab teme. Nach Zubayr und Gerhard (2018) (2019). Hier lagen N = 28 Transkriptionen sind dies bei den öffentlich-rechtlichen vor; das heisst, pro Sender wurden n = 7 Rundfunkanbietern die Tagesschau und Beiträge untersucht. Die Länge der Tran- heute und bei den Privatsendern RTL ak- skriptionen variierte zwischen 1411 und tuell und die SAT.1 Nachrichten. Die Aus- 1706 Wörtern (vgl. Lange et al., 2019). Ins- wahl von je zwei Nachrichtensendungen gesamt analysierten wir Textmaterial (On- pro System soll eine Gegenüberstellung line und TV) im Gesamtumfang von 112 der Rundfunk-Nachrichtenangebote die- Beiträgen bzw. 83.281 Wörtern. ser beiden Systeme ermöglichen, was ein verbreitetes Vorgehen in der Nachrichten- 3.2 Instrumente und forschung darstellt (vgl. z. B. Bruns & Mar- Operationalisierung cinkowski, 1997; Krüger, 1998; Lange et al., Unsere methodische Vorgehensweise 2019). Zudem sind vier einzelne Sender orientiert sich weitgehend an der von miteinander vergleichbar. Lange et al. (2019), die mithilfe des com- Für das Zusammenstellen des Materi- putergestützten quantitativen Textanaly- als der Online-Nachrichten wurde folgen- seprogramms Linguistic Inquiry and Word dermassen vorgegangen: Über einen Zeit- Count (LIWC; Wolf et al., 2008; s. auch Pen- raum von zwei Wochen wurde zunächst nebaker, Francis & Booth, 2001) TV-Nach- eine künstliche Nachrichtenwoche der richten hinsichtlich ihres Sprachniveaus o. g. Nachrichtensendungen konstruiert. untersucht haben (s. o.). Wir haben uns So wurden in der ersten Erhebungswoche zudem an Krüger (2009) orientiert, der den Daten der Tage Montag, Mittwoch, Freitag sog. Flesch-Index verwendet hat. und Sonntag und in der zweiten Woche Bei LIWC handelt es sich um ein Daten der Tage Dienstag, Donnerstag und diktionärbasiertes Computer-Programm, Samstag erhoben. Im Anschluss wurden das die automatische quantitative Ana- alle Beiträge einer Nachrichtensendung lyse von natürlicher Sprache ermöglicht, Lange et al. / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 135–158 141 die bereits geschrieben vorliegt oder aber Flesch-Index einen weiteren Marker der mündlich vorlag und dann transkribiert Leichtigkeit bzw. Schwierigkeit der Spra- wurde. Das Instrument erlaubt eine hohe che mitberücksichtigen, da auch dieser in Abdeckung der Alltagssprache (Wolf et al., der empirischen Forschung zur Nachrich- 2008). Die Funktionalität von LIWC zielt tensprache bereits zum Einsatz kam (Krü- auf die Ein-Wort-Analyse; es verwendet ei- ger, 2009). Im Folgenden soll nochmals nen Wortzählalgorithmus, der die gezähl- kurz elaboriert werden, wie Sprachniveau ten Wörter – die Auftretenshäufigkeit wird definiert ist und mittels der oben bereits i. d. R. prozentual in Relation zur Textlänge kurz genannten linguistischen Marker dargestellt – bestimmten Kategorien zu- operationalisiert werden kann. ordnet (Wolf et al., 2008). Sprachniveau (Synonym: sprachliche LIWC ist bereits vielfach in der psy- Gewandtheit; Lange, 2012; Lange et al., chologischen, aber auch kommunikati- 2016, 2017, 2019) ist grob u. a. mittels Wort- onswissenschaftlichen und linguistischen schatzdiversität (Anteil unterschiedlicher Forschung eingesetzt worden, z. B. zur Wörter), Wortkomplexität (Länge der Wör- Analyse von Literatur oder politischer Re- ter) und Satzkomplexität (Länge der Sätze) den (Überblick bei Wolf et al., 2008). Auch definier- und operationalisierbar. Mehrere in der aktuellen kommunikationswissen- Rezeptionsstudien (Lange, 2012; Lange, schaftlichen Forschung wird LIWC immer Zaretsky, Schwarz & Euler, 2014; Lange wieder eingesetzt (z. B. Gil-Lopez, Shen, et al., 2016) bestätigen die Validität dieses Benefield, Palomares, Kosinski, & Stillwell, Ansatzes: Unterschiedlich sprachlich ge- 2018; Ho, Hancock, & Miner, 2018). Im Be- wandte Stimuli (Text, Audio, Video), die sonderen ist der (potenziell) breite Einsatz auf Basis dieser Definition erstellt wurden, bei der Analyse von Mediensprache her- wurden von Probanden mit hoher Effekt- vorzuheben (Wolf et al., 2008). stärke als unterschiedlich sprachlich Lange et al. (2019) legen umfassend gewandt bewertet. Die Probanden zeigten theoretisch wie empirisch dar, dass LIWC dabei gute Inter-Rater-Reliabilitäten, mehrere zentrale Aspekte des Sprach- wa ren sich in ihren Bewertungen also niveaus computergestützt-automatisiert weitgehend einig. Die besagten Bewer- quantitativ valide analysieren kann. Da- tungen korrelierten zudem hoch mit den rauf aufbauend präsentierten sie eine Werten für die einzelnen sprachlichen umfassende Analyse des Sprachniveaus Marker der verschiedenen Dimensionen deutscher TV-Nachrichten mit überwie- des Konstrukts. Damit kann aufgrund gu- gend klaren Ergebnissen. Dies war einer ter Reliabilität und gegebener Validität der Gründe für uns, das Prozedere dieser von der Güte dieses so operationalisierten Studie weitgehend auf unsere Analyse des Konstrukts ausgegangen werden, auf des- Sprachniveaus von Online-Nachrichten sen einzelne Dimensionen im Folgen den zu übertragen. Dies hat den weiteren Vor- näher eingegangen wird. teil, dass die Sprachniveau-Ergebnisse für Wortschatzdiversität ist über das sog. TV-Nachrichten (Lange et al., 2019) unse- Type-Token-Verhältnis (TTR; LIWC-Va- ren Sprachniveau-Ergebnissen für Online- riable «Unique») bestimmbar, d. h. über Nachrichten direkt gegenübergestellt wer- die Anzahl unterschiedlicher Wörter im den können. Verhältnis zur Gesamtwortzahl (Wimmer, Allerdings wollten wir das Vorgehen 2005). TTR ist ein in der Linguistik (s. z. B. von Lange et al. (2019) erweitern. Dies be- Jarvis, 2013; Wimmer, 2005), aber auch in traf erstens den Aspekt der Umgangsspra- der Psychologie (s. z. B. Kemper & Sumner, che, da Lange et al. (2019) diesen Aspekt 2001) etabliertes lexikalisches Diversitäts- selbst diskutieren, ohne ihn allerdings em- mass (Überblick bei Lange, 2012). Penne- pirisch zu erfassen. Auch andere Arbeiten baker, Chung, Ireland, Gonzales und Boo- haben den Einsatz von Umgangssprache th (2007) konnten einen starken negativen in den Nachrichten thematisiert (z. B. Ar- Zusammenhang zwischen dem «TTR» und nold, 2016; Wittwen, 1995). Zweitens woll- der Textlänge (Gesamtwortzahl, LIWC-Va- ten wir mit dem oben bereits genannten 142 Lange et al. / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 135–158 riable «WC») feststellen (r = -.8): Je länger oder an Passivkonstruktionen, wurde ver- ein Text ist, desto weniger unterschiedli- zichtet, und zwar aus im Wesentlichen che Wörter lassen sich im Text finden. Die- zwei Gründen: Erstens liegt empirische ser Umstand sollte daher – so könnte je- Evidenz für die Annahme vor, dass mit der denfalls argumentiert werden – entweder o. g. Operationalisierung sprachliche Ge- bei der statistischen Auswertung oder – wandtheit valide erfasst wird (s. z. B. Lange falls dies dort nicht geschieht – bei der In- et al., 2016). Zweitens kann LIWC weder terpretation der Ergebnisse berücksichtigt hypotaktische noch Passivstrukturen de- werden (s. u.).2 tektieren. Wir werden diesen Aspekt in der Wortkomplexität lässt sich mittels Diskussion wieder aufgreifen. LIWC insofern erfassen, als dass das Pro- Allerdings versuchten wir, wie weiter gramm den Anteil der Wörter, die länger oben bereits angesprochen, LIWC sinn- als sechs Buchstaben sind, ausgibt (LI- voll zu ergänzen, und zwar erstens durch WC-Variable «Sixltr»). Dieses Mass ist fast die Zusatzkategorie der Umgangssprache identisch mit dem der mittleren Wortlänge und zweitens durch die Bestimmung des (Lange et al., 2019; s. auch Lange, 2012). Flesch-Indexes. Auf diese beiden Mar- Zur Operationalisierung der Satzkom- ker wird im Folgenden detailliert einge- plexität kann das Mass der Satzlänge her- gangen. angezogen werden. Diese wird von LIWC Lange et al. (2019) stellten die Vermu- in Form der mittleren Wortzahl pro Satz tung auf, dass die PS, insbesondere Sat.1, ausgegeben (LIWC-Variable «WPS»). Dieses mehr Umgangssprache verwendeten, was Mass ist annähernd identisch mit dem sonst mit einer höheren Wortschatzdiversität in der Psycholinguistik geläufigen Mass einhergehen könnte. Sie lieferten zudem «mean length of utterance» (MLU), bei dem einige exemplarische Belege für einen die Äusserungslänge nicht in Wörtern, son- höheren Gehalt an Umgangssprache in dern in Morphemen angegeben wird (Ait- den Nachrichten von Sat.1, quantifizier- chison, 2008; Überblick bei Lange, 2012). ten den Anteil an Umgangssprache al- MLU kommt vor allem in der Diagnostik lerdings nicht; LIWC bietet hierfür auch des kindlichen Sprachstandes zum Einsatz, keine eigene Kategorie an. Daher erwei- kann aber auch für die Analyse von Erwach- terten wir das deutsche LIWC-Diktionär senensprache verwendet werden (Nippold, mit seinen 68 Kategorien um die Kategorie Ward-Lonergan, & Fanning, 2005). Umgangssprache (US). Dies geschah ei- In Anlehnung an Lange (2012) und nerseits induktiv, d. h. entlang des Unter- Lange et al. (2019) kann damit das Sprach- suchungsmaterials, welches sowohl aus niveau in der vorliegenden Arbeit über den Online-Texten, als auch aus den Ori- Wort schatzdiversität, Wortkomplexität ginal-Transkriptionen der TV-Nachrichten und Satzkomplexität bzw. über die LIWC- von Lange et al. (2019) bestand, anderer- Variable operationalisiert wer den (Wolf seits deduktiv auf Basis von Arbeiten zur et al., 2008). Auf weitere potenzielle Cha- Umgangssprache (Bernhard, 2012; Witt- rakteristika sprachlicher Gewandtheit, wie wen, 1995). etwa ein hoher Anteil an hypotaktischen Die neue Kategorie der Umgangsspra - Satzstrukturen (s. dazu Lange et al., 2019) che («US») umfasste Wörter, die nicht einer formal gehobenen Sprache entsprech - 2 Die starke Abhängigkeit der Variable «Uni- en, sondern sich in salopp und / oder que» von der Textlänge kann zu Fehl gebrauch all tagssprachlich formulierten Wörtern und -interpretationen der Ergebnisse füh- (Begriffen, Bezeichnungen) und Sät- ren; diese LIWC-Funktion ist schlicht sehr zen (Aussagen) äussern (vgl. Bernhard, sensibel gegenüber der Wortzahl. Dies ist 2012; Wittwen, 1995), z. B. «Ausrutscher», einer der Gründe, warum «Unique» aus der «Bauchplatscher», «cool», «Happening» neueren Version von LIWC (vgl. z. B. LIWC 2015 Version 1.3.1. von 2016 mit Version und «Kerl» (Beispiele aus unserem Text- LIWC 2001 Version 1.82 von 2001) entfernt korpus der Online-Texte) sowie «Boom», wurde (Wolf, 2016, persönliche Mitteilung; «happy», «Job», «Promi» und «tja» (Beispie- vgl. Wolf et al., 2008). le aus dem Textkorpus der TV-Transkripti- Lange et al. / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 135–158 143 onen; Lange et al., 2019). Diese neue Kate- chen Wortlänge in Silben und der durch- gorie entstand konkret folgendermassen: schnittlichen Satzlänge in Wörtern (s. z. B. Die Zweitautorin erstellte für das Material Ballstaedt, 2019; Immel, 2014). Er scheint der Online-Nachrichten eine Liste an mög- damit zwei wesentliche Dimensionen des lichen umgangssprachlichen Wörtern. Was o. g. Konstrukts des Sprachniveaus eben- als umgangssprachlich aufgefasst wurde falls zu erfassen, nämlich Wortkomplexi- und was nicht, folgte dabei den Kriterien, tät (vgl. «Sixltr») und Satzkomplexität (vgl. die in der entsprechenden Literatur ge- «WPS»). nannt werden (Bernhard, 2012; Wittwen, Für die Bestimmung des Flesch- 1995; s. o.). Es wurden nur solche Wörter Indexes kam die für deutsches Sprach- aufgenommen, die im tatsächlichen Ma- material entwickelte Formel zum Einsatz: terial vorkamen. Der Erstautor erstellte 180 – ASL – (58,5 * ASW). «ASL» steht für analog dazu für das Material der TV-Nach- «Average Sentence Length», womit die richten eine ähnliche Liste. Beide Listen durchschnittliche Satzlänge in Wörtern zusammen sollten umgangssprachliche gemeint ist. «ASW» steht für «Average Wörter des gesamten analysierten Mate- Number of Syllables per Word», d. h. für rials (Online und TV) enthalten. Erst- und die durchschnittliche Wortlänge in Silben Senior-Autor bestimmten dann gemein- (s. z. B. Ballstaedt, 2019; Immel, 2014). Für sam, welche Wörter Teil der finalen Kate- die inhaltliche Interpretation der so er- gorie sein sollten. Dabei wurden nur solche rechneten Werte griffen wir auf die beste- Wörter aufgenommen, über die die beiden hende Literatur zum Flesch-Index zurück letztgenannten Autoren Konsens erzielten. (Aziz, Fook & Alsree, 2010; Ballstaedt, 2019; Es wurden zudem nur diejenigen Wörter Flesch, 1948; Immel, 2014; Krüger, 2009; für die Konstruktion der Kategorie berück- Merten, 1995, S. 179). Die entsprechend sichtigt, die insgesamt mehr als einmal in der genannten Formel errechneten Werte den Texten vorkamen. Insgesamt konnten drücken demnach je unterschiedlich gute durch diese (qualitative) Zuordnung unter Verständlichkeits- bzw. Schwierigkeitsgra- Berücksichtigung der Kategoriendefini- de aus, nämlich (Personen, für die ein ent- tion (vgl. Bernhard, 2012; Wittwen, 1995) sprechender Text verständlich ist, in Klam- 155 umgangssprachliche Wörter aus der mern): 0 bis 30: sehr schwer verständlich Worthäufigkeitsliste für die Erweiterung bzw. sehr schwierig (Akademiker / Hoch- des Diktionärs gewonnen werden. schulabsolventen), 30 bis 50: schwer ver- Auf Basis des LIWC-Diktionärs von ständlich bzw. schwierig (Studierende), Wolf et al. (2008) erstellten wir somit ein 50 bis 60: schwer bis mittelschwer ver- erweitertes Diktionär. Davon wurden die ständlich bzw. ziemlich schwierig (10. bis folgenden fünf Kategorien verwendet: 12. Schulklasse), 60 bis 70: mittelschwer «WC» (Wortzahl), «Unique» (Type-To- verständlich bzw. normal (8. und 9. Schul- ken-Ratio; misst Wortschatzdiversität), klasse / Alter: 13–15 Jahre), 70 bis 80: mit- «Sixltr» (Anteil an Wörtern, die mehr als telschwer bis leicht verständlich bzw. sechs Zeichen lang sind; misst Wortkom- ziemlich leicht (7. Schulklasse), 80 bis 90: plexität) und «WPS» (Wörter pro Satz; leicht verständlich (6. Schulklasse), 90 bis misst Satzkomplexität); ausserdem die 100: sehr leicht verständlich (5. Schulklas- eigens erstellte Kategorie «US» (Anteil an se / Alter: 11 Jahre) (vgl. Aziz et al., 2010; Umgangssprache).3 Immel, 2014; Krüger, 2009; Merten, 1995, Schliesslich wurde der Flesch-Index S. 179). Dies stellt das Standardvorgehen für alle Beiträge auf Basis der vorliegen- für den Einsatz des Flesch-Indexes dar den Texte bestimmt. Dieser Index wird (Aziz et al., 2010; Ballstaedt, 2019; Flesch, auch «Lesbarkeitsindex» oder «Reading- 1948; Immel, 2014; Krüger, 2009; Merten, Ease- Index» genannt und besteht aus den 1995, S. 179). Uns war und ist allerdings die quantitativen Massen der durchschnittli- Problematik bewusst, dass an den in der besagten Literatur zum Flesch-Index ge- 3 Das erweiterte Diktionär ist (im Format nannten Kategoriengrenzen (z. B. 0–30 vs. «*.dic») als e-appendix verfügbar. 144 Lange et al. / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 135–158

30–50) in Form doppelter Vergaben ein Zu- gegeben, d. h. der Wertebereich, in den der ordnungsproblem entstehen kann, näm- wahre d-Wert mit 95-prozentiger Wahr- lich dann, wenn ein empirisch ermittelter scheinlichkeit fällt. Flesch-Index-Wert genau auf der Grenze Wir entschieden uns dafür, weniger liegt (z. B. 30). Aus unserer Sicht wäre ein über statistische Signifikanz als vielmehr solcher Flesch-Index-Wert notgedrun- über Effektstärken zu argumentieren, da gen als zwischen zwei Kategorien liegend erstere zu sehr von Stichprobengrössen zu interpretieren (z. B. sehr schwierig bis abhängt, während zweitere ein besseres schwierig). Bild der tatsächlichen praktischen Rele- Der in der Analyse von Nachrichten- vanz zeichnen. sprache bereits eingesetzte Flesch-Index Für Textlänge wurden zwei (einmal demonstrierte eine schwere Verständlich- für Online, einmal für TV) einfaktoriel- keit für die Tagesschau (Krüger, 2009), was le Varianzanalysen mit Sender als Faktor als hohes Sprachniveau interpretierbar ist. und «WC» als Kriterium gerechnet. Um Konkret wird für die Tagesschau der Wert mögliche Unterschiede im Sprachniveau 39 (schwer verständlich) berichtet, wäh- je nach Medium (Online / TV) nicht nur rend die Kindernachrichtensendung logo! auf System-, sondern auch auf Sender- einen Wert von 65 (mittelschwer verständ- ebene feststellen zu können und um des lich) aufweist (Krüger, 2009). Weiteren auch mögliche statistische Inter- aktionen zwischen Medium einerseits 3.3 Statistische Analysen und System oder Sender andererseits prü- Um Unterschiede hinsichtlich des Sprach- fen zu können, wurden zusätzlich zwei- niveaus zwischen Online- und TV-Be- faktorielle univariate Varianzanalysen richterstattung und zwischen den beiden durchgeführt. Die beiden Faktoren (d. h. Rundfunksystemen statistisch zu unter- Gruppenvariablen / unabhängige Variab- suchen, wurde zunächst für verschiedene len) waren (1) Medium (Online / TV) und Untersuchungskriterien (konkret: «Sixltr», (2) entweder Rundfunksystem oder Sen- «WPS», «US» und Flesch-Index) und für der (in dieser Reihenfolge). Das Untersu- jedes Medium (d. h. Online und TV) ein chungskriterium (d. h. die abhängige t-Test für unabhängige Stichproben be- Variable) war das jeweilige linguistische rechnet. Um Aussagen über die Grösse Merkmal (neben «WC» noch «Sixltr», der ermittelten Unterschiede treffen zu «WPS», «US» und Flesch-Index). Bei den können, wurde mittels Mittelwerten und Analysen von «Unique» entschieden wir, Standardabweichungen jeweils die Effekt- Analysen durchzuführen, die «WC» als Ko- stärke Cohens d berechnet. Für «Unique» variate berücksichtigen (s. Abschnitt 3.2 wurde, wegen der Wortzahlabhängigkeit und Fussnote 2). Um die Ergebnisse aber dieses Masses (s. o.), eine Varianzanalyse mit der Vorgängerforschung vergleichba- mit Kovariate «WC» gerechnet, da t-Tests rer zu machen, präsentieren wir ausser- die Berücksichtigung von Kovariaten nicht dem «Unique»-Auswertungen ohne diese ermöglichen. Da Varianzanalysen das Kovariate. Zur Quantifizierung der Un- partielle Eta-Quadrat (d2) als Effektstärke terschiede diente als Effektstärke jeweils ausgeben, wurde diese in d umgerechnet. das besagte partielle Eta-Quadrat (d2). Um Nach Cohen (1988) sind d2-Werte von .01 etwaige Interaktionen zwischen Medium gering, solche von .06 moderat und solche und Sender besser zu elaborieren, wurden von .14 hoch. Die übliche Klassifikation zusätzlich jeweils zwei (einmal für Online, der d-Werte spricht bei einem Wert von einmal für TV) einfaktorielle Varianzana- 0.2 von einem geringen, bei einem Wert lysen mit Sender als Faktor und dem je- von 0.5 von einem mittleren Effekt und bei weiligen linguistischen Mass als Kriterium einem Wert von 0.8 oder höher von einem gerechnet. hohen Effekt (s. jedoch Gignac & Szodorai, Dieses Vorgehen führte zu einer re- 2016 für eine weniger konservative Klassi- lativ hohen Zahl an einzelnen statisti- fikation). Für alle d-Werte wird zusätzlich schen Analysen. Dies erhöht die Gefahr, das 95-prozentige Konfidenzintervall an- falsch-positiver Befunde (Alpha-Fehler). Lange et al. / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 135–158 145

In Ermangelung an bisheriger Forschung Abb. 1: Unterschiede (nach Effektstärke zu unserer Thematik erschien uns aller- Cohens d) zwischen ÖRS und PS dings die Gefahr falsch-negativer Befunde nach linguistischem Merkmal sowie (Beta-Fehler) schwerwiegender. Um keine nach Medium: TV (Lange et al., 2019) bedeutsamen Befunde zu übersehen, wur- vs. Online de daher auf Alpha-Fehler-Adjustierung verzichtet (s. dazu Rothman, 1990; Perne- 2.0 online ger, 1998). Aufgrund dieser und anderer 1.5 TV Probleme, die mit statistischer Signiﬁkanz 1.0 verbunden sind (s. o.), fokussieren wir auf

d 0.5 das Berichten von Effektstärken; p-Wer- 0.0 te zur statistischen Signiﬁkanz (Alpha- Cohens –0.5 Fehler-Niveau .05) werden nur zwecks –1.0 Vollständigkeit mit berichtet (s. o.). –1.5 –2.0 4 Ergebnisse WC Un Si WPS US FI

Die Darstellung der Ergebnisse folgt der Anmerkungen: Positive d-Werte stehen jeweils für höhere oben bereits angesprochenen Struktur. Werte der ÖRS. Die linguistischen Merkmale sind: «WC» = Wortzahl; «Un» = Type-Token-Verhältnis (LIWC-Variable Entsprechend orientiert sie sich am jewei- «Unique»); «Si» = Anteil der Wörter, die länger als sechs ligen linguistischen Merkmal (beginnend Buchstaben sind (LIWC-Variable «Sixltr»); «WPS» = Wörter mit Textlänge und schliessend mit dem pro Satz; «US» = Anteil an Umgangssprache; «Fl» = Flesch-In- Flesch-Index). Für jedes Merkmal wird dex. Beim Mass «Unique» der Online-Texte sowie der Tran- nach Medium (Online vs. TV) und System skriptionen von Lange et al. (2019) wurde statistisch für (ÖRS vs. PS; für eine visuelle Übersicht «WC» kontrolliert. Fehlerbalken zeigen das 95 %-Konfidenz- über die wesentlichen Ergebnisse s. Abb. 1) intervall des jeweiligen d-Wertes. sowie nach Sender (ARD, ZDF, SAT.1, RTL) analysiert. Statistische Masszahlen der inferenzstatischen Auswertung, wie p-, Auf Senderebene waren die Online-Nach - t- und d-Werte, finden sich im Fliesstext; richtenbeiträge von RTL aktuell durch- deskriptive Ergebnisse bzw. Rohwerte – schnittlich am längsten gefolgt von der konkret: (nicht adjustierte) Mittelwerte Tagesschau, den SAT.1 Nachrichten und und Standardabweichungen – finden sich heute (s. Tab. 1). Die Berechnung der ein- in Tabelle 1 als Online Supplement. faktoriellen Varianzanalyse zeigte einen hoch signifikanten und hoch effektstar- 4.1 Textlänge ken Unterschied zwischen den vier Sen- Zunächst wurde untersucht, ob sich die dern hinsichtlich der Textlänge der On- Texte in ihrer Länge («WC») unterschei- line-Berichte, F(3, 80) = 12.77, p < .001, den. Bei der Textlänge handelt es sich d2 = .324. Die sehr grossen Unterschiede zwar nicht um ein prototypisches Mass lassen sich vor allem auf das Angebot von für Sprachniveau; dennoch war diese heute zurückführen (s. Tab. 1). Auch die Analyse bedeutsam, da das TTR (s. Ab- TV-Transkriptionen waren auf Senderebe- schnitt 4.2 und 4.3) textlängenabhängig ne effektstark verschieden hinsichtlich der ist. Es zeigte sich, dass Online-Nachrich- Wortzahl, obwohl die Signifikanz verfehlt tenartikel der PS signifikant und mit mo- wurde (s. Lange et al., 2019), F(3, 24) = 1.59, derater Effektstärke länger waren als die p = .219, d2 = .165. Die Reihenfolge war: der ÖRS, t(82) = –2.45, p = .009, d = –0.54 RTL, ZDF, Sat.1, ARD (s. Tab. 1). In der Ge- (95 %-KI[– 0.98; –0.10]). Bei den TV-Nach- samtschau lag damit ein Grund dafür vor, richten lagen die PS ähnlich deutlich über bei den Analysen für Wortschatzdiversität den ÖRS (s. Tab. 1), t(26) = –1.38, p = .181, (s. Abschnitt 4.2) zusätzlich für «WC» sta- d = –0.52 (95%-KI[–1.31; 0.27]) (s. Abb. 1). tistisch zu kontrollieren. 146 Lange et al. / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 135–158

Ein weiterer Grund, bei den Analy- über Online (Madj = 52.07, SE = 0.45). Der sen der Wortschatzdiversität für «WC» zu Haupteffekt für System wurde nicht sig- kontrollieren, liegt in der hohen Korre- nifikant, F(1, 107) = 1.68, p = .197, d2 = .015, liertheit von «WC» mit «Unique» in unse- allerdings der Interaktionseffekt zwischen rem Material: In den Transkriptionen der Medium und System, F(1, 107) = 6.01, TV-Nachrichten (Lange et al., 2019) waren p = .016, d2 = .053. Dieser kam dadurch zu- «Unique» und «WC» hoch negativ mitein- stande, dass bei TV die PS über den ÖRS ander korreliert (r = -.59, p = .001); auch in lagen, während sich bei Online das Muster der Stichprobe aus Online-Nachrichten umdrehte (s. o.; vgl. Abb. 1). war dies der Fall, sogar in stärkerem Mas- Die Varianzanalyse mit Sender statt se (r = -.91, p < .001). Damit lagen mehrere System als Faktor ergab wieder einen hoch Gründe dafür vor, bei der Wortschatzdi- signifikanten und hoch effektstarken Ef- versität die Wortzahl statistisch zu kont- fekt für Medium, F(1, 103) = 94.21, p < .001, rollieren.4 d2 = .478. Der Haupteffekt für Sender wurde nicht signifikant, F(3, 103) = 0.50, p = .681, 4.2 Wortschatzdiversität (mit Kovariate) d2 = .014. Der Interaktionseffekt zwi- Als nächstes Mass wurde das der Wort- schen Medium und Sender wurde knapp schatzdiversität, und zwar zunächst mit nicht signifikant, F(3, 103) = 2.45, p = .068, der Kovariate Textlänge, analysiert – er- d2 = .014. Bei TV hatten die SAT.1 Nachrich- neut beginnend mit der Systemebene und ten (Madj = 49.83, SE = 0.74) den höchsten gefolgt von der Senderebene. Wert gefolgt von RTL aktuell (Madj = 49.49,

Zunächst wurden die Werte für Wort- SE = 0.79), der Tagesschau (Madj = 47.82, schatzdiversität (Type-Token-Verhältnis; SE = 0.76) und heute (Madj = 47.24, SE = 0.74). LIWC-Variable «Unique»; mit Kovariate Bei Online drehte sich, ähnlich wie bei Be- «WC») für jedes Medium getrennt für ÖRS trachtung auf Systemebene, das Muster und PS miteinander verglichen. Für On- (überwiegend) um: Den höchsten Wert line war das Ergebnis nicht signiﬁkant und hatte heute (Madj = 60.04, SE = 0.68) gefolgt wies nur eine geringe Effektstärke auf, F(1, von RTL aktuell (Madj = 58.98, SE = 0.63), der 2 81) = 1.09, p = .300, d = .013, d = 0.23(95%- Tagesschau (Madj = 58.95, SE = 0.61) und den

KI[-0.21; 0.67]). Die ÖRS (Madj = 59.45, SAT.1 Nachrichten (Madj = 58.56, SE = 0.60) SE = 0.43) lagen hier nur leicht über den (s. Abb. 2, oben).

PS (Madj = 58.81, SE = 0.43). Für TV hinge- Der besagte Interaktionseffekt ist in gen ergab sich ein signiﬁkanter und hoch Abbildung 2 (oben) visuell erkennbar. Er effektstarker Unterschied zwischen den kommt, wie zwei weitere je einfaktorielle beiden Systemen, F(1, 25) = 8.54, p = .007, Varianzanalysen zeigten, dadurch zustan- d2 = .255, d = –1.17(95%-KI[–2.01; –0.33]). de, dass bei TV ein hoch effektstarker Un-

Die PS (Madj = 49.68, SE = 0.52) lagen hier terschied zwischen den Sendern besteht, 2 deutlich über den ÖRS (Madj = 47.51, F(3, 23) = 2.79, p = .063, d = .267, während SE = 0.52) (s. Abb. 1). der Unterschied zwischen den Sendern Die zweifaktorielle Varianzana ly- Online nur sehr gering war, F(3, 79) = 0.90, se ergab einen hoch signiﬁkanten und p = .445, d2 = .033. Die Forschungsfragen hoch effektstarken Effekt für Medium, lassen sich für Wortschatzdiversität somit F(1, 107) = 138.78, p < .001, d2 = .565. TV wie folgt beantworten: TV-Nachrichten

(Madj = 69.79, SE = 1.15) lag hier deutlich sind zwischen den Sendern verschieden, Online-Nachrichten hingegen sind einan- 4 Lange et al. (2019) hatten in keiner ihrer der eher ähnlich. Analysen für «WC» kontrolliert. Dort wurde mit Transkriptionen von stets ca. 10 Min. 4.3 Wortschatzdiversität an TV-Nachrichten-Material gearbeitet, was (ohne Kovariate) ähnliche «WC»-Werte nahelegte. Die Ergeb- nisse unserer Re-Analysen des Materials und Unter anderem, um zu verdeutlichen, wie der Ergebnisse dieser früheren Studie fallen anfällig TTR für Unterschiede in der Wort- daher teilweise anders aus. Wir greifen die- zahl ist, führten wir sämtliche Analysen sen Aspekt in der Diskussion auf. für Wortschatzdiversität erneut durch, al- Lange et al. / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 135–158 147 lerdings ohne für «WC» statistisch zu kon- Abb. 2: Unterschiede (Rohwerte) zwischen trollieren. den vier Sendern beim linguisti- Es wurden also zunächst erneut die schen Merkmal «Unique» (Type- Werte für Wortschatzdiversität für jedes Token-Verhältnis; TTR) als Mass Medium getrennt für ÖRS und PS analy- für Wortschatzdiversität nach siert. Für Online lagen die ÖRS über den Medium: TV (Lange et al., 2019) vs. PS (s. Tab. 1), t(82) = 2.68, p = .009, d = 0.59 Online (oben: mit «WC» als Kontroll- (95%-KI[0.147; 1.033]). Für TV lagen die variable, unten: ohne) PS über den ÖRS (s. Tab. 1), t(26) = -1.26; d = -0.48 (95%-KI[-1.268; 0.308]). 75 online Die zweifaktorielle Varianzanalyse TV (mit Medium und System als Faktoren) 70 ergab einen hoch signiﬁkanten und hoch effektstarken Effekt für Medium, F(1, 65 2

108) = 75.71, p < .001, d = .412. TV und On- Unique 60 line unterschieden sich deutlich (s. Tab. 1), d = 2.33 (95 %-KI[1.799; 2.861])). Der Haupt- 55 effekt für System wurde nicht signifikant, F(1, 107) < 1, p = .325, allerdings der Inter- 50 aktionseffekt zwischen Medium und Sys- ARD ZDF SAT.1 RTL 2 tem, F(1, 108) = 4.02, p = .048, d = .036. Die- Sender ser kam dadurch zustande, dass bei TV die PS über den ÖRS lagen, während sich bei 70 online Online das Muster umdrehte (s. o.). TV 65 Die Varianzanalyse mit Sender statt System als Faktor ergab wieder einen hoch 60 signifikanten und hoch effektstarken Ef- 55 fekt für Medium, F(1, 104) = 97.22, p < .001, Unique d2 = .483. Der Haupteffekt für Sender wur- 50 de ebenfalls signifikant, F(3, 104) = 2.95, 45 p = .036, d2 = .078. Auch der Interaktions- effekt zwischen Medium und Sender wur- 40 de signifikant, F(3, 104) = 5.19, p = .002, ARD ZDF SAT.1 RTL 2 d = .130. Bei TV waren die Werte unterein- Sender ander recht ähnlich (s. Tab. 1). Bei Online fanden sich deutlichere Unterschiede: Den Anmerkungen: Fehlerbalken zeigen das 95 %-Konfidenz- höchsten Wert hatte heute gefolgt von den intervall des jeweiligen Mittelwertes. Für Online und TV wurde einmal statistisch für «WC» kontrolliert (vgl. Lange SAT.1 Nachrichten, der Tagesschau und RTL et al., 2019; s. dazu Fussnote 2) und einmal nicht (vgl. Abb. aktuell (s. Tab. 1 und Abb. 2, unten). oben mit Abb. unten). Der Interaktionseffekt zwischen Sen- der und Medium ist in Abbildung 2 (unten) visuell gut erkennbar. Er kommt, wie zwei sind zwischen den Sendern verschieden, weitere je einfaktorielle Varianzanalysen TV-Nachrichten hingegen sind diesbezüg- zeigten, dadurch zustande, dass bei Online lich einander eher ähnlich. ein effektstarker Unterschied zwischen den Sendern bestand, F(3, 80) = 12.46, p < .001, 4.4 Wortkomplexität d2 = .318, während der Unterschied zwi- Bei Online wiesen beide Systeme fast iden- schen den Sendern bei TV nicht signifikant tische Werte auf (s. Tab. 1), t(82) = -0.05, wurde, F(3, 24) = 1.34, p = .286, d2 = .143. Die p = .963, d = –0.01 (95%-KI[–0.44; 0.42]). Forschungsfrage lässt sich für Wortschatz- Für TV war der Unterschied zwar eben- diversität, wenn auf statistische Kontrol- falls nicht signifikant, aber fast moderat le von «WC» verzichtet wird, somit wie effektstark, t(26) = 1.15, p = .260, d = 0.44 folgt beantworten: Online-Nachrichten 148 Lange et al. / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 135–158

(95 %-KI[–0.35; 1.23]). Die ÖRS lagen hier dien konnte hier für mehr Klarheit sorgen. über den PS (s. Tab. 1 und Abb. 1). Für Online gab es keinen signifikanten In der zweifaktoriellen Varianzana- Effekt, F(3, 80) = .20, p = .894, d2 = .008, aller- lyse wurde nur der Haupteffekt für Medi- dings einen signifikanten und effektstar- um signifikant, F(1, 108) = 178.43, p < .001, ken Effekt für TV, F(3, 244) = 4.31, p = .014, d2 = .622: Online lag hier deutlich über d2 = .350. Somit lässt sich bezüglich der TV (s. Tab. 1). Der Haupteffekt für System Forschungsfrage Folgendes festhalten: wurde nicht signifikant, F(1, 108) = 0.27, eher Gleichheit bei Online-Nachrichten p = .606, d2 < .002. zwischen den Sendern, jedoch Unterschie- Bei Sender statt System als Faktor de zwischen ihnen bei TV-Nachrichten. war der Befund sehr ähnlich: Medium wies einen sehr starken Effekt auf, F(1, 4.5 Satzkomplexität 104) = 177.07, p < .001, d2 = .630. Auch hier Die Online-Texte der PS enthielten mehr wurden also über 60 Prozent der Varianz Wörter pro Satz als die der ÖRS (s. Tab. 1), im Mass für Wortkomplexität durch Medi- t(82) = –2.22, p = .029, d = –0.48 (95%- um (s. o.) erklärt. KI[– 0.92; –0.04]). Bei TV-Nachrichten war Der Haupteffekt für Sender wurde das Muster umgekehrt: Die ÖRS wiesen nicht signifikant, F(3, 104) = .81, p = .492, hier substantiell höhere Werte auf als die d2 = .021. Abbildung 3 fasst die Befunde PS (s. Tab. 1), t(26) = 2.31, p = .029, d = 1.27 grafisch zusammen. Hier deutet sich ein (95%-KI[0.42; 2.12]). Interaktionseffekt zwischen Medium und In der zweifaktoriellen Varianzanalyse Sender an, der durch ein positives Heraus- wurde der Haupteffekt für Medium nicht stechen der Tagesschau (bei TV) zustande signifikant (p = .948, d2 < .001), allerdings zu kommen scheint. Der Interaktionseffekt der Interaktionseffekt zwischen Medi- wurde aber statistisch nicht signifikant um und System, F(1, 108) = 4.65, p = .033, und erklärte nur 2 Prozent Varianz, F(3, d2 = .041. Dieser kam dadurch zustande, 104) = .73, p = .538, d2 = .021. Je eine weitere dass Online die PS über den ÖRS lagen, einfaktorielle Varianzanalyse für beide Me- während bei TV genau das umgekehrte Muster beobachtet werden konnte (s. o.). Bei der gleichen Analyse mit Sen- Abb. 3: Unterschiede (Rohwerte) zwischen der statt System fand sich ebenfalls den vier Sendern beim linguis- kein Haupteffekt für Medium (p = .947, tischen Merkmal «Sixltr» (Anteil d2 < .001); allerdings zeigte sich ebenfalls der Wörter, die länger als sechs der besagte Interaktionseffekt, der aller- Buchstaben sind) als Mass für dings knapp nicht mehr signifikant wur- Wortkomplexität nach Medium: TV de (F(3, 104) = 2.49, p = .064, d2 = .067), bei (Lange et al., 2019) vs. Online visueller Inspektion von Abbildung 4 allerdings vergleichsweise klar zu erkennen und mit 7 Prozent erklärter Varianz auch 40 online TV moderat stark ist. Demnach sackt das ZDF bei Online ab, Sat.1 und etwas schwä- 35 cher RTL dafür bei TV. Die ARD hat praktisch identische Werte bei Online und TV. 30

Sixltr Die Reihenfolge für Online war: RTL gefolgt von Sat.1, der ARD und schliesslich 25 dem ZDF. Die Reihenfolge für TV war: ARD gefolgt von ZDF, RTL und schliesslich Sat.1

20 (s. Tab. 1 und Abb. 4). ARD ZDF SAT.1 RTL In beiden Medien existierten nen- Sender nenswerte Unterschiede zwischen den Sen dern, d. h. sowohl bei Online, F(3, Anmerkung: Fehlerbalken zeigen das 95 %-Konﬁdenzinter- 80) = 4.63, p = .005, d2 = .148, als auch bei TV, vall des jeweiligen Mittelwertes. F(3, 24) = 2.12, p = .124, d2 = .209. Anhand Lange et al. / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 135–158 149 der Effektstärken (15 % erklärte Varianz bei (p > .6, d2 < .02). Abbildung 5 legt nahe, dass Online, 21 % erklärte Varianz bei TV) liesse die Sender in ihren Online-Nachrichten sich mit Blick auf die Forschungsfrage von eher ähnlich wenig Umgangssprache ver- einer leicht stärkeren Senderähnlichkeit wenden, während bei TV Sat.1 nach oben bei Online als bei TV sprechen. heraussticht, ZDF und RTL in etwa ähnlich hohe Werte haben und die ARD relativ wenig Umgangssprache verwendet (s. Tab. 1). Abb. 4: Unterschiede (Rohwerte) zwischen Dieser sich visuell in der Abbildung an- den vier Sendern beim linguis- deutende Interaktionseffekt wurde aller- tischen Merkmal «WPS» (Wörter dings nicht signiﬁkant und war mit 2 % pro Satz) als Mass für Satzkomplex- erklärter Varianz gering, F(3, 104) = 0.69, ität nach Medium: TV (Lange et al., p = .563, d2 = .019. 2019) vs. Online

25 online TV Abb. 5: Unterschiede (Rohwerte) zwischen den vier Sendern beim linguistischen Merkmal «US» 20 (Umgangssprache) nach Medium: TV (Lange et al., 2019) vs. Online WPS

15 2.5 online TV 2.0 10 ARD ZDF SAT.1 RTL 1.5 Sender US Anmerkungen: Fehlerbalken zeigen das 95 %-Konﬁdenzinter- 1.0 vall des jeweiligen Mittelwertes. Die Datenpunkte sind ho- rizontal verschoben, um Überlappungen zu verringern. 0.5

0.0 4.6 Umgangssprache ARD ZDF SAT.1 RTL Die Online-Texte der PS enthielten Sender nicht nennenswert mehr Umgangsspra- che als die der ÖRS. Der Unterschied Anmerkungen: Fehlerbalken zeigen das 95%-Konfidenzinter- war nicht nur nicht signifikant, son- vall des jeweiligen Mittelwertes. Die Datenpunkte sind ho- rizontal verschoben, um Überlappungen zu verringern. dern auch hinsichtlich der Effektstärke nahe Null, t(82) = -0.32, p = .754, d = –0.07 (95 %-KI[– 0.50; 0.36]). Bei TV-Nachrichten Mit erneut zwei separaten je einfakto- deutete sich hingegen ein Systemunter- riellen Varianzanalysen liess sich der For- schied an, t(26) = -1.78, p = .087, d = -0.66 schungsfrage näher auf den Grund gehen: (95 %-KI[–1.46; 0.14]) (s. Tab. 1 und Abb. 1). So waren die Senderunterschiede bei TV In der zweifaktoriellen Varianzanalyse effektstark verschieden, F(3, 24) = 3.01, wurde der Haupteffekt für Medium signi- p = .050, d2 = .273, bei Online hingegen fikant, F(1, 108) = 8.39, p = .005, d2 = .072: nahe Null, F(3, 80) = 0.12, p = .950, d2 = .004. TV war durch mehr Umgangssprache cha- Das bedeutet erneut: deutliche Unter- rakterisiert als Online (s. Tab. 1). Weder der schiedlichkeit bei TV, hingegen eher Haupteffekt für System noch der Interak- Gleichheit bei Online. tionseffekt zwischen Medium und System Lange et al. (2019) diskutierten ihren wurden signifikant (p > .3, d2 < .01). Befund, dass die PS in ihren TV-Nachrich- Bei Sender statt System als Faktor war ten eine höhere Wortschatzdiversität auf- das Ergebnis ähnlich: Medium wurde sig- wiesen, indem sie einen Zusammenhang nifikant, F(3, 104) = 8.21, p = .005, d2 = .073, zwischen Wortschatzdiversität und Um- jedoch nicht der Haupteffekt für Sender 150 Lange et al. / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 135–158 gangssprache vermuteten. Auf Basis der für Medium signifikant, F(1, 104) = 43.69, nun vorliegenden Daten lässt sich diese p < .001, d2 = .296. Der Haupteffekt für Sen- Vermutung empirisch überprüfen: Für der wurde nicht signifikant, F(3, 104) = 1.21, TV-Nachrichten war die Korrelation zwi- p = .310, d2 = .034. Auch der Interaktionsef- schen den beiden Massen nahe Null und fekt zwischen Medium und Sender verfehl- deutlich nicht signifikant (r = .07, p = .74); te in der Varianzanalyse die Signifikanz, für Online-Nachrichten war sie vergleichs- F(3, 104) = 1.25, p = .295, d2 = .035. In Tabel- weise klein und knapp nicht signifikant le 1 finden sich alle Flesch-Werte nach Sen- (r = –.20, p = .06), allerdings negativ, was der und Medium (Online vs. TV). der besagten Vermutung von Lange et al. Abschliessend wurden erneut zwei (2019) widerspricht. separate je einfaktorielle Varianzanaly- Abschliessend wurde für die neue Ka- sen gerechnet: Demnach waren die te gorie der Umgangssprache ermittelt, Sender unterschiede bei TV hoch effekt- wie hoch sie in unserer Gesamtstichprobe stark verschieden, F(3, 24) = 7.01, p = .002, mit den anderen Markern korreliert. Diese d2 = .467, bei Online hingegen nahe Null, Analyse wurde durchgeführt, um erstens F(3, 80) = 0.17, p = .917, d2 = .006 (s. Tab. 1). einen besseren Eindruck davon zu ermit- Demnach ergibt sich auch für die Analy- teln, was sich hinter Umgangssprache verse des Flesch-Indexes eine deutliche Un- birgt, d. h. für welche anderen sprachlichen terschiedlichkeit bei TV, hingegen eher Muster sie indikativ ist, und zweitens, da Gleichheit bei Online. diese Kategorie in der Vorgängerpublika- Konkret waren unsere Flesch-Index- tion (Lange et al., 2019) fehlte. Demnach Werte nach System für TV / Online diese: korrelierte «Umgangssprache» signifikant 46.71 / 38.71 (ÖRS) und 50.86 / 37.90 (PS) mit (r- / p-Werte in Klammern): «WC» und nach Sender für TV / Online diese: (.308 / .001), «Unique» (–.307 / .001), «Sixltr» 43.71 / 38.29 (ARD), 49.71 / 39.14 (ZDF), (–.358 / < .001) und «Flesch» (.312 / .001). 50.43 / 37.38 (SAT.1) und 51.29 / 38.43 Die Korrelation mit «WPS» war positiv, aber (RTL). Abbildungen 6 (Systemvergleich) nicht signifikant (.126 / .186). und 7 (Sendervergleich) geben einen gra- fischen Überblick. 4.7 Flesch-Index Die Online-Texte beider Systeme wiesen ähnliche Flesch-Werte auf, t(82) = 0.46, Abb. 6: Unterschiede (Rohwerte) zwischen p = .643, d = 0.07 (95%-KI[–0.36; 0.50]). den Systemen beim Flesch-Index Für TV-Nachrichten hingegen fand sich nach Medium: TV (Lange et al., 2019) in Form eines höheren Flesch-Index eine vs. Online deutlich leichtere Verständlichkeit der 60.0 online PS, t(26) = –2.75, p = .011, d = –1.07 (95 %- TV KI[– 1.90; –0.24]) (s. Tab. 1 und Abb. 1). 50.0

Die zweifaktorielle Varianzanalyse mit 40.0

System als einem der Faktoren bestätigte erte dies, da der Haupteffekt für Medium sig- 30.0

F p Flesch-W nifikant wurde, (1, 108) = 44.18, < .001, 20.0 d2 = .290: TV wies einen höheren Flesch-In- dex auf als Online (s. Tab. 1), war also leich- 10.0 ter verständlich. Der Haupteffekt für Sys- 0.0 tem wurde nicht signifikant, F(1, 108) = 1.12, ÖRS PS ÖRS PS p = .293, d2 = .010. Auch der Interaktions- Sender effekt zwischen Medium und System ver- fehlte in der Varianzanalyse die Signifikanz, Anmerkungen: Fehlerbalken zeigen das 95 %-Konfidenz- F(1, 108) = 2.47, p = .119, d2 = .022. in ter vall des jeweiligen Mittelwertes. Unterschiedliche ho ri zontale Linien markieren unterschiedliche Verständlich- In der zweifaktoriellen Varianzanalyse keitsgrade: 0–30 = sehr schwer, 30–50 = schwer, 50–60 = mit Sender (statt System) war das Ergebnis schwer bis mittelschwer. ÖRS = Öffentlich-rechtliche Sen- ähnlich. So wurde wieder der Haupteffekt der; PS = Privatsender. Lange et al. / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 135–158 151

Abb. 7: Unterschiede (Rohwerte) zwischen 5.1 Zusammenfassung und den vier Sendern beim Flesch-Index Interpretation der Befunde nach Medium: TV (Lange et al., 2019) Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit war die Ana- vs. Online lyse des Sprachniveaus der Online-Nach- richten nach Rundfunksystem bzw. Sen- online der. Weiterhin sollten diese Ergebnisse TV 60 jenen für klassische TV-Nachrichten ge- genübergestellt werden. Die hierbei zu 50 beantwortende Forschungsfrage war, ob Unterschiede im Sprachniveau von On- 40

erte line-Nachrichten zwischen den beiden 30 Systemen sowie auf Senderebene existie-

Flesch-W ren und ob sich hierbei ähnliche Muster 20 wie in TV-Nachrichten (Lange et al., 2019) 10 zeigen. Es fand sich, dass Online eher Gleichheit über Systeme und Sender hin- 0 ARD ZDF SAT.1 RTL weg herrschte, bei TV-Nachrichten hinge- Sender gen eher Unterschiedlichkeit. Basierend auf der etablierten Unter- Anmerkungen: Fehlerbalken zeigen das 95 %-Konfidenz- scheidung zwischen Mündlichkeit und intervall des jeweiligen Mittelwertes. Unterschiedliche Schrift lichkeit (Koch & Oesterreicher, ho rizontale Linien markieren unterschiedliche Verständlich- 1985) wurde weiterhin die Hypothese keitsgrade: 0–30 = sehr schwer, 30–50 = schwer, 50–60 = schwer bis mittelschwer. aufgestellt, dass Online-Nachrichten (da stärker der Schriftlichkeit zuzuordnen) ein höheres Sprachniveau aufweisen sollten Hinsichtlich der Forschungsfrage kann als klassische TV-Nachrichten. Für drei auch beim Flesch-Index von einer leicht («Sixltr», «US» und Flesch-Index) der fünf stärkeren Senderähnlichkeit bei Online als Masse konnte die entsprechende Hypo- bei TV gesprochen werden (vgl. Abb. 7). these bestätigt werden: Online-Nachrich- Abschliessend wurde auch für den ten sind wortkomplexer, enthalten weni- Flesch-Index ermittelt, wie hoch er in un- ger Umgangssprache und weisen einen serer Gesamtstichprobe mit den anderen niedrigeren Flesch-Index auf als TV-Nach- Markern korreliert (vgl. Abschnitt 4.6). richten. Dies könnte tatsächlich daran lie- Demnach korrelierte der Flesch-Index gen, dass erstere eher der Schriftlichkeit signifikant mit (r- / p-Werte in Klam- (Koch & Oesterreicher, 1985) entsprechen mern): «WC» (.501 / < .001), «Unique» als letztere. Für diese drei Masse existier- (–.371 / < .001), «Sixltr» (–.776 / < .001), ten zudem bei TV-Nachrichten teils sehr «WPS» (–.264 / .005) und Umgangssprache deutliche Unterschiede zwischen ÖRS und (.312 / .001). PS und zwischen den einzelnen Sendern, während Online-Nachrichten bei diesen Massen für beide Systeme und die einzel- 5 Diskussion und Fazit nen Sender recht ähnlich waren. Hinsichtlich der Gründe für die rela- Zunächst fassen wir die wesentlichen Be- tive Gleichheit bei Online- und die relati- funde zusammen und interpretieren sie ve Unterschiedlichkeit bei TV-Nachrich- vor dem Hintergrund unserer Forschungs- ten (deren Validität vorausgesetzt, s. u.) frage und unserer Hypothese. Wir schlies- kann Folgendes vermutet werden: Die sen mit Limitationen unserer Studie und TV-Nachrichten der ARD haben ihren Ur- einem Ausblick auf potenziell zukünftige sprung in den frühen 1950er Jahren; die Forschung. des ZDF folgten Mitte der 1960er Jahre, die von Sat.1 und RTL schliesslich Mitte bzw. Ende der 1980er Jahre. Damit entstanden die unterschiedlichen Sendungen zu deut- 152 Lange et al. / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 135–158 lich unterschiedlichen Zeiten, und es ist PS (aber auch des ZDF) verglichen mit naheliegend, dass diesen Unterschieden den ÖRS (bzw. der ARD) vergleichswei- auch unterschiedliche Philosophien ent- se hohe Werte bei diesem Mass auf. Für sprechen (vgl. Bartel, 1997; Matzen, 2009; Online-Nachrichten konnten, erneut we- Wahdat, 2009), die sich dann auch sprach- gen starker Ähnlichkeit, auch hier keine lich niederschlagen, und zwar – sozusa- klaren Unterschiede gefunden werden. Da gen der jeweiligen Tradition folgend – bis Online-Nachrichten weniger Umgangs- in die Gegenwart hinein. Die jeweiligen sprache enthielten als TV-Nachrichten, Online-Nachrichten hingegen entstanden könnten letztere als unterhaltungsorien- allesamt etwa in den 1990er Jahren, d. h. tierter eingestuft werden. Inwiefern diese unter ähnlichen Bedingungen und – so stärkere Unterhaltungsorientierung von darf vermutet werden – unter etwa glei- TV-Nachrichten tatsächlich der Fall ist cher Berücksichtigung der «Regeln» der und sich auch unabhängig vom Phäno- (für alle) neuen Online-Welt. Für Online- men des Sprachniveaus zeigt, sollte weiter Nachrichten könnte also von Konvergenz, erforscht werden. für TV-Nachrichten von Konkurrenz der Wiederum über die Untersuchung Systeme und Sender die Rede sein (vgl. von Lange et al. (2019) hinausgehend er- Krüger, 1998; Weiss, 2003). mittelten wir für das gesamte Material den Einige der Befunde weisen interessan- Flesch-Index. Dabei fand sich vor allem, terweise auf die Sonderstellung von heute dass Online-Nachrichten als schwerer ver- hin: So kann heute bei TV weder bei Wort- ständlich einzustufen sind als TV-Nach- oder Satzkomplexität noch bei Umgangs- richten, was mit dem Rezeptionsmodus sprache mit dem hohen Niveau der Ta- erklärt werden kann (Lesen im erstge- gesschau mithalten. Bei Online fällt heute nannten, Zuhören im letztgenannten Fall). insbesondere bei Satzkomplexität wieder- Erstaunlich war, dass selbst die höchsten um gegenüber der Tagesschau stark ab. Die von uns gefundenen Flesch-Werte (also Sonderstellung von heute lässt sich gut mit die mit der höchsten Verständlichkeit) im- der Zielsetzung dieser Sendung erklären, mer noch im Bereich schwerer bis mittel- einen Kompromiss zwischen Seriosität schwerer Verständlichkeit lagen. Dies steht einerseits und Unterhaltungsorientierung im Widerspruch zu dem Ziel, möglichst andererseits darzustellen (Bartel, 1997; vgl. breite Teile der Bevölkerung mit Nachrich- dazu Lange et al., 2019). Hinsichtlich der tenangeboten zu erreichen. nach Rundfunksystem unterschiedlichen Bezüglich des Flesch-Indexes ist noch Unterhaltungsorientierung, wie einleitend zu betonen, dass, wie in Abschnitt 3.2 er- dargelegt, lässt sich schlussfolgern: Für TV- läutert, ein potenzielles Problem an den Nachrichten existieren klare Sprachniveau- Kategoriengrenzen besteht, nämlich für Korrelate dieser Orientierung, die grob den Fall, dass ein empirischer Flesch-In- betrachtet tatsächlich einen Unterschied dex-Wert genau auf der Grenze zwischen zwischen ÖRS und PS aufzeigen, feiner zwei Kategorien liegt. Da die Literatur zum betrachtet aber vor allem die Ausnahme- Flesch-Index (z. B. Aziz et al., 2010) in die- stellung der Tagesschau gegenüber ande- sem Punkt leider eine Schwachstelle auf- ren Sendungen dokumentieren. Für On- weist, wir aber keine andere Möglichkeit line- Nachrichten sind die entsprechenden hatten, als uns auf die Literatur zu beru- Befunde, vor allem durch die relative fen, die es zu dem Thema gibt, und diese Gleichheit der Systeme und Sender hin- die Kategorien eben genauso definiert, sichtlich des Sprachniveaus, weniger klar. mussten wir notgedrungen diese poten- Gegenüber Lange et al. (2019) berück- zielle Schwachstelle mit in Kauf nehmen. sichtigte unsere Studie auch Umgangs- In unserem Fall entstand jedoch konkret sprache, die ebenfalls als Korrelat der kein solches Problem, da keiner unserer Un terhaltungsorientierung angesehen Flesch-Index-Werte (s. Abschnitt 4.7) ge- wer den kann (z. B. Arnold, 2016; Wittwen, nau auf einer der Grenzen lag. Damit sind 1995). Im Einklang mit den sonstigen sämtliche von uns empirisch ermittelten Befunden wiesen die TV-Nachrichten der Lange et al. / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 135–158 153

Flesch-Werte eindeutig einer Kategorie Richtung (sofern sie existieren) durch die zuzuordnen. vergleichsweise hohe Zahl an Beiträgen Ein Befund, der weder Teil der For- nicht übermässig ins Gewicht fallen. Da- schungsfrage noch der Hypothese war bei kann allerdings kritisch gesehen wer- und sich somit zusätzlich ergeben hat, den, dass insgesamt nur 105 Texte in die soll abschliessend kurz Erwähnung fin- Analyse eingingen, wobei die Zahl der Tex- den, da er interessant erscheint: Die te, die das TV-Material (Lange et al., 2019) Sprachniveau-Werte der verschiedenen betrafen, besonders niedrig war; entspre- Online-Nachrichten scheinen heteroge- chend gross waren die Konfidenzinter- ner zu sein als die entsprechenden Wer- valle. Nachfolgende Forschung sollte te für TV-Nachrichten. So finden sich in diesen Kritikpunkt von vornherein adres- Tabelle 1 (siehe Online Supplement) de- sieren, indem erstens eine grössere Stich- skriptiv-nummerisch durchweg höhere probe an Untersuchungsmaterial gewählt Standardabweichungen für Online- vergli- und zweitens ein Matching der Inhalte chen mit TV-Nachrichten. Als potenzielle durchgeführt wird. Erklärung kommen aus unserer Sicht Un- Ebenfalls in Zukunft untersucht wer- terschiede in der Rezeption der verschieden sollte die Interaktion zwischen dem denen Nachrichten in Frage: Nachrichten Sprachniveau und der visuellen Gestal- im (linearen) TV erfordern eine eher pas- tung von TV- und Online-Nachrichten. sive Rezeption; der Rezipient kann prak- Wie in der Einleitung erwähnt, findet tisch keinen aktiven Einfluss nehmen. Bei die Übermittlung von Nachrichten auf Online-Nachrichten hingegen ist stärkere sprachlicher und visueller Ebene statt; Selektion seitens des Rezipienten möglich: Nachrichten stellen multimodale Medien- Was dem einen nicht gefällt oder aber zu produkte dar (Brosius, 1998; Holly, 2004; schwer verständlich ist, kann dieser weg- Lobinger, 2012). Ob bei klassischen audio- klicken und stattdessen ein anderes An- visuellen Nachrichten im TV, bei denen gebot aufrufen; dem anderen ist ein ho- u. a. (Bewegt-)Bild und Ton (inklusive ge- hes Sprachniveau möglicherweise gerade sprochener Sprache) zusammenwirken, recht. oder bei Online-Nachrichten, die neben geschriebenem Text oftmals aus zusätzli- 5.2 Limitationen der Studie chen Grafiken und sonstigen Bildern be- Eine Einschränkung dieser Studie ist, stehen – Nachrichten werden meist über dass wir die Themen der Online- und mehr als einen Kanal kommuniziert, wo- der TV-Nachrichten nicht aneinander bei die Kanäle komplementär zusammen- angeglichen haben; es wurde zu unter- spielen (Brosius, 1998; Burger, 2005; Hol- schiedlichen Zeitpunkten über jeweils ly, 2004; Lobinger, 2012). Die vorliegende künstliche Wochen Nachrichtenmaterial Arbeit hat sich auf sprachliche Aspekte gesammelt. Dieses bestand aus 21 Bei- von Nachrichten beschränkt – ähnlich, trägen aus TV- Nachrichten (Lange et al., wie frühere Forschung u. a. deren visuel- 2019) und aus – zu einem späteren Zeit- le Gestaltung fokussiert hat (z. B. Winter- punkt gesammelten – 84 Beiträgen aus hoff-Spurk, Unz & Schwab, 2005). Idea- Online-Nachrich ten. Denkbar wäre, dass lerweise werden alle Kanäle zusammen thematische Unterschiede zwischen den adressiert, was jedoch in einem Aufsatz Beiträgen der beiden Medienbereiche wie dem vorliegenden nicht möglich ist. mit Unterschieden im Sprachniveau kon- Zudem funktioniert der sprachliche Kanal fundiert waren. Allerdings liesse sich dem von Nachrichten bereits für sich, bedarf entgegenhalten, dass erstens die Haupt- also nicht zwingend immer (bewegt-)bild- nachrichten ganz grundsätzlich betrachtet licher Aspekte: Das Radio-Programm von immer wieder ähnliche Themen behan- hr-info etwa sendet jeden Abend einen Au- deln (z. B. wichtige Neuigkeiten aus den dio-Stream der 20-Uhr-Ausgabe der Tages- Bereichen Politik und Wirtschaft) und dass schau. Und Die Welt, die Nachrichten klas- zweitens einzelne thematisch bedingte sisch als Print-Produkt, aber auch Online sprachliche Abweichungen in irgendeine verbreitet, bietet Rezipienten die Möglich- 154 Lange et al. / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 135–158 keit, sich die Nachrichten per App vorle- «US» allerdings auf Plausibilität, waren sen zu lassen. Zudem dienen Text und Bild also lediglich augenscheinvalide. Ande- teils unterschiedlichen Zwecken (Brosius, re Autoren wären vermutlich mitunter zu 1998; Lobinger, 2012). Gleichwohl könnte einer leicht anderen Kategorienbildung die vorliegende Forschung in Zukunft um gekommen. Dennoch sind die Ergebnisse Aspekte der visuellen Gestaltung erweitert in sich schlüssig und bestätigen die ent- werden. sprechenden Annahmen. Gleichwohl ist Die Operationalisierung sprachlicher bei der Interpretation insbesondere un- Gewandtheit fand unter Rückgriff auf ak- serer Ergebnisse zu Unterschieden in der tuelle sprachpsychologische Studien statt, Umgangssprache Vorsicht geboten. Es die ihrerseits auf etablierte Masse aus handelt sich bei der Kategorie «Umgangs- der Psycholinguistik und besonders der sprache» um keine etablierte LIWC-Kate- Sprachdiagnostik fussten. Dennoch könn- gorie, sondern um eine, die wir selbst für te kritisiert werden, dass Sprachniveau unsere Textkorpora entwickelt haben und auch anders hätte operationalisiert werden die auch nur für unsere Korpora an Texten können (z. B. u. a. über den Anteil von Pas- passte und daher nicht generalisierbar ist. sivsätzen). Dem lässt sich allerdings ent- Konkreter lässt sich an der Verwen- gegenhalten, dass neben der Berücksich- dung von LIWC weiterhin folgendes kri- tigung der entsprechenden Fachliteratur tisieren: Bei der LIWC-Variable «Unique», bei der Operationalisierung des Kon strukts als Mass für TTR (Wortschatzdiversität), ist auch Rezeptionsstudien durchgeführt deren Textlängenabhängigkeit als Problem wur den, die die Validität dieser Operati- zu nennen, das in der vorliegenden Arbeit onalisierung bestätigten (Überblick bei allerdings durch statistisches Herausparti- Lange, 2012). Gleichwohl beinhaltet diese alisieren von «WC» kontrolliert wurde. Was nicht alle denkbaren Facetten sprachlicher passiert, wenn auf eine solche statistische Gewandtheit, sondern vor allem solche, Kontrolle verzichtet wird, wollten wir ex- die computergestützt durch LIWC erfasst plizit zeigen, indem wir zusätzlich ohne werden können (s. dazu die nachfolgen- statistische Kontrolle ausgewertet haben. den Ausführungen). Wie aus Abbildung 2 (vgl. oben mit unten) Als allgemeine Kritik an der vorliegen- hervorgeht, sind die Ergebnisse praktisch den Studie und ihrer Verwendung von LIWC gegenläufig – je nachdem, ob für «WC» sta- lässt sich u. a. nennen, dass wir «blind» auf tistisch kontrolliert wurde oder nicht. Das die Kategorien von LIWC vertraut haben, verdeutlicht nochmals die Problematik weil vertrauen mussten. LIWC verwendet dieses Masses und unterstreicht die Not- jedoch lediglich einen Ein-Wort-Zähl- wendigkeit, hier besonders sorgfältig vor- Algorithmus und kann daher komplexe zugehen (vgl. Fussnote 2). Sinnzusammenhänge nicht erfassen. Mit Bei der LIWC-Variable «WPS», als Mass un serer selbst erstellten Kategorie der für Satzkomplexität, wäre als Problem Umgangssprache haben wir versucht, die denkbar, dass Satzkomplexität neben der ei gentlichen Möglichkeiten von LIWC zu blossen Wortzahl auch von der Satzstruk- erweitern; doch auch hier trifft prinzipiell tur beeinflusst wird: Zwei Sätze gleichen die gleiche Kritik zu. Zudem mag unser Inhalts können aus der gleichen Anzahl an Vorgehen bei der Aufnahme eines Wortes Wörtern bestehen, aber während der eine in die Kategorienbildung kritikwürdig parataktisch schlicht aneinanderreiht, be- er scheinen. Was umgangssprachlich ist steht der andere aus hypotaktischen Ver- (und was nicht), ist weniger trennscharf schachtelungen. Etwas Ähnliches würde be stimmbar, als dies bei anderen sprach - für zwei Sätze gleichen Inhalts mit etwa lichen Dimensionen (z. B. Wort kom plex- gleicher Anzahl an Wörtern gelten, wenn ität) der Fall war. Wir haben uns zwar an der eine im Aktiv, der andere aber im Passiv verfügbarer Literatur zur Thematik (Bern- steht. LIWC, das in der linguistischen und hard, 2012; Wittwen, 1995) orientiert; kommunikationswissenschaftlichen For- letztlich basieren die Zuordnungen von schung vielfach eingesetzt wurde und wird Wörtern zur entsprechenden Kategorie (s. Einleitung), kann derlei Unterschiede Lange et al. / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 135–158 155 allerdings nicht erfassen. Gleichwohl kann nicht übereinstimmten) sollte zukünftige «WPS», da es hoch mit dem etablierten Forschung evaluieren, inwiefern die hier Satzkomplexitätsmass «MLU» korreliert, präsentierten Befunde tatsächlich robust als valides Mass für Satzkomplexität gelten sind. (Lange et al., 2019). Dennoch könnten zu- Als Konsequenz aus unseren Ergeb- sätzliche Aspekte sprachlicher Gewandt- nissen könnte in zukünftiger Forschung heit, etwa die Satzstruktur betreffend oder der Frage nachgegangen werden, wie Un- hinsichtlich des Sprachstils (vgl. Penne- terschiede im Sprachniveau klassischer baker & King, 1999), weitere Varianz z. B. TV-Nachrichten auf Rezipienten wirken, in der Wahrnehmung von sprachlicher etwa bezüglich der Informationsvermitt- Gewandtheit durch Rezipienten erklären lung oder darauf, als wie angenehm die und in zukünftiger Forschung daher mit- Nachrichtenrezeption empfunden wird berücksichtigt werden. (Lange et al., 2019). Unsere Befunde zu Einen ersten Schritt weg davon, sich Online-Nachrichten legen also nahe, in zu sehr auf LIWC zu verlassen, das neben einem nächsten Schritt die Wirkung von den bereits genannten Problemen noch TV- aber auch von Online-Nachrichten in jenes hat, nicht 100 Prozent der Sprache experimentellen Rezeptionsstudien in den abzudecken (vgl. Wolf et al., 2008), haben Blick zu nehmen. Damit könnte u. a. die wir in der vorliegenden Arbeit bereits ge- Frage nach der optimalen sprachlichen tan, indem wir nicht nur zusätzlich Um- Ge staltung crossmedialer Informations- gangssprache untersuchten, sondern vermittlung beantwortet werden. für das gesamte Material den etablierten Flesch-Index berechneten. Die Korrela- tion der Flesch-Werte mit den Werten der Danksagung anderen Sprachniveau-Marker bestätigt des sen Brauchbarkeit. Wir bedanken uns sehr herzlich für die sehr guten und hilfreichen Kommen- 5.3 Fazit und Ausblick tare des Editors und der zwei anony- Hinsichtlich der sprachlichen Gestaltung men Reviewer. An dieser Stelle sei auch von Online-Nachrichtenberichten der Stefanie Kouros gedankt für ihre Arbeit im Rund funkanstalten scheint eine Unter- Kontext der Original-Transkriptionen der scheidung der Anbieter hinsichtlich des TV-Nachrichten aus Lange, Kouros und Sprachniveaus des Online-Angebots weni- Schwab (2019). ger eindeutig, als dies bei klassischen Fern- sehnachrichten der Fall ist (Lange et al., 2019). Zwar zeigen sich einige Unterschie- Supplementary Material de im Sprachniveau der Online-Berichter- stattung der ÖRS verglichen mit jener der Zu diesem Beitrag ist ein von den AutorIn- PS, jedoch scheinen sich Nachrichten in nen erstelltes Online Supplement verfüg- der Online-Welt im System- und Sender- bar. vergleich eher zu ähneln (Konvergenz) als sich zu unterscheiden (Konkurrenz). Teils ergab sich ein höheres Sprachniveau der Literatur Online-Nachrichten im Vergleich zu ihren TV-Pendants. Dies war bei Wortkomplexi- Aitchison, J. (2008). The articulate mammal: tät und bei Umgangssprache der Fall, was An introduction to psycholinguistics daran liegen könnte, dass Online-Nach- (5. Auflage). London: Routledge. richten eher der Schriftlichkeit, TV-Nach- Arnold, B. P. (2016). Nachrichten: Schlüssel zu richten eher der Mündlichkeit (Koch & aller Information. Baden-Baden: Oesterreicher, 1985) zuzuordnen sind. Nomos. Aufgrund einiger Limitationen unserer Aziz, A., Fook, C. Y., & Alsree, Z. (2010). Com- Forschung (z. B. nur 84 Online-Texte bei putational text analysis: A more compre- nur 21 TV-Texten, deren Themen zum Teil hensive approach to determine readability 156 Lange et al. / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 135–158

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How to play … popular music: Didactic action and the display of musical expertise in online tutorials Christofer Jost, University of Freiburg, Center for Popular Culture and Music, Germany [email protected]

Abstract Based on sample evaluation, this article investigates didactic actions and the display of expertise within the field of popular music-related online tutorials distributed on YouTube. In a first step, didactic activity and musical expertise are discussed with reference to institutional, interactional and media aspects in order to gain a comprehensive image of what influences the teaching of popular music. By means of the sample evaluation – the sample concentrates on highly-requested YouTube channels – basic insights into the specificity of the didactic situation induced by popular music-related online tutorials are to be provided. The analysis pays particular attention to the interlacing of knowledge organization, performance and audio-visual production. Overall, it can be shown how specific rules regarding the representation and gratification of expertise emerge in the YouTube media environment, examples of which are the “professional” appearance of the instructors and the compartmentalization of popular music-related cultural knowledge.

Keywords online tutorials, popular music, knowledge organization, teaching, social media, YouTube

1 Introduction YouTube. The theoretical framework used herein unfolds from the understanding The Internet and especially social media of media as media environments, which have created new spaces for teaching pop- implies that the media shape socio-cul- ular music, with the audio-visual tutorial tural territories in which behavior follows being one of the most prominent exam- specific rules – a rationale that can be as- ples of this development. The relevance of signed to both constructivist media theory this observation discloses itself against the and media-ecological thinking. According background that popular music still rep- to Meyrowitz (1990, p. 67), communica- resents a relatively young didactic field of tion in and by the use of the media can be activity in which there is a lively struggle understood as a “larger system of behavior to find the ‘right’ approaches. This means and response” whose coming into being that the circle of actors involved in de- and molding are determined by a variety signing concepts and methods of teaching of factors, for example, the sensory mo- popular music and in structuring popular dalities, the symbolic systems used (e. g., music-related knowledge has expanded, image, text, sound), the direction of com- which, in turn, requires answers to the piv- munication (one-sided or reciprocal), the otal question of what makes people trust- temporal structure of the communicative worthy popular music instructors. process (synchronous or asynchronous), The media products that fuel this the technical or physical means of com- transformative process have not been ad- munication or the range of the communi- equately investigated so far. Hence, the cative act (technically and socially) (Mey- article aims at identifying the basic char- rowitz, 1990, pp. 77–78). acteristics of popular music-related online Meyrowitz’s model can generally be tutorials, with the focus being on those assigned to constructivist epistemology, artefacts that are released on the current- which is important for media theory in ly most popular video sharing platform, that it has led, among other things, to the

https://doi.org/10.24434/j.scoms.2020.02.002 © 2020, the authors. This work is licensed under the “Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial – NoDerivatives 4.0 International” license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). 160 Jost / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 159–179 realization that the social effects of media shall refer here to forms of organized ac- are not limited to the (neutral) transmis- tion aimed at imparting knowledge and sion of information and the enabling of skills, the latter to specialized knowledge communication. Rather, it is the media that is needed to execute, analyze or eval- technologies themselves that induce cer- uate a certain type of activity in a manner tain courses of actions, shaping people’s which is generally considered skillful and perceptions, values, symbolic orders etc. sophisticated. The conceptual distinction in the long term (Schmidt, 1994, pp. 287– seems necessary because, first, it must be 292). Media-ecological thinking shares the assumed that the people displayed in the fundamental assumption with construc- clips intend to act in a didactic manner, tivist epistemology that everything that meaning that they seek to initiate learn- seems real to humans is a result of men- ing processes on the part of the audience tal “construction” efforts. With the nature (which does not deny further intentions, analogy, which is implied with the concept such as making money with the help of of ecology, however, a quite distinct the- Youtube’s monetization program). The oretical path is taken. According to Ruot- study aims to uncover the logic underly- salainen and Heinonen (2015, pp. 2–3), ing these people’s doing (and not doing) in media ecology “sees media as social en- order to ascertain whether online tutorials vironments, analogous to physical social reveal a specific didactic conceptuality re- environments.” For the authors, this again lated to popular music. Second, the didac- means that media can be described “as tic framework in which teachers operate a structure in which society and culture is determined by the societal discussion evolve – as an environment where people about the elements of knowledge that act and live their lives, and through which are adopted in subject-specific expertise reality is perceived” (Ruotsalainen & Hei- (Ben-Peretz, 2011; Broudy, 1977; Kenne- nonen, 2015, p. 3). However, it must be dy, 1998). Thus, the study asks for bodies critically added that this argumentation of knowledge that allow conclusions to implies a rather naturalistic explanatory be drawn about collectively shared ideas model with respect to the impact of the of the “eminently important” in popular media on society at large. As a matter of music. With the insight into the latter, it fact, media environments such as You- is possible to uncover which elements of Tube also need to be scrutinized as the popular music are commonly regarded as outcome of entrepreneurial procedures, culturally significant, in the sense of worth which means that media-induced actions being passed on. are ultimately to be read as economically determined actions (Vonderau, 2016). Despite this criticism, the present pa- 2 Teaching popular music: per essentially shares the premise of the Institutions, interaction, and the media’s formative potentials expressed in media media ecology (and in constructivist media theory) and examines at a micro level Today, most people, regardless of age, gen- (YouTube clips) how media properties in- der, educational status or social status su- fluence communicative endeavors and rely apprehend popular music as “their” thereby take part in the creation of images music (at least, this is the case in Western of “successful” teaching, which potentially societies). However, until this broad rec- have an impact on traditional educational ognition, a great deal of ground had to be institutions. covered, which can be reconstructed by The findings this article presents are reference to school education. School, un- based on the evaluation of a sample con- derstood as a social institution, has always sisting of seventy clips and a close reading been of central importance for the repro- of seven clips. Conceptually, as the subti- duction of social structures (see Collins, tle of this paper suggests, the focus is on 2009). What a society negotiates as the ba- didactic activity and expertise. The former sis for its own existence – in political, eco- Jost / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 159–179 161 nomic and cultural terms – is brought to to be experienced, namely by playing and the attention of every individual student singing or, in general terms, by acting in as a more or less binding horizon for future a creative manner. In relation to popular action (see Wentzel & Looney, 2007). In its music, a number of aesthetic and didac- actual effect on the acquisition of vocal or tic specifics are brought into play, such as playing techniques, schooling is certainly audio design, equipment, and authentic not to be assessed as too strong – music is performance settings. Another group of learned and practiced at music colleges, scholars advocates an interdisciplinary music schools, in private music lessons, in approach that emphasizes socio-cultural bands or in choirs.1 However, music teach- aspects of music (see Howard, 2019; McAr- ing at school is of great importance regard- ton & Niknafs, 2019; Przybylski & Niknafs, ing the structuring of knowledge and the 2015), which means that the extra-musical imparting of aesthetic values. aspects of popular music culture are given After a long history of rejecting and ig- more attention. This can relate to ethics, noring popular music, affirmation is now ideology and cultural identity formation, the norm. For quite some time, concepts as well as political objectives and attitudes; of cultural diversity and aesthetic equiva- the latter refers to popular music’s capacity lence set the pedagogical standard (Jost, to both channel and fuel political protest 2016), but there is no consensus on where and subversive action. And yet another the didactic priorities for popular music group focuses on music analysis (Dunbar- are.2 One group of scholars recognizes Hall, 1999; Incze, 2019; Oberschmidt, action-oriented teaching as essential (see 2017), which, at first glance, could be in- Bicknell, 2019; Gulish, 2019; Rolle, 2010). terpreted as a concession to traditional On the one hand, this approach is linked musicological means of conceptualizing to general premises from the field of learn- music, but which, on closer inspection, ing psychology, which emphasize the pro- has a more complex background. Since the cessuality of learning itself and, in partic- very beginnings of popular music studies ular, the importance of somatic processes researchers have been confronted with the for learning success. On the other hand, related questions of what is meaningful the activity focus is aesthetically justified. about this kind of music and how to an- According to this, the nature of music, its alyze its artefacts. Among the various re- laws and also its pleasures literally need spondents to these problems are scholars who have focused, inter alia, on structural 1 For some time, so-called string, brass and music analysis, style analysis, and spectral choir classes have been used to focus on analysis of sound textures. Accordingly, active music-making (at least in case of the the field of music analysis stands for the German educational system to which the au- fundamental question of how to cognitive- thor mainly refers in this section). Neverthe- ly approach popular music as sounding less, it should be noted that most of the mu- object in school, college or university. This sic lessons are still based on the traditional polyphony of didactic approaches can of pattern of emphasizing cognitive learning. course be interpreted positively, namely 2 Between individual countries, educational traditions may diverge considerably. For this as a manifestation of multiperspectivity, reason, it would be a demanding undertak- but this cannot hide the fact that knowl- ing to determine transnational approach- edge about popular music is still, to large es regarding the teaching of popular music extents, in the process of being formalized. (such an undertaking is more likely to be The lack of formalization in institutional accomplished by bringing together coun- contexts (such as school education) pos- try-specific studies, as in the special edition es a problem because options for future of the IASPM Journal, entitled “Popular Mu- action are obscured (see Berger & Luck- sic and Education” and published in 2015). In addition to the focus on the German edu- mann, 1966, pp. 161–163). cational system (see above), this section tries In addition to school education, in- to also map global trends in teaching popu- strumental teaching plays an important lar music. role in the transfer of musical competenc- 162 Jost / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 159–179 es – perhaps, as indicated above, a more time, the teacher-student relationship important one. Until today, the majority undoubtedly constitutes an interesting of private teachers or of those at music relational structure (Winnerling, 2005), schools is trained at colleges and conser- characterized on the one hand by ideas vatories, where the orientation towards of professionalism (including distinct role the classical repertoire and the corre- structure, different horizons of knowledge, sponding expressive styles for a long time clear objective [which is improving the allowed little or no alternative approaches. student’s skills]) and on the other hand by, Compared to the broad social recognition at least, two individuals being reciprocally of popular music today, the conservatoires related to one another in a series of contin- appear as a refuge for a conservative un- gent situational arrangements (Schmidt, derstanding of music, as Thom (2019, 2008). Aspects of trust, sympathy and em- pp. 9–11) points out with regard to the sit- pathy play a constitutive role in this rela- uation in German-speaking countries.3 For tionship and can affect it in both a positive a long time, most conservatoires have in- or – in case they are missing – negative cluded institutes and / or curricula in jazz manner. The learning success depends to and pop music, but these rank well below a certain degree on the attitude and beliefs the traditional classical training in terms of the teacher, which he or she reveals wit- of material resources and staffing as well tingly or unwittingly (Schwer & Solzbach- as public perception (Jørgensen, 2016, er, 2014). Eventually, this is where habitus p. 4). Leaving this bias aside and looking theory has come to the fore, which, with at the jazz and pop training itself, it shows reference to the triumph of popular culture that these formulate binding content and in the second half of the 20th century, re- objectives (as it is characteristic of educa- fers to new patterns of behavior, lifestyles tional institutions), which affect the sym- and body politics, such as those reflected bolic orders of popular music culture. By in the concept of coolness, which can be way of example, a learning content such read both as a strategy of refusal (of bour- as vocal or instrumental skillfulness by no geois body domestication) and as an aes- means reflects popular music in its entire- thetic code within the then newly forming ty. The aesthetics of punk, for example, de- community of the young (see Dinerstein, nies the principle of musical mastery and 2017). Consequently, anyone who aspired in the field of electronic dance music there to make a credible appearance as a popu- may be several actors who cannot play or lar music expert faced a changed horizon sing at all. of expectations. In addition to the cultural-symbolic Another innovation is that popular level, interaction structures are an essen- music has been learned by many fans tial component in understanding how around the world on a self-taught basis, (popular) music culture is reproduced namely by means of media representa- via the imparting of knowledge and skills. tions: the recordings (see Bennett, 1980; Teaching creates a face-to-face situation with regard to digital media see Michielse, that not only allows space for an informal 2016; Zimmermann, 2015). As a result, exchange between the teacher and the both scripturality and the intermediary student, but actually demands it. Having agency of the teacher have lost the status been the subject of theoretical reflections of the indispensable which they held – and over the epochs of intellectual history and still hold – in Western art music (scores are charged with the values of the respective elementary for all kinds of performances of Western art music, whereas songbooks 3 However, there are differences from country function as a lucrative business target- to country or region to region. In the Scan- ing of the fan and amateur music scene). dinavian countries, for example, there has been a longstanding appreciation of pop- In any case, this facet of learning music ular music in higher education (Dyndahl, should be taken into consideration when Karlsen, Graabræk Nielsen, & Skårberg, uncovering – in Section 4 – the inventory 2017). of communicative tools that is utilized in Jost / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 159–179 163 line with the online-based imparting of Musicological research more or less ig- musical knowledge and skills. Because a nores the tutorial as a subject-matter; at simple question arises: why make use of a most, it is indirectly addressed, for ex- “mediated” instructor when in the past it ample in Herzberg (2012) in connection was possible to learn popular music with- with the so-called production videos on out intermediary instances? YouTube, in Kruse and Veblen (2012) with However, it must be pointed out here regard to the imparting of genre-specif- that “mediated” instructors have played a ic music practices, or in Bechtel (2017) role in teaching popular music in the past. with reference to its value for training at Since the 1980s, tutorial videos have been conservatoires. Waldron (2013), in turn, produced that show popular musicians provides an overview of music-related who reveal their personal playing tech- online learning options by looking at the niques and give an insight into what they various clip types that enable informal played on famous recordings.4 In contrast music learning; based on a “cyber ethno- to the online tutorials, the appeal of these graphic field study” (Waldron, 2013, p. 93), videos is evident: the stars themselves dis- she highlights issues of learner agency as close their knowledge (or they pretend to well as discourse formation. Elsewhere she disclose it). In pre-social media times, this outlines the theoretical and methodologi- enabled a truly special form of parasocial cal framework relevant to music education encounter. As a matter of fact, this media research and the development of didactic genre of popular music is more or less approaches, stressing, for example, the unexplored territory, so that no in-depth importance of community building and, information can be given about its status in this context, the interconnectivity of on- in the cultural reproduction of popular line and offline activities (Waldron, 2012). music. Cayari (2011) discusses the didactic value Finally, the state of research on the of YouTube stars and their clips for class- music-related online tutorial shall be dis- room activities, focusing on the conditions cussed. On a larger scale, online tutorials in which the clips are produced as well as (without musical content) have been in- the forms of self-presentation. Thanks to a vestigated so far in library science (Lem- comprehensive case study of the YouTube ke, 2014; Schröder, 2013), media didactics star Wade Johnston (including an inter- (Bornemann, 2013; DeVaney, 2009) and view with him and some of his fans), Ca- educational research (Valentin, 2018; Wolf, yari is capable of providing sound insights 2015). In media and communication sci- into the goals, interests, expectations, atti- ence, the interest in them has so far been tudes, etc. that accompany personal pop- limited to their role in socio-cultural de- ularity in the YouTube universe. velopments and other media phenomena, Perhaps the most comprehensive stu- such as tagging processes (Munk & Mørk, dy on music education through YouTube 2007), science communication (Geipel, is presented in Whitaker, Orman and Yar- 2018), and in the collaborative intercon- brough (2014). Based on a content anal- nectedness of web users (Reichert, 2013). ysis of 1761 objects, the study provides fundamental insights into the practice of 4 One of the leading production companies the “music education” YouTube clip. This in this segment was Star Licks Produc- means that, firstly, a broad transnational tions. Starring musicians include, amongst public interest in such clips is document- many others, Brian May (Queen), Tony ed, secondly, the main topics and their Iommi (Black Sabbath), and Steve Luka- percentage distribution are shown (e. g., ther (Toto) (see http://robertdecker.com/ performance, teaching, public relations; starlicks_references/#masterseries, 15 Feb- teaching videos form the largest group) ruary 2020). A large number of these videos are available on YouTube (search item: star and thirdly, characteristics of the people licks). My thanks go to Knut Holtsträter for involved are determined (university-age pointing me to this little-known media genre adults appear to be most active). However, of popular music. 164 Jost / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 159–179 the design of these clips (in terms of filmic in the YouTube universe were uncovered, production and didactic conceptuality) is the tutorial mainstream, as it were. In light not addressed. of the quantitative aspect, it can also be ar- Despite this study and the other stud- gued that the people involved are indeed ies mentioned, it shows that there is a widely recognized as musical authorities notable research gap regarding the way (see Section 1). music-related online tutorials are struc- The formation of the actual sample tured. In order to understand the extent to was preceded by the rather unsystematic which media products pass on knowledge, examination of the “field”,5 which involved it seems necessary to get an overview of determining the top values in reception; what they literally contain and to detect initially, criteria such as mother tongue the inherent logics that make them a co- and nationality of the clip producers herent whole that people may perceive as played no role. However, in the further relevant and appealing. course, it became apparent that the most viewed clips were produced by people from Anglophone countries. This discov- 3 Method ery was surprising, since it can generally be assumed that people from non-English The study underlying this article is based speaking countries also have excellent on the author’s ongoing research into mu- knowledge of English, which enables them sical practices in social media (see Jost, to reach an international audience. Be that 2017, 2018; Jost & Gratwohl, 2012). In the as it may, this discovery has given a first course of the examination of YouTube, the glimpse into the communicative mech- author made two observations that should anisms associated with the popular mu- prove to be decisive for the study: firstly, sic-related tutorial genre, making it clear in the past decade the quality standards that the spoken language and the nation- of user-generated content – which is fre- ality of the people involved must somehow quently analyzed under the terminologi- be taken into account when evaluating cal umbrella of DIY culture (see Roig, 2020; the sample. As a matter of principle, the Schäfer, 2011) – seemed to have risen (the mother tongue and nationality / ethnic- newer videos, also the tutorials, looked ity of the clip producers could have been “more professional” than the early so- used as guiding criteria for sampling, too. cial media videos); secondly, many of the This would have made it possible to reveal newer tutorials had relatively high view national and / or regional peculiarities in numbers compared to the numbers the the appropriation and cultural reproduc- early tutorials produced with cell phones tion of the global phenomenon of popular or digital camera achieved. These obser- music – which in the light of the concept of vations prompted the author to ask about glocalization (Robertson, 1995) can be re- the production logics that are relevant to garded as desirable. However, the study did this “new generation” of tutorials that ob- not address such nuances, but raised the viously enjoy great popularity. fundamental question of how these tutorials are structured and what type of teach- 3.1 Sampling ing they promote (see Section 1 and 2). A sample-based approach seemed prof- After having determined a quantita- itable, as this could provide insight into tive reference for highly requested tutori- the basic orientations within the music als, specific search was made for tutorial tutorial sector while taking thematic and channels that are devoted to the means of production-related varieties into account. producing sound that have shaped pop- In addition, for reasons of feasibility, it was 5 The decision to consider a segment of the necessary to limit the addressed area of in- World Wide Web as a “field” corresponds to vestigation, which was specifically done by ethnographic approaches in online research; focusing on highly requested tutorials. As see, for example, Kozinets (2010) outlining a result, trends that play a dominant role the concept of “netnography”. Jost / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 159–179 165

Table 1: Sample of YouTube clips selected for detailed analysis

Channel Real name Age Sex Lan- Nationality Most watched clip First Put online Views guage access (at date of first access) acoustic guitar Guitar Marty 30–40 male English presumably https://www.youtube. 11.05.17 22.05.13 7 443 458 Jamz Schwartz USA com/watch?v=llNuwh ZWXKA&t=12s electric guitar rockon- David Taub 35–45 male English presumably https://www.youtube. 11.05.17 06.09.07 2 475 136 goodpeople USA com/watch?v=TTzdcO cpyuE electric bass Scott’s Scott Devine 30–40 male English not specified https://www.youtube. 11.05.17 17.10.12 1 825 938 Bass (presumably com/watch?v=W70 Lessons UK, see web- XkdHSQPA site https:// scottsbass lessons.com) drums Drumeo Jered Falk 30–40 male English not specified https://www.youtube. 12.05.17 24.12.13 2 596 144 (presumably com/watch?v=et9h Canada, U7QMDYU&t=29s see website https://www. drumeo.com piano / keyboard Lypur Andrew 25–35 male English presumably https://www.youtube. 12.05.17 10.07.08 16 488 087 Furman- Canada com/watch?v=vphWgqb czyk F-AM&t=119s computer howto not non- non- English presuambly https://www.youtube. 12.05.17 20.12.11 2 305 600 make specified deter- deter- Finland com/watch?v=VtUjHi-e8lk emusic min- min- able able voice Eric Eric 30–40 male English presumably https://www.youtube. 19.05.17 15.07.13 7 542 548 Arceneaux Arceneaux USA com/watch?v=Q5hS7 eukUbQ&t=221s ular music culture, with the latter being: link to the channel, first view of the chan- acoustic guitar, electric guitar, electric nel during the research process, number bass, drums, piano / keyboard, voice and of views, date of joining YouTube.6 From computer. Finally, ten YouTube channels the ten channels per sample group, the were selected for each means of produc- clip with the highest number of views was ing sound, which should ensure a certain identified, which included recording the variance of the cases, but at the same time date of first access, the actual number of corresponded to the practical desire to im- views at the time of first access, and the plement the study. 6 The nationality was determined on the ba- 3.2 Sample evaluation sis of the YouTube category “location”, bi- ographical information on the website of the As a first step, each channel was scruti- relevant person and his or her pronuncia- nized with the help of the following cat- tion. Since there is no information that has egories: channel owner (username), real been verified by the persons concerned, the name, persons involved, age, gender, lan- corresponding table entry includes the sup- guage, nationality, number of subscribers, plement “presumably” (see Table 1). 166 Jost / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 159–179 date of uploading the clip. From the most 70 objects.9 Subsequently, thematic fields successful channel in each sample group,7 emerged that illuminated how the single the clip with the highest view rate was then “ingredients” of the popular music-related subjected to detailed analysis. This result- tutorial interact. The following sections il- ed in a focus sample consisting of seven lustrate these thematic fields. clips (see Table 1). The analysis was based on the follow- 4.1 Channel structure ing categories: musical reference (What is First of all, the YouTube profiles and clips the subject of teaching? Are certain songs examined are characterized by the high selected? A certain style?); setting (Where degree of differentiation in relation to the was the tutorial recorded? What can be challenges associated with playing an in- seen?); performance (How does the instrument or using the voice in a skillful structor behave? What is noticeable about manner. There are tips for the beginner his or her behavior, especially with regard (“how to hold a guitar”) as well as in- to didactic decisions? Is there a certain structions on how to play a specific piece manner of speaking? Or are there certain or solo accurately.10 This range may not gestures?); inserts (Are textual messages be entirely coincidental, as teachers are used? If so, how are they used?); camera generally expected to be specialists in a and cutting (How does the camera oper- particular field of knowledge (Metzler & ate? Are there certain patterns of filmic Woessmann, 2010). Being able to answer composition?); sound (What conclusions as many questions as possible is – among can be drawn with reference to miking other skills, of course – essential to the au- and post-production?). The answers to thority of a teacher. Therefore, there are no these questions were initially given in a math teachers who are only responsible table and aimed to provide a thorough de- for fractions, as there are no music teach- scription of the cases. The completed table ers who only teach good timing. then formed the basis for the actual ana- However, the accurate segmentation lytical-interpretative work.8 according to levels of difficulty and topics can also be interpreted in such a way that online tutorials create a space in which 4 Filming, performing, teaching: cultural knowledge is particularized and Research findings brought into the logics of seriality. As a result, the genuine intertwining of know- In the course of the sample evaluation, ledge elements – Deleuze and Guattari in dividual sequences of the clips were (1977) use the term rhizome as a meta- exa mined more closely, recurring ele- phor for the organization of knowledge – is ments within a single clip, but also among counteracted. It is essential for the under- the seven focus clips were determined, standing of the rhizome metaphor that the cross-connections between the clips were drawn and symbolic meanings and so- 9 The statistical data collected underline the exploratory nature of the study. As the han- cio-cultural determinations of the behav- dling of age and nationality (see Table 1) ior shown were discussed. This was put shows, the data only vaguely indicate certain into relation to the peculiarities (regard- manifestations, which is why their actual ing age, sex, language and nationality) re- function can be seen in drawing attention vealed by the initial sample consisting of to potentially relevant topics. Consequently, numeric values are not given in the follow- 7 The channel owner ranking complies with ing. the number of subscribers. 10 This is particularly impressive in the case of 8 Future studies based on a larger corpus may the “Guitar Jamz” channel, which contains expand the spectrum of insights. The de- a vast ensemble of clips on music-theoreti- scriptions and interpretations in the follow- cal aspects, individual songs, musical styles, ing chapter can therefore be understood as artist-related playing techniques and much exploratory measurings of a widely ramified more (see https://www.youtube.com/user/ phenomenal domain. martyzsongs/videos [24.07.2020]). Jost / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 159–179 167 individual knowledge elements are con- information is constantly being provided ceived as non-hierarchical, that is, they are (Faucher, 2018, pp. 14–15). In this respect, not assigned to particular areas or levels the clips are subject to the same logic of knowledge (Deleuze & Guattari, 1977, of action as in social media-based peer pp. 13–16). Rather, a reference structure is communication and identity management assumed in which an unimaginable num- (Neumann-Braun & Autenrieth, 2011). ber of cross-connections and intersec- It should also not be noted that the tions between the individual knowledge creators of the tutorials are not just pur- elements is possible. suing altruistic goals. On the one hand, Needless to say that it would be an some YouTube profiles refer to paid con- exceedingly challenging, if not hopeless tent on other websites, and on the other venture to depict the elements of a knowl- hand, YouTube’s monetization strategies edge domain in a single YouTube channel have created a market, which promises a (or even a single clip) in their rhizome-like certain income after a certain number of interlacing. Nevertheless, the interlacing views (Burgess & Green, 2018, p. 55). This aspect implied by the rhizome metaphor is only possible due to advertisers who brings into focus the specifics (or specific are given the opportunity to place ads in limitations) of individual media and me- front of a YouTube clip. It cannot be ruled dia applications with regard to the orga- out that one or the other tutorial producer nization and representation of knowledge has become a professional or semi-profes- (see also Veltman, 2006). Furthermore, the sional “YouTuber”, meaning he or she up- rhizome metaphor allows reference to the loads clips to earn money with them. An- specificity (or, again, the specific limita- other tool that underlines the need for an tions) of one’s own research design. As a economic reading is “YouTube analytics”. reminder, in this study, aspects of knowl- By this means the channel owner gains ac- edge organization have been addressed by cess to statistics concerning the reception means of a product analytical approach of his or her clips. This includes data on (with a focus on audio-visual composition). the number of views in the course of time, However, studies that take into account the average play-back duration or on sub- the participatory or communal elements scriber characteristics, for instance sex or of social media, e. g. social tagging (see nationality. In a sense, the user / instructor Park, 2019; Weller, 2010), can be profit- can take over the role of a market research- able, too. Such analytical procedures are er. Altogether, he or she may operate as a capable of disclosing knowledge practices one-man production and business unit. that, due to strong collaborative dynamics, produce a particularly tight network 4.2 Personal features of knowledge representations and eval- The sample on which the analysis was uations, which corresponds much more based has brought a specific group of peo- closely to the theoretical model outlined ple into focus: males, around 30 to 50 years by Deleuze and Guattari (1977). old, mostly from the United States or the Regarding the channel management, United Kingdom. Of course, it should be the regular emission of clips is noticeable. stressed that the size of the sample does The users in question upload new tutorials not aim at representativity. Furthermore, over longer periods with certain regularity it needs to be mentioned that it was not (in some cases every few days). Occasion- possible to identify the nationality of the ally, longer breaks can be detected (over users based on the information in the pro- a year or more), which are again followed file in each and every case; it also had to be by a regular or at least longer lasting clip assigned on the basis of linguistic capaci- production. The aspect of regularity may ties and characteristics, which is why it is be owed primarily to the action and per- generally advisable to locate the countries ception patterns of the social web. Atten- of origin in the “anglophone” world. tion and recognition are expressed in traf- fic, which in turn only gets started if new 168 Jost / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 159–179

On the whole, of course, there is a con- non-native speakers also provide tutorials siderable number of older and younger in English, but the response to their clips people acting as music instructors on You- tends to be lower. Eventually, it cannot Tube. Likewise, many women produce tube denied that the tutorials confirm and torials. It was not intended to exclude these reproduce a specific cultural orientation groups from the analysis. However, the pattern in popular music, namely male, crucial criteria for selection was the purely Anglo-American rock music. Regarding quantitative response by the viewers (that the notion of the Anglo-American, Regev is, the number of views and subscribers), (1997, pp. 131–132) points out that the im- which ought to be as high as possible. The pact of rock music from the USA and UK aim was to identify the peaks of populari- once was far-reaching and went beyond ty, and in this regard, a male Anglo-Amer- the aesthetic. In the late 1950s to early ican dominance has come to light, which, 1970s, the music also stood for moderni- given its relation to the history of western ty and social liberalization. In the course popular music, is not overly surprising. of the following decades, rock music and Most of the international superstars and the experiences connected with it have be- cultural icons come from English-speak- come part of the collective memory work ing countries, and while recent develop- worldwide, participating in the formation ments show a slight preponderance of fe- of cultural identities (Regev, 1997, p. 132). male stars (see Beyoncé, Rihanna, Adele, Regev’s considerations suggest that there or Lady Gaga), the history of popular mu- is a topos of the “Anglo-American” in con- sic tells a different story (see Elvis Presley, temporary popular music culture, a topos The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, that, due to its position in identity-build- Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, ing processes, can be considered exceed- and many more). The past, in a nutshell, ingly powerful. is reconstructed in the social memories of the present generation, and central to 4.3 Self-presentation the remembering of popular music are In the majority of the tutorials studied, popular musicians and their oeuvres. In an informal tone prevails that somehow this regard, it can be hypothesized that makes the filmed event appear sponta- the collective ideas of how an electric gui- neous. A formalized manner of speaking tar or drums should sound like are largely as well as formalized facial and gestural coupled with masculine agency (see also expressions, as in the performances of the Clawson, 1999; Leonard, 2007, pp. 23–42). mass media (see, for example, the perfor- It seems as if male online instructors still mance of talk show hosts or anchormen), benefit today from the downright stagger- are avoided. In social media, this is a fa- ing dominance of male actors in the his- miliar, globally accepted mode of com- tory of popular music (with the exception munication; people swap ideas, on equal of singing). Against this background, it is terms. The narrative of accessibility and almost surprising that female musicians, mutual relatedness is prevalent in the field especially young women, achieve a high of social media communication (Boyd, level of visibility on YouTube (predomi- 2010) and thus remains valid with regard nantly as performers), even though they to online tutorials. At the same time, ref- are struggling with the sexist hostility of erence can be made here to the habitual male users (Schauberger, 2012). aspect and the aesthetic concept of cool- The sample indicates that middle- ness, which were mentioned in Section 2. aged men from Anglophone countries are Many of the body practices of popular mu- credited with authority when it comes to sic known today developed in the youth teaching instruments that are character- and countercultural environments of the istic of popular music. The high level of 1960s that stood in opposition to existing resonance can certainly also be explained ideas of morality and decency or at least by the status of English as a “universal lan- sought to articulate an alternative to them guage”. However, it can be countered that (Bennett, 2012; Siegfried, 2006). One could Jost / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 159–179 169 say that the pop performance became a brief moment. It can be assumed that an independent art form, and an essen- here an important element of the “natu- tial element of this development was that ral” teaching situation, that is, the face- the performers overcame the restrictions to-face situation, is taken up or used in that mainstream society had imposed on a dramaturgical way. There are likely to the body (Watermeyer, 2008). This means be moments in any lesson – whether in that it was important to appear as casual, school or instrumental training – when relaxed, spontaneous and approachable the instructor presents a fact as “particu- as possible. It can be argued with Singer larly important” for the understanding of (1972) that these properties have merged, the addressed topic. Then, an important forming the core of a collective, i.e. cultur- structuring takes place with regard to the al performance of ease and informality (or student’s knowledge horizons that are still coolness).11 Apparently, this performance being formed – in other words: orientation paradigm also applies to the teaching sit- is offered in the infinite expanses of world uation, and one reason for that may be knowledge. the audience’s wish for authentic appear- Face-to-face communication offers a ances. The latter implies that recognition variety of options for placing utterances is given primarily to those who, in simple that suggest certain emotionality, but this terms, know what they are talking about, is not true for factual media products. In meaning to those who, by their perfor- the case of the latter, the emphatic behav- mance, satisfy the audience that they are ior is not verifiable (by queries, feedback, “real” pop musicians. In music education etc.), which is why it inheres the poten- research, the need to incorporate popular tial to confuse or annoy the viewer. With music culture into the teaching process regard to reality TV, the extra-emphatic in an authentic manner has been repeat- behavior may have a special charm, but edly emphasized (Green, 2008; Terhag, in tutorials or other factual formats (e. g., 1989; Woody, 2007). It can be seen from news programs) this charm evaporates. the various studies that the impression of Here, utterances of this kind rather have authenticity results from the way things the function of the “joker”, which means are done, which points to the practices in that they should be deployed only with which popular music is maintained as a great restraint. symbolic system. It seems, firstly, that the It is striking that some instructors (the “authentic performance” helps create mu- most successful among them) are very sical authority and that, secondly, this au- confident or, one could say, masterly in thority compensates – at least to a certain incorporating moments of emphasis into extent – the lack of formalized educational their performance. They seem to have the knowledge of popular music culture (see ability, typical of actors, to control their Section 2). own behavior and to use it in a methodi- Moreover, the sample evaluation shed cal manner, which leads to the general as- light on moments of slightly increased ex- sumption that (broad) public recognition citement, especially when playing tech- as an expert in the field of popular music is niques that can be considered difficult facilitated by adept self-presentation. are discussed. The performers then, in The category of self-presentation also contrast to their otherwise mundane style includes the use of humor. In order to of speech, seem particularly emphatic for understand the function of the latter, the first question to ask is: in which social re- 11 This is also evident on a textual level, as the lationships do people normally act (or try channel name “Guitar Jamz” (https://www. to act) in a humorous way? The answer to youtube.com/user/martyzsongs/videos that includes that humorous interludes [24.07.2020]) makes clear, which firstly refers to the colloquial short form of the term jam are most likely to occur in the context of session. Secondly, the regular plural mor- (media) entertainment as well as in every- pheme -s is replaced by -z, which is a prac- day informal gatherings of people in pri- tice rooted in urban slang. 170 Jost / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 159–179 vate settings (especially among befriend- the orientation towards the production ed persons). Humor manifests itself much standards in mass media (in which usually less often in the broad field of work-related “professionals” set the agenda) seems to presentations (speech, lecture, meeting), be a rather dominant action pattern. since an overly humorous appearance involves the danger of undermining the 4.4 Production style professional role, which is based primar- In most clips the quality of image is com- ily on factual knowledge. Consequently, pelling and meets pretty much the re- the same applies to the category of hu- quirements that are imposed by a popular mor as to emphatic behavior: it should culture sensitive audience. This is also the only be used in small doses. With regard case with the quality of sound, which in- to the examined sample it can be said that dicates that in the vast majority of cases humorous interludes are even rarer than the performance was not recorded with moments of emphasis. It seems that the the internal microphone of the camera, authors of the clips are aware of the am- but with a common studio microphone. biguity of humor, proving once again that Both aspects, sound and moving image, they are highly skilled at performing in show that the production of online tutorial front of the camera.12 is oriented towards the quality standards The ongoing aesthetic elaboration of in traditional mass media. Together with social media content has been the sub- the above-mentioned aspect of avoiding ject of research for some time, with “pro- the mass media at the level of parlance, fessionalization” being the conceptual this results in an interesting tension that heading in many cases. Various aspects is constitutive of the aesthetic structure of are discussed in this context: the impact online tutorials. of big media corporations (see Kim, 2012), The following elements are featured in the changing technological means (cam- the examined clips on a regular basis, illus- eras, microphones, music software etc.) trating that tutorials have reached a level and the falling acquisition costs, respec- of sophistication that goes far beyond the tively (see Foster & Ocejo, 2015, p. 413), the do-it-yourself aesthetics of early cellphone importance of social media for corporate YouTube clips. action (see Tsimonis & Dimitriadis, 2014), i. Short introduction. The online in- the emergence of new business models, as structors frame the following presentation illustrated by the “influencer” (see Giles, by welcoming the audience (“Hi every- 2018), or the role of social media in the body”) and briefly explaining what will fol- distribution of artistic products (see Salo, low and what problems will be dealt with. Lankinen, & Mäntymäki, 2013). It therefore In a few cases, the teaching content is also seems that these self-confident and ac- placed in a music-theoretical, music-his- complished instructors are part of a broad torical or stylistic context. And finally, it transformation process within partici- can be observed that some use the intro- patory media culture, a process in which duction to hint at other (fee-based) learning opportunities. 12 For instance, in the examined clip by “Scott’s Bass Lessons” (https://www.youtube.com/ ii. The recording studio as a setting. watch?v=W70XkdHSQPA [24.07.2020]), the Many instructors present themselves in instructor uses a swear word for the purpose a studio setting, which in most cases is of reinforcing his statement (at 00:02:25), likely to be their own home studio. Due to notices this immediately and adds en pas- the studio setting the performers are able sant that he should not do this because the to present themselves as virtually profes- clip is a PG (parental guidance) release. In sional working pop musicians; in fact, they post-production, he (or another person) present themselves as working people. So overlaid the word with a short cartoon-like sound, which intensifies the comic light- the underlying message might be: I pro- ness of the situation. After this, he skillfully duce music with considerable effort. I am switches back to the explanatory mode with- a serious musician and therefore exceed- out any transition. Jost / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 159–179 171 ingly reliable when it comes to teaching 4.5 Embodied knowledge and didactic popular music (see Section 4.3). trends iii. Advanced camera operation and The overall design of the tutorials with the cutting. The creators of the clips use the instructor, in most cases, being at the cen- possibilities of audio-visual media in a ter of the image composition and the ad- nuanced but noticeable way. Camera per- dressed modus operandi, which is making spectives alternate and crossfade, effects music, suggest a theoretical focus on the and inserts are used (in some cases, the incorporation of knowledge in individual opening titles are purely graphical). It is people’s actions. The main question in this striking that tutorials that are based on regard is: which of the skills and knowl- simple cell phone clips (so to speak, the edge stocks or elements that emerge and starting point of user-generated content circulate in the institutions, technical in- on YouTube), today no longer achieve high frastructures and practices of popular mu- numbers of views. sic (see Le Marec & Ribac, 2019) are rep- iv. Screencast. The sample indicates resented in the didactic actions? On the that tutorials on computer-based produc- one hand, this results in the task of iden- tion of electronic dance music may step tifying what the instructors know about a out of line, since they make use of screen- phenomenon (declarative knowledge) and cast and voiceover. The decision in favor which knowledge elements they actually of this presentation mode seems natural, pass on verbally. On the other hand, how- since the musical actions in an electron- ever, it is necessary to think of the tutori- ic dance music production setting usual-based transfer of knowledge as a process ally materialize on the screen (as tracks, that depends very much on the way things patterns, midi events, etc.). Nevertheless, are executed (procedural knowledge). screencast and voiceover can be inter- Now, the concept of embodied knowledge, preted as further evidence that the tech- starting from the phenomenology of Mau- nical options in the field of amateur film rice Merleau-Ponty, implies that certain production are largely applied in popular segments of knowledge have, as it were, music-related online tutorials. become second nature to the executing Taken together, the creators of the persons and are activated more or less un- examined clips work diligently with the consciously; this primarily applies to pro- repertoire of audio-visual presentation cy (two to four seconds). The instructor can options that are available in the age of dig- be seen in a home studio setting, at work, so ital media. They are competent musicians to speak, which means that he demonstrates who also have internalized a set of skills fingering or styles of playing and addresses in audio-visual media production. Gener- the camera or another person (outside the ally speaking, it seems that the elaborate frame) by explaining something (which is audio-visual performance has become a supported by vivid gestures). The shots are prerequisite for being credited – at a broad mostly filmed from an uninvolved observ- level – as musical expert on YouTube (see er perspective and are accompanied by a fusion jazz-like piece in which the electric also Section 4.3).13 bass obviously plays a key role. The intro shots are in black and white, the actual in- 13 The introduction sequence of the examin- structions, starting at 00:00:37, are in color. ed clip by “Scott’s Bass Lessons” (https: Also, three inserts are displayed during the //www.youtube.com/watch?v=W70Xkd intro (“Cutting Edge Tutorials …”, “For Be- HSQPA [24.07.2020]) corresponds in an al- ginner, Intermediate and Advanced.”, “With most paradigmatic manner to the features Scott Devine”); in two shots there is an extra mentioned in this section. In the first shot, window that shows the actions of the fretting the URL of a website (www.scottsbasslessons. hand in the zoom. A transition section becom) is shown (white writing on a black tween the intro and the actual tutorial part background); the URL fades in, which is ac- (00:00:24 to 00:00:37), depicting the instruc- companied with a sound effect. With a trick tor playing slap bass (the topic of the present aperture, the next shot commences; this pro- clip), completes the advanced composition- cess is repeated four times in short frequen- al structure of the clip’s opening. 172 Jost / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 159–179 cedural knowledge (see Tanaka, 2011). The pects of the personality of a performer reflections in this paragraph posit that the somehow manifest themselves on a re- instructors present knowledge elements in cording or in a stage performance (Bark- their actions that they take for granted as a er & Taylor, 2007, p. x).14 Of course, picking result of their own music-related learning up this aspect in the course of teaching is a biography, knowledge elements that have particularly demanding endeavor. In face- somehow become part of their physical to-face learning (instrumental lessons) constitution. this may be achieved by continuous feed- A pointed formulation at the begin- back and extensive explanations and per- ning: after sighting the clips one might sonal reports from the teacher. In contrast think that the entire cultural field of pop- to this, tutorials do not allow for feedback ular music is based on a single aesthetic by the teaching person, and lengthy testi- principle, namely the combination of mu- monials may be a bit strange to the viewer, sical units of meaning nested in repetitive as expectations are oriented towards the structures. Of course, this cannot be the action modes of demonstration and in- only result of the evaluation of the sam- struction. It is therefore not surprising that ple – the different instruments alone in- in the sample no passages could be found duce different didactic approaches – and in which the category of the authentic is yet this is an important point addressed. discussed. The historical perspective makes this When it comes to demonstrating ex- clear: essential for the production and cul- ercises, online instructors rely almost ex- tural diffusion of popular music are on the clusively on the principle of pattern for- one hand the song form and on the other mation.15 By doing so, they pre-structure hand the electronic mass media, above all music-related knowledge, thus introduc- the acoustic media (phonography, radio) ing viewers into historically grown struc- (Wicke, 2001). In the interplay of both tures of producing popular music. At the factors, musical practices could emerge same time, they ensure that the principle which were firstly based on the principle of pattern formation come to the fore.16 of brevity (only concept albums and electronic dance music with their focus on the 14 “Authenticity” here refers to artistry and ex- production of song cycles and tracks, re- pressiveness (whereas Section 4.3 touches spectively, could oppose this) and second- on the craft aspect). However, it is critical to add that in practice the assessments regard- ly interspersed with pattern formations ing the artistic authenticity of a performance at all compositional levels (grooves, riffs, can be very different. The likelihood that licks, verse / chorus, etc.). people will classify and recognize something At the same time, the production of as authentic will increase if they are part of a popular music has been largely deter- specific producer-recipient constellation (as mined by elaborating the specific skills in the case of a star-fan relationship or a mu- and expressive qualities of the performer sic scene). and presenting it as the actual attraction of 15 One exception seem to be vocal tutorials with their focus on warm-up exercises and the recording. A listener socialized by pop- exercises to improve vocal technique. ular music not only knows that songs have 16 In its pure form, so to speak, the prin- an individual touch, but rather expects this ciple of pattern formation is revealed touch to come out clearly (“to the face”, in the examined clip of the drum chan- so to say). Highlighting the idiosyncratic nel “Drumeo” (https://www.youtube.com/ modes of expression of a performer within watch?v=et9hU7QMDYU&t=29s). Here, the a song or an album is an integral part of classic backbeat pattern consisting of hi- the production process in popular music, hat, snare and bass drum is explained. The instructor demonstrates how a drum beat none more so than in rock-centered mu- takes shape by playing at different beats. In sic genres (see Cohen, 1991, pp. 182–190). an insert, notes are shown in sync with what This phenomenon is taken up in the aes- the teacher is playing. However, these notes thetic category of the authentic, which, are not organized within a classical score among other things, emphasizes that as- consisting of several bars, instead, only one Jost / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 159–179 173

Thus, a series of normative subtexts can process, which may include switching to a be read out of the tutorials: popular mu- meta level and discussing why the selected sic cannot be played by notes! Improvisa- subject is being treated. That means the tion precedes composition! Learn to think didactic and methodical steps are made in patterns! From an educational science transparent (Huitt & Monetti, 2017). Re- perspective, this is interesting in that garding the tutorials’ didactic constitu- practical knowledge is given the status of tion, it becomes apparent that in the guise teaching content without the intermediate of the modern (“social media”) a rather stage of discursive theory formation. Nor- traditional knowledge practice (“master- mally, in popular music, practical knowl- liness”) is preserved. edge is discussed and made explicit in an Finally, with regard to the embodi- informal exchange between musicians ment and structuring of knowledge, an- (during a recording session or in online fo- other point worth mentioning is the signif- rums) or in special-interest magazines ad- icance of equipment. Through their setup, dressing single instrument groups, such as the instructors indicate that making popu- electric guitar, drums, or bass (see Herbst, lar music actually means producing sound 2019). As a result, it seems reasonable to textures with the means of various tech- conclude that the music-related online tu- nical objects (amplifiers, microphones, torial has grown into a high-reach media sound effects, etc.) (see Zagorski-Thomas, genre that is able to take up, bundle and 2014). In this respect, the tutorials confirm condense existing assumptions about the the expanded understanding of musical “correct” playing of popular music and to aesthetics that emerged in the second transform them into some sort of unof- half of the 20th century against the back- ficial curriculum. A characteristic of this ground of popular music and the musical “curriculum” is that its coming into being avant-garde and the important role tech- is more or less opaque. nology and mediatization played in both The aspect of opacity also relates to the (see Braun, 2002). However, the same ap- fact that the online instructors’ conceptual plies here as for pattern formation: the un- premises are not made the content of the derstanding of popular music as technical- learning process, which ultimately makes ly induced sound texture is not addressed them appear as exclusive knowledge that as such and therefore accompanies the is reserved for the instructor (this actual- teaching / learning process in a rather dif- ly makes these premises “subtexts”, see fuse and subtle way. One reason for this is above). It seems that a more traditional, if surely that the tutorials show “authentic” not antiquated form of knowledge transfer practitioners, i.e. pop musicians (see Sec- is used, which could best be characterized tion 4.3), whose didactic actions – mainly by the concept of the “master” (see Potter, demonstrations and instructions – largely 2013). For comparison: modern school di- feed on embodied knowledge, meaning dactics is based on showing students what knowledge that “is not distinctly explicit, to expect at the beginning of the learning conscious, mentally representative, or ar- ticulated” (Tanaka, 2011, p. 149). bar is shown. A bouncing ball icon and a bar that moves evenly from left to right indicate which tone is currently being played; this is repeated several times, like in a loop. Hence, 5 Conclusions the didactic focus is clearly on teaching the viewer how to play a one-bar figure fluently. Music-related online tutorials provide an At the end of the clip, the instructor signifies, insight into the communicative process- by suggesting to increase the tempo, that this es in which didactic methods and musi- is exactly what he is aiming at (00:05:01 to cal expertise consolidate and take effect 00:05:11). The mode of demonstration that had prevailed until then, manifesting itself as socially binding knowledge structure. in the rather slow tempo, disappears and the Beyond school and private lessons, they simple one-bar pattern turns into a proper create a specialized media environment rock beat. in which to learn about popular music in 174 Jost / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 159–179 general and pieces of music and artists in It would be up to further research in this particular. field to scrutinize the specific attractions A central aspect of this study was the of these persons from the perspective of question of how knowledge is embodied the recipient, for example on the basis of in performative acts and how this embod- interviews and / or group discussions. iment is processed via audio-visual media. Secondly, the examined tutorials This is based on the assumption that only show the general trend on YouTube for by reference to the performance of the in- the professionalization of user-generat- structor role and the media storage and ed content; here, professionalization ref- transmission of this performance, the at- erences primarily the characteristics of tractions that make the single clip a legit- the product and the gradual adaptation imate didactic offer can be fully revealed. to the quality standards in mass media. This implies that non-musical elements As indicated above, the image of musical (such as the texture of the clip image) “rub and pedagogical authority generated by off” on the perception of musically and the tutorials cannot be attributed solely to didactically skilled persons. In the mate- the displayed instructions, but is ultimate- riality of the YouTube clip, cultural knowl- ly the result of the overall appearance on edge, aesthetic values, expectations of ap- YouTube, which also relates to the channel propriate behavior and much more merge design and the amount of clips provided. into a meaningful whole, concretely: into a It seems that only those people are widely cultural conception of the popular music recognized as pop instructors and experts instructor. This conception combines and who also know how to present themselves structures collectively shared ideas of the as “social media professionals”. “eminently important” in popular music Thirdly, the examined clips reveal si- (see Section 1). Due to the limited scope of mi lar didactic strategies and conceptual a journal article, various aspects could not premises; these relate to the fabrication be dealt with: regional or national differ- of playing patterns, the primacy of impro- ences in the production of tutorials, user visation, and the use of technical devices feedback (comment section) or the actual to produce distinct sound textures. On the use of the clips in everyday life. These as- one hand, these strategies and premises pects are certainly to be assessed as highly generally correspond to ideas and con- relevant, but ultimately the research gap cepts that are discussed in school didac- regarding the composition of music tuto- tics and higher education. On the other rials was the decisive factor in the concep- hand, there are two differences that are tion of this study (see Section 2). rather far-reaching: The strategies and The research findings reveal four main premises mentioned have a certain exclu- tendencies: Firstly, the tutorials seem to sivity (and consequently disregard some reproduce gender-related and nation- popular music-related knowledge stores) al disparities. There is a high demand for and they are not addressed as such, mean- clips made by men between the ages of 30 ing they are not made explicit as elements and 50 from anglophone countries. This of knowledge. As has been shown, this cer- prolongs, if you will, the symbolic leader- tainly has to do with the embodiment of ship of male musicians from the USA and knowledge, but besides, the constitution UK in the consolidation phase of western of the involved media environment plays popular culture in the second half of the a crucial role. There are no institutions or 20th century. However, it cannot be ruled actors on YouTube who combine the au- out that this widespread approval also thority to somehow monitor the tutorial traces back to the comprehensibility of the output with regard to scientific profound- verbalized contents. Users may perceive ness or the compliance of educational ide- a non-English accent as an unnecessary als such as transparency; no matter how distraction from the actual content of the you look at it, YouTube essentially follows tutorial, or even as a potential disruption the plain libertarian market rule of supply to the process of acquiring knowledge. and demand, with the innovation that no Jost / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 159–179 175 specially trained people, as in the case of by watching the tutorial and implement- mass media, channel what is supplied. ing the instructions given there. Of course, in view of the eventuality that In conclusion, it can be said that on- some instructors were trained at music line tutorials make music-related knowl- colleges (or experienced postgraduate edge accessible in a wide range and for training), the tutorials may also reflect for- a broad public, respectively, while at malized institutional knowledge to a cer- the same time restricting the transfer of tain extent. However, this cannot hide the knowledge through the compartmental- fact that the viewer, in the end, witnesses ized concentration on individual topics or professional, semi-professional or ama- problems and by focusing on a few con- teur pop musicians who, for a variety of ceptual premises. In the end, this is not reasons, make an appearance as instruc- detrimental to their popularity, because tors, handing down knowledge that has they implicate quite an attractive promise, become an element of their recording and namely quick solutions. performing routines. 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Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 181–202

“My kid, my rule”: Governing children’s digital footprints as a source of dialectical tensions between mothers and daughters-in-law Davide Cino*, University of Milan-Bicocca, Department of Human Sciences for Education, Italy Chiara Dalledonne Vandini, University of Bologna, Department of Education, Italy *Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract This paper reports on ﬁndings from an exploratory study on social media dilemmas (SMDs) mothers experience about their children’s social media presence when their mothers-in-law share about their offspring online, violating their boundaries expectations. The work is theoretically informed by systems theory and communication privacy management theory. A parenting forum was researched to investigate how mothers themselves frame these dilemmatic situations through a thematic analysis of a sample of 1224 posts from 38 discussion threads focusing on these issues. This work shows the disorienting nature of SMDs leading mothers to seek support through online communication. Findings from this study further suggest that sharing about minors on social media can cause dialectical tensions between interacting systems (i. e. the nuclear and the extended family), with mothers claiming and expecting ﬁrst-level agency in managing their children’s digital footprints to foster systemic differentiation in the digital home.

Keywords sharenting, social media, privacy boundaries, MIL-DIL dialectical tensions, digital parenting, grand sharen ting, dataﬁcation of childhood

1 Introduction connectedness with important people in one’s life (Bartholomew, Schoppe-Sulli- In the contemporary digital age, social van, Glassman, Kamp Dush, & Sullivan, media use is embedded in family life in the 2012), scholars have also considered the global North (Lupton, Pedersen, & Thom- lack of children’s agency in managing their as, 2016). Through a circular process of digital footprints (Supple Bartels, 2015). In media domestication by which family and this sense, it has been stressed the role of the media shape each other (Silverstone, parents as children’s personal information 2005), families incorporate social media gatekeepers (Steinberg, 2016) who play an sharing in their daily routines by posting agentive role in deciding about their off- representations of their members on the spring’s online privacy. Ammari, Kumar, Web (Holloway & Green, 2017). In this Lampe and Schoenebeck (2015) found context, Sharenting, or the act of “sharing that within the nuclear family, mothers representations about one’s parenting or do most of the online disclosure manage- children online” (Blum-Ross & Living- ment work, by setting explicit and implicit stone, 2017, p. 110), has become a usual rules for relatives and friends – especially habit for families (Livingstone, Blum- grandparents – on whether and what to Ross, & Zhang, 2018). A growing body of share online about their children, with the research on the topic has developed in aim of deﬁning boundaries between inter- the past few years, focusing mostly on acting systems. Thus, although Sharenting mothers sharing photos of the offspring seems to be motivated by the desire to stay on social media (Kumar & Schoenebeck, in touch with other family members, par- 2015). While the literature on the topic ents do care about being the ones in con- highlighted beneﬁts associated with this trol of this practice. Such an endeavor is in practice in terms of increased sense of line with communication privacy manage-

https://doi.org/10.24434/j.scoms.2020.02.003 © 2020, the authors. This work is licensed under the “Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial – NoDerivatives 4.0 International” license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). 182 Cino & Dalledonne Vandini / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 181–202 ment theory (Petronio, 2002), according to site of research to investigate how parents which families erect metaphorical privacy themselves define and describe these di- boundaries to draw a line with the outside lemmatic situations, in their own words. A world. According to systems theory, then, purposive sample of 38 discussion threads different degrees of boundaries can result and 1224 comments, specifically focusing in different levels of systemic differenti- on tensions between DILs and MILs con- ations (Minuchin, 1974). When parents cerning children’s social media presence, guard their children’s online presence, pri- was thematically analyzed. The original vacy stewardship is enacted as the respon- contribution of this work rests on its un- sibility they “take on when deciding what derstanding social media quandaries as is appropriate to share about their chil- a potential source of family communica- dren online and ensuring that family and tion issues to be considered by commu- friends respect and maintain the integrity nication, child and family studies scholars of those rules” (Kumar & Schoenebeck, when investigating contemporary families 2015, p. 1310). As children get in touch with and their systemic relationships. other people from different systems who may have different photo-sharing preferences compared to the family (Autenrieth, 2 Literature review 2018), such a negotiation becomes pivotal to guarantee parents an appropriate level This section reports on relevant literature of control. This may be the case of grand- to frame our work. First, a review of stud- parents sharing about their grandchildren ies on the governance of children’s social online without parents’ consent, engaging media presence is provided. Following, in “grand-sharenting” (Damkjaer, 2018). pertinent frameworks concerning systems The emotional valence of grandparents theory (Minuchin, 1974) and communica- using social media to see photos of their tion privacy management theory (Petro- grandchildren has been documented nio, 2002) will be briefly explained. Finally, in the literature (Ivan & Hebblethwaite, the rationale behind our choice to focus 2016). Little research, though, has inves- on dialectical tensions between DILs and tigated dilemmatic situations stemming MILs will be supported reporting on relat- from boundary crossing having to do with ed empirical studies. grandparents themselves sharing about grandchildren online. 2.1 Managing children’s social media In the realm of family dilemmas, re- presence: A matter of agency search supports that violating boundar- Children’s social media presence starts ies is a main source of dialectical tensions well before they are born, with ultrasound between the nuclear and the extended sharing marking the first step in the con- family, especially with the in-laws (Dan- struction of a child’s online identity (Leav- ielsbacka, Tanskanen, & Rotkirch 2017). In er, 2018). Bartholomew et. al (2012) found particular, it has been sustained that when that 79 % of new mothers and 76 % of new it comes to poor boundary regulations, the fathers had uploaded photos of the off- most difficult in-law relationship is the spring on Facebook in the U.S., mostly on one between daughters- and mothers-in- a monthly basis. A large-scale quantitative law (henceforth DILs and MILs; see Fisch- study in the U.K. found that three in four er, 1983). parents who access the internet monthly This paper builds on a broader project share photos or videos of their children, studying digital dilemmas parents expe- with little gender differences (Livingstone rience concerning their children’s digital et al., 2018). According to the same study, footprints, focusing on the dialectical ten- parents’ photo-sharing frequency about sions experienced by DILs and MILs when the offspring with close family and friends the latter violates mothers’ expectations has an inverse relationship with the child’s about their offspring’s online presence. To age, reaching a peak with children un- this end, a parenting forum was used as a der four. Sharing tend to decrease as a Cino & Dalledonne Vandini / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 181–202 183 child grows into adolescence, possibly as of the user is central. There is a presump- a request from the child himself / herself tion that identity should be controlled, cu- (Livingstone et al., 2018). In this regard, rated and managed by the self in question” scholars have argued that early childhood, (Leaver, 2015, p. 151). As the boundaries in particular, is a critical site of datafi- between the parents’ and the child’s self cation for children (Mascheroni, 2018a), can blur when sharing about the offspring which is “the ability to transform almost (Blum-Ross & Livingstone, 2017), parents every aspect of social life into online data” end up becoming agents of their chil- (Mascheroni, 2018b, p. 517). Taken togeth- dren’s social media presence. Thus, up to er, these data support that sharing pictures the point where children’s themselves can of children on social media is a common start to express their opinions about Sha- habit for parents today in the global North. renting (Ouvrein & Verswijvel, 2019), it’s Sharenting, however, comes less parents who control the child’ self and its light-heartedly than what it seems, as par- extension online. ents reported grappling with digital dilem- Governing the child’s relationship mas concerning their children’s privacy with media, however, is not new. In turn, online (Chalklen & Anderson, 2017). This the idea of a “good enough parent” who suggests that mothers and fathers are not pays attention to the child’s experience of naïve about their children’s online pres- media and technology in the household ence, which in turn becomes an issue to continues to function as a cultural mod- deal with in the digital home, where some- el, defining specific parenting roles and times “anti-sharenting” positions are tak- moral identities (Caronia, 2010). The his- en (Autenrieth, 2018). Ammari et al. (2015) tory of parents’ concerns over the use of found that, while both fathers and moth- new technology and media is a long one ers are involved in curating their children’s in family life (Wartella & Jennings, 2001). online presence, mothers take the lead “in As technology and media are rooted in the doing the work of posting content online, lives of contemporary families (Wartella, as well as managing disclosure about their Rideout, Lauricella, & Connell, 2014) the children” (p. 1902), which also involves expectations for parents to be involved in setting boundaries with third parties in their children’s media consumption con- the form of photo-sharing rules. The au- tinue to be high (Blum-Ross & Livingstone, thors conceptualize this responsibility as a 2016). Such an effort, we argue, can be un- new gendered domestic labor for mothers. derstood within the intensive parenting In this case, managing boundaries means ideology (Shirani, Henwood, & Coltart, assuring parents’ agentive role. 2012), a Western childrearing philoso- Agency has been conceptualized in phy holding parents – especially mothers terms of “people’s beliefs about their capa- (Hays, 1998) – accountable for their chil- bilities to exercise control over events that dren’s lives, including their relationship affect their lives” (Bandura, 1989, p. 1175). with technology. This concept is particularly appropriate In the realm of social media, all of this here, as adults sharing representations of translates in new efforts parents are ex- children online who are too young to con- pected to make to protect their children’s sent themselves do, de facto, act as chil- data and privacy online (Livingstone, Stoi- dren’s proxy even when they have not a say lova, & Nandagiri, 2018). Having adults as in, nor sometimes an understanding of the third-parties sharing about children on- process. While many actors can record de- line, though, represents a peculiar case tails of children online (Lupton & William- per se. When it is other people who share son, 2017), parents play, to different ex- about children, their online presence be- tents, the dual role of not only narrators of comes passive, calling for the responsibil- their children’s lives, but also personal in- ity of the adults who are doing the sharing formation gatekeepers (Steinberg, 2016). to manage possible risks and safeguard As Leaver states, when posting online “the their privacy online. Not only, though, is shared presumption […] is that the agency the current generation of parents probably 184 Cino & Dalledonne Vandini / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 181–202 the last one who stepped into the online tionally setting rules about what to share realm autonomously (Autenrieth, 2018), online and who can access their accounts but this also means that when it comes to (Sharaievska & Stodolska, 2015). When it children’s social media presence contem- is other people who share contents about porary parents cannot rely on their own their children online without consent, experiences with traditional media, nor most parents get frustrated because of this on their own parents’ knowledge (Leaver, boundary crossing (Smith, 2014). 2015). In turn, new cultural models (Hol- The extended family – including both land & Quinn, 1987) are currently in the the family of origins and in-laws – rep- making, stemming from dilemmatic ex- resents an important system connected periences where parents do, indeed, ques- to the nuclear family (Fingerman & Hay, tion their online sharing habits (Blum- 2002). At the same time, building on the Ross & Livingstone, 2017). As an example concept of family boundaries ambiguity of that is the privacy / openness paradox, (Boss & Greenberg, 1984) – or a state of where mothers who share about their chil- non-clarity about who belongs to the fam- dren on Facebook are happy to do so, but ily system – the extended family has been also worried as they recognize potential considered part of an external system due hazards caused by their sharing behav- to different patterns of interaction be- ior and tend to rely on a risk-benefit ratio tween members (Sharaievska & Stodolska, evaluation to regulate their photo-sharing 2015). On this basis, while we do recognize experience (Chalklen & Anderson, 2017). the extended family – specifically here, the However, this assessment still implies the mother-in-law of the child’s mother – as agency of the parent in deciding what kind being part of a circle close to the nuclear of behavior can be considered acceptable family, we refer in this study to the figure of or not online. It follows from here that oth- the MIL as a member of a system that, al- er sources of dilemmas can generate from though expected to be part of a child’s life, members of systems external to the nucle- is external to the nuclear family. ar family, like grandparents, posting about Systems theory (Minuchin, 1974) pos- grandchildren online. Even if well inten- its that clear boundaries function as rules tioned, occurrences like this can collide aimed at fostering a neat systemic differ- with parents’ expectations about social entiation by defining who, and to what media privacy, causing boundary viola- extent, participates in a system. Diffuse tions and asking for reparative courses of boundaries, in turn, can cause a situation action to be taken. of enmeshment where systems tend to tan- gle up and the different needs and values 2.2 Managing family’s privacy boun- of different members are difficult to dis- daries: Lessons from systems tinguish (e.g. online privacy orientations). theory and communication privacy When it comes to making decisions about management theory children’s social media presence, parents According to Webb and colleagues (2015) may want to be the ones setting rules for a peculiar characteristic of social media is members of other systems surrounding that they afford boundary crossing in their the child to respect (Ammari et al., 2015), own design for the opportunity offered marking clear boundaries that, if crossed, to users to share contents not only about could cause systemic enmeshment and themselves but also others. In the realm of relational tensions. This could be the case family relations, new media contributes when a MIL shares about one’s grandchild to “a redefinition of rules in relationships, online without parents’ consent. particularly with whom we share partic- Communication privacy management ular information and manage emerging theory (CPM; Petronio, 2002) provides a boundary issues” (Hertlein, 2012, p. 377). good framework to further conceptualize When using social media, families try to boundary violations when it comes to so- preserve clear boundaries between them- cial media privacy. To this respect, three selves and the world outside, conversa- main CPM’s tenets well explain the way Cino & Dalledonne Vandini / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 181–202 185 people manage boundaries of personal the more diffused Gerede (i. e. “idle talk”, information between interacting systems. Heidegger, 1996) as narrated in cultur- Privacy ownership, according to which al and media representations, but also in people believe they own their personal empirical literature. Studies support that information and think they are the ones the likelihood for dialectical tensions over who can decide to grant access to selected boundary issues are higher with parents- “co-owners”. Privacy control, which further in-law than parents of origins, especially indicates that even when granting access between DILs and MILs (Danielsbacka to third parties, people still feel they are et al., 2017). Scholars claim that this may the ones regulating their privacy. Finally, be due to different family cultures / history when boundary conflicts take place – in- and because of MILs’ higher involvement tended as situations where there is a dis- than other in-laws with their sons’ families crepant coordination of privacy ideals be- (Fingerman & Hay, 2002). According to the tween parties – privacy turbulence occurs, triangular theory of in-law relationships where people feel co-owners have violated (Duck & Kirkpatrick, 2006), these connec- their boundary expectations. Turbulence, tions are characterized by the presence of in turn, calls for solutions to be taken on a linchpin (i. e. the family member creat- the part of the owner to claim first-lev- ing the in-law relationship), the spouse of el ownership, leading either to relational the linchpin (e.g. the DIL), and the relative damage or improvement (Steuber & Mc- of the linchpin (e.g. the MIL). The in-law Laren, 2015). relationship is probably the weakest link Several studies have used CPM stress- of the triad due to its involuntary nature ing the fuzzy dimension of online privacy (Morr Serewicz, 2008). Several factors have as known and unknown users may have been linked to relational issues between access to the posted contents (Child & DILs and MILs, such as an intrusive be- Starcher, 2016). For the purpose of this havior of MILs in DILs’ family life and their study we will focus on circumstances criticizing DILs’ childrearing practices, where third-parties share about other peo- which can result in more boundary viola- ple’s children online, making privacy deci- tions (Fischer, 1983). Issues managing in- sions that collide with their own agency tergroup boundaries are at the heart of in- causing privacy ownership violations (De- law relationships (Rittenour & Soliz, 2009), groot & Vik, 2017). We interpret these pre- with implications on marital satisfaction dicaments as an extension of family priva- concerning the way these matters are ad- cy dilemmas which “call into question the dressed (Bryant, Conger, & Meehan, 2001). way boundaries are usually regulated both In fact, agreement between DILs and hus- within the family and to outsiders”, asking bands in managing boundaries with the families “to cope with situations where MIL is linked to successful relationships, there may be too much permeability” while having the husband siding with the (Petronio, Jones, & Morr, 2003, pp. 24, 29) MIL or not taking a position can cause ten- and systems can get enmeshed in terms sion (Rittenour & Kellas, 2015). of privacy values and expectations. The Little is known, though, about predic- next section will look at how such a state of aments stemming from cases of bound- boundary entanglement can occur within ary violations due to MILs posting about the MIL-DIL systemic relationship. grandchildren online, nor how they can impact the relationships between parents 2.3 The specificity of dialectical tensions as members of the nuclear family sup- between mothers- and daughters-in- posed to cohesively set boundaries with law interacting systems. Also, mothers play The focus of this paper on the relation- the role of gatekeepers in regulating not ship between DILs and MILs is motivated only their children’s social media presence by the fact that it can be one of the most (Ammari et al., 2015) but also the relation- problematic in family life. According to ship of the child with extended family / in- Rittenour (2012) this is evident not only in laws (Fagan & Barnett, 2003). As such, this 186 Cino & Dalledonne Vandini / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 181–202 contribution looks at the dialectical ten- popular parenting forum online (Lupton sions experienced by DILs and MILs when et al., 2016). According to the website in- the latter violates mothers’ boundaries of formation page, it reaches over 50 million their offspring’s online presence, and how parents all over the world, with seven in these dilemmas impact family relation- ten new and expectant mothers using it ships. monthly in the United States.1 A content analysis of the website (Jang & Dworkin, 2012) found that most members are moth- 3 Studying social media dilemmas ers of 20–30 years of age, and that conver- online sations concern areas such as pregnancy and labor, issues related to the baby, and The broader ongoing project this paper personal and common problems concern- is part of explores social media dilemmas ing parenting challenges. (SMDs) parents experience about their The choice of using a parenting forum children’s social media presence and pri- as a site of research was motivated by three vacy (Blum-Ross & Livingstone, 2007; main assumptions. First, the literature Chalklen & Anderson, 2017). As Petronio supports that these platforms can be good et al. (2003) claim, the peculiarity of di- sources of data collection with respect to lemmas is that, unlike issues, they do not several topics, like pregnancy (Cappelli- rely on a binary choice between right and ni & Yen, 2016), birth (Das, 2017), or health wrong, but reflect “situations in which choices (Hookway, Elmer, & Frandsen, there are conflicts between multiple values 2017). Second, online discussion sites and interests, in which actors are uncer- have been shown to generate good qual- tain about appropriate courses of action to ity natural data (Smith, Bulbul, & Jones, take” (Petronio et al., 2003, p. 29). A specif- 2017). Third, they build on other users’ re- ic characteristic of SMDs associated with sponsiveness to engender rich discussions children’s online presence is that they are (Holtz, Kronberger, & Wagner, 2012). Giv- brand new, thus parents may find themen the exploratory nature of this study, this selves disoriented when dealing with them approach was considered appropriate, as and look for advice. it allowed us to investigate dilemmas that In today’s family life the Web plays an parents deemed disorienting (see Me- important role to support parents in the zirow, 1991) in terms of possible courses global North – especially mothers – via on- of action, and thus worth discussing. Also, line communities of advice (Lupton et al., by studying natural data on a parenting fo- 2016). Advice, “by its very nature, responds rum we were able to see how SMDs are ex- to some kind of dilemma” (Blum-Ross & perienced, understood, and co-construct- Livingstone, 2016, p. 12). In this regard, ed not only by the original posters, but also scholars have been studying parenting fo- recipients taking part in the conversation. rums as sites where parents can find / pro- In an age where social media and digi- vide social and emotional support, nor- tal technology are embedded in family life, malize their experience and address scholars have called for more evidence to questions they would not address else- explore “how boundaries around technol- where thanks to an environment affording ogy are formed, maintained, and adjust- anonymity (Brady & Guerin, 2010). This is ed” (Sun & McMillan, 2018, p. 182). The in line with the hyper-personal model of present contribution seeks to investigate interpersonal communication (Walther, how boundaries of children’s social media 1996, 2007), according to which Computer presence are understood and experienced Mediated Communication may allow peo- within interacting systems, with regard to ple to engage in more meaningful interac- the relationship between MILs and DILs. tions than those occurring Face to Face. Data for this project were collected from the United States-based Baby- 1 Available at: https://www.babycenter.com/ Center community, as one of the most about. Cino & Dalledonne Vandini / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 181–202 187

As such, this study is guided by the follow- of her born / unborn child / children on so- ing exploratory research questions: cial media. Although several threads con- › RQ1: How do mothers frame dilemmas cerned even other in-laws and members with MILs concerning their children’s of the extended family sharing about the social media presence? child, informed by the literature on MIL- › RQ2: What solutions to these dilemmas DIL’s dialectical tensions (Rittenour, 2012) are discursively proposed and co-con- and consistently with this paper’s research structed? questions, we narrowed our focus to dis- › RQ3: What impact can SMDs have on cussions exclusively focusing on MILs. This family systemic relationships, with par- led to a final sub-sample of 38 threads and ticular regard to the DIL-MIL-Husband a total of 1224 comments, posted between triad? 2014 and 2018. The number of comments per thread ranged from 5 to 95 (M = 32.21; 3.1 Data sampling and analysis SD = 21.98). Mothers dealt with these di- Data for this project were collected from lemmas either during pregnancy or after the BabyCenter-Community forum, a the child was born. When children’s age public area of the website. Being our focus was reported, this was in the early child- on mothers talking about posting pho- hood stage. All the posters self-identified tos or information of children on social as women either with usernames or in the media, the forum was searched for in- comments. stances of threads related to our topic of In line with perspectivism (Cornish, inquiry using a string of keyword search Gillespie, & Zittoun, 2013) we tried to terms. A sequentially top-down data col- bring a diversity of outlooks to the analy- lection method followed (Eriksson & sis by iteratively coding the data with the Salzmann-Erikson, 2013), where the first help of a research assistant. Also, we have 150 pages of results were screened for tried to constructively discuss our inter- considerations (1500 threads). Thus, we pretative biases, while seeking to embrace filtered all the discussions to select those a “hermeneutic of suspicion” (Ricoeur, in line with our study, dealing with shar- 1970). Given the exploratory nature of ing about children on social media. We this study, we opted for an inductive found many threads dealing with ques- coding approach to investigate common tions about sharing not only pictures of themes among discussion threads and children themselves, but also sonograms, comments (Boyatzis, 1998). The units of status updates on pregnancy, labor, etc. analysis were the single posts within the Because these types of postings constitute threads, while keeping track of their con- the online “social worlds of the unborn” versational evolution. First, the principal marking the beginning of his / her online investigator and the research assistant presence (Lupton, 2013), we decided to read through threads independently ap- include them in our sample, expanding plying initial codes to the data (Saldaña, our focus toward a holistic investigation 2009). The resulting list of codes was re- of children’s social media presence as it vised comparing same units of analysis evolves over time. The final broader sam- to look for correspondences and resolve ple of threads concerned either mothers’ discrepancies (Campbell, Quincy, Os- own sharing behavior or other people shar- serman, & Pedersen, 2013). Following, ing about the original poster’s child (e.g. the initial codes were organized into a grandparents, relatives, etc.). The latter is smaller, patterned number of categories the focus of this contribution. For the pur- (Miles & Huberman, 1994). The develop- pose of this paper, a purposive sub-sam- ing codebook (containing definitions, ex- ple of threads was selected from the main amples, and instructions) was iteratively sample (Palys, 2008), concerning cases of discussed to resolve disagreements. The boundary predicaments where the orig- codebook was then tested by the second inal poster (i. e. the DIL) would complain author, first independently writing analyt- about MIL posting pictures / information ic memos, then further revising it with the 188 Cino & Dalledonne Vandini / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 181–202

first author. Finally, the first and second the female-dominated nature of parenting authors completed a third pass to review forums (Dworkin, Connell, & Doty, 2013) all the threads and make adjustments to and the gendered dimension of these in- the codebook as needed. While our anal- teractions. ysis was exploratory in nature, inductive findings were further conceptualized, de- 3.2 Ethical considerations veloped and organized with respect to our Online data collection rises ethical con- theoretical frameworks. cerns. Many scholars who employed sim- In analyzing these interactions, we ilar approaches did not seek consent when looked at how actors-in-conversation data were publicly available, not protect- framed both the stories being told and ed by password / forum registration, and discussed and the characters of these posters used usernames, as reported in stories (i. e. mothers themselves, other the debate about ethical use of online data actors involved in the stories like chil- (Roberts, 2015). In their guidelines on an- dren, partners, relatives, etc.). According alyzing Internet Forums, Holtz and col- to Goffman (1974) frames are schemata leagues refer to open forums claiming that of interpretation helping people under- “usually, the postings in these forums can stand, organize, and give meaning to ex- be read by everybody. In our view, this jus- periences. Frames are not given once and tifies the consideration of communication for all but are, in turn, re-organized and within such forums as ‘public behavior’” re-constructed through social interac- (2012, p. 57). Further evaluating privacy tion (Bercelli, 1999). Online interpersonal concerns, though, was pivotal to us. communication fosters the production of The legitimacy for researchers to col- mediated frameworks of reference (Das, lect public data on online forums, in fact, 2017) as lenses through which looking at has been questioned since the very begin- and (re)interpreting the social world and ning of the World Wide Web. King (1996) one’s personal life. Through the meso- stressed the importance of reflecting on level of interaction (see Formenti, 2012) the ethics of online research thoroughly taking place on parenting forums, people in order to do no harm to posters, prob- can communally make sense of and inter- lematizing the opportunity for research- pret their experiences, while constructing ers to just collect and analyze data with- and attaching meaning to them. In this out giving ethics some serious thoughts. sense, this work looks at the discursive In an effort to offer scholars in the late products of online conversations between 1990s guidelines to orient themselves, parents as a form of social construction the author focused on two broad dimen- where not only dilemmatic events are dis- sions to take into account when evaluating cussed, but the social and moral identities whether and how collecting data online: of the “characters” of these events are also group accessibility and perceived privacy. constructed (Orletti, 2000). According to the author, researchers need In reporting our findings we recognize to evaluate whether the group is accessible that being this an exploratory study where (e.g. with no registration) and to what ex- researchers worked with a non-proba- tent posters perceive their conversations bilistic sample of natural data and had as private (possibly by asking them direct- no involvement in their production, and ly). Such an approach was later support- given the anonymous nature of these ined by Marx (1998) who stressed the need teractions not allowing to get more con- for informed consent when using natural textual information about these posters online data. In his “netnography” frame- than those already shared, our approach work for online research, Kozinets (2002) was limited. These limitations can be tack- claims that researchers should always dis- led by adopting different methodologies close their presence when studying online in future research, as will be discussed interactions. While such a framework can in the conclusions. Also, in interpreting certainly be appropriate when studying these results it is important to recognize private online communication (where one Cino & Dalledonne Vandini / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 181–202 189 can assume there is a high expectation Hons, Fowler, Brown and Hons (2014), or of privacy), some scholars state it is too Hine (2014). Informed by these scholars strict if applied to public communication and the abovementioned guidelines, we as well. As an example, Sugiura, Wiles, and only studied already existing discussions, Pope (2017) report on their experience publicly accessible (i. e. no needing reg- where trying to contact posters to ask for istration / password / authorization to be consent was extremely challenging, lead- retrieved), asynchronous, and archived as ing them to claim that “the convention no longer active at the time of collection. that all research participants should give As other researchers make the case for (see full and free consent to participating in Das, 2017; Whiteman, 2012) this made get- research is, in the online context, neither ting in touch with posters virtually imprac- possible nor necessary” (p. 195). People ticable. conversating online have been reported Evaluating posters’ perceived privacy to react badly when researchers disclosed was challenging. While, on the one hand, their presence, as it was the case for Hud- Eysenbach and Till (2001) argue that post- son and Bruckman (2004) in their obser- ing publicly doesn’t necessarily mean that vation of chatroom conversations. It is posters are consenting to their statements however important to stress that archived being collected, on the other, when focus- asynchronous conversation on public fo- ing on public communication occurring rums and synchronous interaction in a in public areas of a forum “the multiparty chatroom cannot be easily compared: ac- and anonymous nature of Internet forums cording to the AoIR (2002), the former is means that contributors can expect their more public than the latter. When working posts to be read by strangers. In fact […] with archived and no longer active conver- when reading Internet posts, it becomes sations as we did, we argue, researchers clear that contributors orient toward ad- are not really taking part in the interaction, dressing a group of strangers” (Jowett, nor really “lurking” or acting in disguise, as 2015, p. 289). As such, we decided to col- the conversation has in fact already taken lect and analyze these data, checking all place in a moment in time that does not the excerpts we used on the Google search coincide with the one when data are being engine to control their traceability as a fur- collected and analyzed (like it may very ther step to safeguard anonymity (Smed- well be the case when recording live cha- ley & Coulson, 2018). trooms). The debate on ethical use of online data is currently open and no agreement 4 Findings and discussions has been reached. As such, researchers may face dilemmas in deciding whether and In order to address our research questions, how – if at all – treating such data. A choice we organize our findings as follow: first, we needed to be made on our part as well. describe what type of SMDs mothers expe- According to the Association of In- rience and how they feel about it. Then, ternet Researchers scholars should make we describe how posters conceptualize situational decisions and not along bina- the roles of: the MIL as the subject of the ry lines (Markham & Buchanan, 2012). As in-laws triad causing the boundary cross- such, we thoroughly looked at published ing and dialectical tensions; the mother as scholarship focusing on the same or simi- the one looking for a solution to get back lar forums. While studying the BabyCenter control and protect her child’s online pres- forum following the steps listed in Brady ence; the husband as a third party whose and Guerin (2010) and Reid (1996), Jang behavior can foster or hinder systemic dif- and Dworkin (2012) did not seek consent. ferentiation and define or not the nucle- Neither did Milne, Weijs, Haines-Saah and ar family as a higher level system when it McLaren (2017), Pedersen and Smith- comes to choosing about children’s social son (2013), Pedersen and Lupton (2018), media presence. Das (2017), Whiteman (2012), Appleton, 190 Cino & Dalledonne Vandini / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 181–202

4.1 “How on earth does one manage relied on implicit rules thinking that this?” – The disorienting nature of knowing not to post about other people’s social media dilemmas children “should be common knowledge The overarching characteristic of the ope- to everyone regarding kid photos.” Con- ning posts in all the 38 threads was the sistent with previous studies, such occur- presence of a SMD caused by a boundary rences show that sometimes people lean crossing perpetuated by the MIL, which on a dimension of common sense when not would cause the mother to lose agency in stating clear privacy boundaries with fam- controlling the digital narrative about her ily and friends (Steuber & McLaren, 2015). child online. We classified these violations Additionally, both pre- and post-birth vi- as either pre- or post-birth. Pre-birth vio- olations were in the forms of what Deg- lations (n = 16) encompass occurrences root and Vik (2017) defined as pre-emptive where MILs shared about the unborn, by disclosure violations – where MILs shared disclosing information concerning either something mothers would have posted the pregnancy status of the mother, gen- later – or discrepancy breaches of privacy – der reveal, and / or the labor. This pregnant where contents that were not supposed to mother’s narrative is an example of that: end up online were shared. Associated with these types of viola- I’m due April 22, and in the past 24 hours, MIL tions are the respective dilemmas stem- has posted four different statuses or com- ming from mothers not knowing how to ments referring to the fact that she has ‘less address these predicaments. This was ev- than 22 days’ to meet her grandson. This ir- ident in their words indicating doubts on ritates me to no end because I’ve told her so appropriate steps to take, as these posters many times that the 22 is my due date and go- stressed: ing over is not just a possibility, but very likely. […] She doesn’t listen and continues posting I wanted to pick others’ brains and see if I’m about meeting him in less than 22 days. just overreacting and should just grin and bear it or if it’s something that needs another conversation. Post-birth violations (n = 22), in turn, involve sharing pictures of grandchildren I keep questioning what the right course of online after they are born and during their action is. daily life, which were either sent to the MILs by parents privately, captured with a screenshot from parents’ social media, In this regard, several mothers stressed or snapped by MILs themselves. As these how “Social media is a blessing and a mothers state: curse” because of a set of new potential issues parents are not properly equipped My MIL is obsessed with Facebook. When she to face. As this poster states, “the world is was here for a week after he was born she took so different from when I was a kid, it’s hard a million pictures and posted ALL of them. to know what the new norm is and what is safe,” stressing the brand-new peculiar My MIL’s pic is currently a picture of my dimension of SMDs for contemporary daughter that has never been on social me- families. dia. It is one of her monthly milestone photos sent to family because they asked. I just find it 4.2 “Why is it always MILs?” – Construc- weird and it bugs me because it is not some- ting the “boundary stomper” thing I have posted. Both original posters and commenters identified the MIL as the source of the turbulence (Petronio, 2002) causing the di- In line with CPM (Petronio, 2002) either lemma. One peculiar characteristic across parents established boundaries preven- posts was a differentiation between the tively by setting explicit rules, or they Cino & Dalledonne Vandini / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 181–202 191 members of the family of origin and the She’s thrilled, and maybe she doesn’t realize MIL, as these excerpts exemplify: how upset you are. Does she know how to use privacy settings? […] go easy when you talk to As soon as my MIL gets a photo of her grand- her, but do clarify your concerns, she may not children she posts it on Facebook and I just be aware! feel offended that she didn’t give us a chance to post our own child. My own mom is the She might not even get why you feel this way complete opposite she hates nosy people so or the dangers of social media. Can’t blame she won’t post anything for a while herself. her if she doesn’t know I guess.

My parents also ask us to send them photos we would be comfortable being included [on A common idea was that such a naivety online photo-albums] vs. MIL who just does was due to generational reasons, like this whatever she wants. DIL who describes her MIL as “an older over-sharer (i. e. not digital native who understands how the internet is forever and Marking this difference discursively fra- not the same as real life) who has no un- med the MIL as a “boundary stomper”, derstanding of online safety.” Such an idea whose nature was recurrently reinforced recalls that older generations can actually by other posters taking part in the conver- experience more privacy predicaments sation to stress this commonality of expe- due to less knowledge and skills (Child & rience. As these mothers state: Petronio, 2011). The malicious MIL was the most re- Is your Mil my Mil?? I literally had this same curring frame and defines a figure who exact issue with mine. She was always sharing wittingly violates boundaries and whose my posts, and even started tagging herself in behavior can be anticipated due to a com- pictures of my son. monality of traits and previous experiences of boundary stomping. She is described [...] do we have the same mother in law? as someone who “has zero respect”, “likes to test boundaries” and “wants to feel like she has power” even when it comes Consistently with the literature on dia- to children’s social media presence, as an lectical tensions between DILs and MILs, extension of other dialectical issues. The posters tried to make sense of the bound- interactional patterns that discursively ary crossing by relying on a set of attribu- constructed this figure were marked by tions that would explain MIL’s behavior their strong realism: for their very nature, (Rittenour & Kellas, 2015). We found that MILs are defined as figures who will cross MILs’ social media conduct was framed (social media) boundaries. As an example as either naïve, malicious, or pathological, of that, let us focus on a mother’s pre-birth following a differential degree of problema- violation experience, whose MIL shared tization. the baby’s gender reveal on Facebook. The The less problematic figure was the DIL is now afraid she is going to do the naïve Mil. These occurrences show post- same with birth announcement, stealing ers making sense of the boundary crossing her the opportunity to be the one to do referring to affective reasons and lack of it in her own terms (i. e. sharing the news digital skills. Despite being bothered, DILs only with close friends a couple of days af- would explain MIL’s posting behavior as ter the birth to take time to bond with the motivated by a desire to show her excite- child). As in other occurrences, posters an- ment for the grandchild, without though ticipated MIL’s behavior calling for specific being able to recognize / understand po- courses of actions on the part of the DIL to tential harms or parents’ desire of agency. tackle the issue: As these posters stressed: 192 Cino & Dalledonne Vandini / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 181–202

She WILL post on Facebook whether you want 4.3 Being a Good mother, safeguarding her to or not. As soon as she finds out it will be the Child: solutions to restore agency on Facebook. Talk to her now. She WILL steal According to Petronio (2002), when faced your announcement. She WILL argue with with privacy predicaments people react you that it was her right as the grandmother to get back control. Experiencing a SMD, to do so. though, entails that there are doubts on appropriate courses of action to take, which led these mothers to ask for advice Saying that the MIL “WILL” post on Face- on how to restore parental agency. A com- book deterministically typifies her behav- mon premise throughout all of the threads ior as something predictable, by using lan- was a superiority of the mother over the guage as a means to discursively construct MIL justifying her desire to control, which a problematic figure. Thus, the malicious was exemplified by the overly recurrent ex- MIL was framed as fully responsible for pression “Your kid, your rule”. As this post- the boundary violations, with posters at- er claims: tributing this to selfish motivations that are linearly explained, in their words, by You’re the mom, you get to say what about MIL’s attitude to cross boundaries. your child is shared on social media, nobody Finally, the pathological MIL was a else! borderline figure who – despite being rare – represents the most problematized one. She was defined as “crazy” and “in Such a position was also supported by need of mental help” and emerged in dis- those who did not agree with mothers’ ap- cussions where MILs were framed as too prehensions, as this poster stressing that: involved in parents’ family life. As this poster claims: Even if I don’t share your worries, you’re definitely not wrong for feeling the way you do. She’s harvesting photos so she can feed her You’re the mom, you make the decisions. emotional dysfunction. This enmeshment and obsession is not normal or okay. The agentive role mothers want to play, and their emotional reactions of anger and For example, after being asked to remove distrust were normalized, as in the words pictures of her granddaughter from Face- of this poster: book, a MIL refused because sharing would cause her joy and such a behavior No, you’re not overacting. While it’s not a mat- was framed by posters as deranged due to ter of national security for the country, it’s an her inability to control herself: extremely violating feeling.

She’s basically saying that sharing your kid’s photos is an addiction she can’t control. To some extent, then, such an agentive role was also expected by posters. Such an expectation is in line with the idea that gov- While these ﬁgures are socially and inter- erning the child’s experience with (social) actively constructed (and not necessarily media is proper of a “responsible” parent describe the actual MIL behind posters’ (Caronia, 2010), who in this case needs to words), framing the MIL as a boundary clearly set and reinforce boundaries: “Big stomper called for some tangible solutions girl panties! Firm! Draw the lines and stick for the DIL to take in order to tackle the di- to it.” Framing the “good mother” identity lemma and restore agency. on parenting forum with respect to how to raise a child is not new (Pedersen, 2016). These threads, though, add to the literature the ﬁgure of the good mother who Cino & Dalledonne Vandini / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 181–202 193 actively seeks to manage her child’s digital lating boundaries, commenters suggested footprints on social media as a new pres- several actions to take. These ranged from sure on contemporary motherhood, as in- reporting the posts (e.g. to Facebook) and dicated in this poster’s words: have them taken down, to stop sending her information (concerning the unborn) I feel that it is my job as little guy’s mom to and photos (about the born child) or block look out for his wellbeing, and I personally her access to the mother’s social media feel that this include protecting his privacy where she could get photos and re-post and identity. When he is old enough to make them. Blocking, though, was not always social media decisions for himself, then so perceived as wise, because it would not be it. allow the mother to monitor the MIL’s account, as this poster claims:

In terms of solutions to take, mothers pro- I wouldn’t block her. That would only make it vided a set of advice ranging from more harder for OP (original poster) to see and re- dialogical and open to radical ones. We port any inappropriate photos she uploads to found three main courses of action moth- Facebook from her own camera. ers were advised to take, sometimes based on analogous experiences commenters had themselves: educating the MIL, con- Another suggested solution was to “water- trolling access to photos and information, mark” the photo to control their spreading and relational cut off. online and hold the violators accountable. Educating the MIL entailed opening The general idea here was that the mom a conversation where the DIL would ex- had to step up and set clear online bound- plain her reasons for wanting to have con- aries, regardless of what the MIL would trol of her child’s social media presence, think about it: setting boundaries upfront or remarking and clarify them if violated. Such a solu- She doesn’t have to realize your reasons or tion aims at safeguarding the relationship even understand them. She just has to follow without diminishing the role of the moth- them or face the consequence of never having er. This position recurred when the MIL any photos of your children. was framed as “trainable”. In order to help mothers educate their MILs, commenters recounted personal experiences, provid- Finally, the relational cut off was a des- ed them with possible statements to use perate-times-call-for-desperate-measures to ease the process, and indicated several kind of solution, indicated when the MIL online supporting documents (like articles was deemed to be “untamable” and no on the importance of privacy and social other actions could be effective. In these media rules) to back their claims. As this cases, according to the posters, the best mother states: move for the mother to make was to erect rigid boundaries (Minuchin, 1974) by cut- There are tons of articles about “Facebook ting off the MIL from family life. Such a Etiquette” if you google. I’d ﬁnd one that talks solution was adopted by several mothers about how sharing pics that aren’t yours is who reported to have MILs blatantly ig- rude and send it to MIL. Maybe she’ll get it noring and repeatedly challenging their if she realizes it’s not a you thing, but a fairly rules. As this mother advised: common etiquette rule. If someone is going to be so bold to TELL you that they’ll do something when they know you Controlling access to photos and informa- don’t want it, you should feel no guilt in cut- tion was a common solution to adopt in ting them off. case educating the MIL was not effective. When MIL was seen as intentionally vio- 194 Cino & Dalledonne Vandini / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 181–202

4.4 The role of the husband toward such a clear stance could cause tensions a systemic differentiation between the husband and his own mother and were appreciative of this gesture. Whatever the solution, an overarching One poster who had a fight with her MIL theme concerned the role of the husband sharing pictures of her son without con- in dealing with these predicaments. While sent recounted how her husband was “at the mother was always framed as respon- the forefront in putting her in her place”, sible for her child, posters collectively recognizing how difficult this could be for stressed the importance of “being on the him but still praising his commitment: same page” with the husband when it comes to set boundaries about children’s It breaks my heart for him, but I love that he social media presence. Such an agree- is not running to appease mommy. He has ment was conceptualized in the “two Yes, been absolutely phenomenal, and I have nev- one No rule” indicating that “both parents er been more in love with him than I am right have to agree to something for the baby or now. it doesn’t happen.” Further, the husband was held accountable to face the predicaments with MIL and implement solutions The supportive and collaborator husband, that could restore parental agency and then, was framed as the one who fosters mark what the MIL, as member of an ex- clear boundaries and neat systemic differ- ternal system, could do or not. Depend- entiation. ing on the way the father would deal with The disengaged husband, in turn, mi- these situations, posters conceptualized ni mizes mother’s worries and acts incon- three figures which can be positioned on sistently with the rules she sets. As this a different gradient of systemic differenti- mother who solicited her husband to tell ation: the supportive husband, the disen- MIL not to post about their child reports: gaged husband, and the mom-enmeshed husband. I have tried talking through it multiple times The supportive husband was the one but he doesn’t see the problem. He believes who agreed with the mother in terms of because it’s her first grandchild it’s normal. online boundaries between systems, ready to set and enforce rules as needed. One of the commenters pointed the role played Another mom had her partner make fun by her partner when, during pregnancy, of her, underestimating her concerns: “He she feared her MIL could post something: just chuckled and when I asked him why he smiled he said I’m making a big deal My MIL is ALWAYS on FB and that made me out of nothing.” Several mothers lament- worried she would share something. So my ed that while they tried to control MILs’ husband and I sat her down to discuss this be- posting about their children online by, fore she was born. for example, not providing pictures, the husbands would send them regardless because they saw nothing wrong with it. This In line with previous literature, being on caused feelings of frustration, not only be- the same page when it comes to face (on- cause their perspectives were devalued, line) boundary predicaments was relat- but also because this inconsistency would ed to marital satisfaction (Bryant et al., cause their efforts to be useless and their 2001). Indeed, this type of husband was positions to be taken less seriously. Such described as “amazing” and “always ready behavior would send a contradictory mes- to stand up to MIL”, helping to draw a clear sage in terms of what the nuclear family’s line with the MIL in case of a boundary social media expectations were, as this crossing and affirming the nuclear fami- poster stressed: ly as a first-level system in terms of social media decisions. Mothers recognized that Cino & Dalledonne Vandini / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 181–202 195

You both know who she is and yet your hus- the husband himself. As these comment- band continues to feed her pictures knowing ers state: she’s going to share them far and wide with who even knows who. Stop doing that. It You have a dumb-husband problem not a MIL sends her a very mixed message. You’re telling problem. Does he ignore and dismiss you, her to stop but you’re still giving her access to and your concerns all the time? Or just when what causes the problems. it comes to his mommy? Are you always de- prioritized?

Having the husband not taking the need Why is it more important for your husband to for social media rules seriously, then, kiss his mom’s ass when she DELIBERATELY would cause a situation where boundar- broke a clearly stated parenting rule than to ies between systems concerning this issue protect his son and stand by his wife? could generate confusion and enhance tensions, not only inter- but also intra-sys- temically. This behavior was firmly and Following along this problematization tra- harshly condemned by several posters, jectory, mothers stressed the need for the according to which the husband was being husband to actively support his wife, con- too disrespectful, as this mom claims: sidering social media dilemmas as one of the many cases where members of the nu- You, the mother, have certain reservations re- clear family had to establish clear lines of garding social media and your kids, and he’s demarcation with other systems. As exem- letting these people shit all over your limits plified by these excerpts: and you. Now that he has a baby he has to accelerate the timeline for separating from his parents Lastly, the mom-enmeshed husband was and building adult relationships with bound- defined as a partner unable not to mark per aries and mutual respect. se, but mostly to maintain clear boundaries with the MIL, because of a too intense Relationships with other people – particu- relationship with her causing a systemic larly his mother – need to evolve into a new enmeshment. While these occurrences pattern. were rare, they were intense in terms of posters reactions. As an example of that, here is a suggestive case of a mom whose Conclusions husband she had established clear social media rules with had “a weakness for his This paper has investigated SMDs associat- mother”, not allowing him to reinforce ed with sharing about children online as a these rules with MIL. While the mother source of dialectical tensions between DILs didn’t want him to interrupt relationships and MILs. In doing so, our findings suggest with his mom because of this, she cared that SMDs can be an extension of other about having him back her when reinforc- previous dialectical issues among family ing the social media family’s expectations members, as a new possibility of bound- after the MIL violated them: ary predicaments. Livingstone (2006) points out that in the Western culture pri- I don’t expect him nor do I want him to vacy definitions concern keeping info out comple tely cut her out from his life. I just want of the public domain or controlling which there to be boundaries. personal info is available to who, with particular anxieties surrounding children and the Internet. Questions of children’s privacy This occurrence was overly problematized and parental agency were, in fact, recurrent by other posters who suggested that the in our corpus of data, stressing the role of source of the dilemma was not the MIL but the MIL as a boundary crosser and of the 196 Cino & Dalledonne Vandini / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 181–202

“good” mother trying to restore her agency As these threads focus on social media, we rights. Boundary predicaments, however, can get a sense of how their use can be a don’t happen in a vacuum. While mothers’ new source of parental worries, along with work to manage their children’s online pres- more “traditional” ones that have already ence was almost taken for granted, an ac- been studied on parenting forums, such tive role of the husband was expected and as pregnancy, diet, health, upbringing etc. sometimes required to maintain relational (see Cappellini & Yen, 2016; Das, 2017; satisfaction and to more vigorously enforce Hookway et al., 2017). SMDs, though, are rules concerning the whole nuclear family brand new. As such, the plethora of chal- as a higher-level system compared to other lenges stemming from them can disori- figures – in this case the MIL – from external ent parents who cannot rely on their own interacting systems surrounding the child. experiences with traditional media, nor As posting about children on social on their own parents’ knowledge (Leaver, media is a normalized practice (Leaver, 2015). Discussing these quandaries with 2018), managing children’s digital foot- peers represents one of the ways parents prints can be a complicated effort, where can make sense of and overcome them, matters of agency and privacy intertwine: with online communication fostering it is not only about preventing something the potential activation of hermeneutic from being shared, but being in control of circles (Gadamer, 1975) and the progres- that content. This is all the more true when sive construction of new cultural models making decisions about third parties. In- (Holland & Quinn, 1987). Which is to say deed, when parents share about their chil- that through the collective construction of dren online, and they are too young to give these “mediated frameworks of reference” their consent, this can be conceptualized (Das, 2017) posters, as laypeople, are re- as a first-level loss of agency, with respect inforcing and (de)constructing models of to the subject whose photo / information conduct concerning social media priva- is shared about. Because parents play the cy and boundaries, sharing problems for agentive role of making decisions for their which solutions and courses of actions are children’s online presence (Ammari et al., sought and discussed, and moral identities 2015), a second-level loss of agency occurs are framed (e.g. the “good” mother in a so- when people external to the nuclear family cial media age). Not only can these frame- (e.g. the MIL) share about the child with- works of reference be of help for those out parents’ consent. We conceptualize parents who actually took part in the con- this occurrence as indicative of a double versations, but also for those who lurked loss of agency, where both the child and (i. e. read without taking part) or will read the parents lose control of the process (for them in the future because they’re facing other examples of such an occurrence see similar dilemmas. As cultural models are Cino & Dalledonne Vandini, 2020). realized through pattern of daily behavior By offering accounts of daily lives, and expressed through language and com- these natural occurring data allowed us to munication (Holland & Quinn, 1987), this explore how social media is so integrated in storage of daily experiences can function family life to the extent where new dilem- as a potential resource for parents to use matic situations can arise from their use when trying to make sense of SMDs. not only by members of the nuclear family, As every source of data, though, this but also other figures who make decisions one as well comes with several limitations about children’s digital footprints. As Ped- that need to be addressed. While analyzing ersen and Lupton (2018) make the case online interactions occurring between us- for, investigating online threads on par- ers allowed us to take a close look at their enting forums helps researchers to focus meaning-making processes, background on predicaments that posters felt a need information was hard to identify, as well as to discuss strong enough “to initiate such the broader context of these posters. Still, a thread, in the knowledge that it may be given its qualitative nature, we looked at read by thousands of other people” (p. 59). and were more concerned with particu- Cino & Dalledonne Vandini / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 181–202 197 larity rather than generalizability of find- want to leave online (Ouvrein & Verswijvel, ings (Creswell, 2014). Future research can 2019). Future investigations, though, could build on these findings and put them into expand these findings by also considering context with self-report methods. Quali- children’s perspectives on grandparents tative studies could help to explore more and other adults posting about them on in-depth how parents deal with these and social media. similar predicaments with other family Finally, because we focused on the members. As posters may reveal partial or United States section of BabyCenter, this inaccurate information about themselves dataset is more likely to reflect North or their children online, the nature of on- American perspectives and experiences, line data can pose challenges in terms of which should not be generalized to other reaching a broader understanding of this cultures and geographical areas. According phenomenon. This makes the effort to ex- to CPM, in fact, culture is a staple variable pand these findings with other qualitative to consider when studying experiences of approaches relevant to allow for a deeper boundary turbulence (Petronio, 2002). interaction between researchers and in- In spite of their limitations, our find- terviewees. Facilitating rapport during in- ings can inform communication, child depth interviews, in fact, may foster a rela- and family studies scholars as well as tionship of trust and thus truthfulness of practitioners concerned with more gen- the findings (Duncombe & Jessop, 2012). eral family communication issues families Quantitative analysis would provide can face in their everyday life. To this end, an estimate of the breadth of this phenom- it is pivotal to keep in mind that parents enon. Also, in the realm of family commu- may want to be the ones making decisions nication issues, several variables could be about whether and how to represent their taken into account to better understand children on social media. When address- these predicaments, such as the quality ing SMDs it is also important to recognize and characteristics of the relationship be- their potential disorienting nature, and tween MILs and DILs, the number of years that no easy solutions exist, especially of relationship, the age of the child, as well when dealing with other family members. as that of parents and grandparents. In this SMDs can constitute a new extension of sense, future research may want to inves- previous family privacy predicaments, tigate whether these experiences are more expanding the realm of potential dialec- common with younger or older children, tical tensions within the family. As such, and if the age of the MILs and the par- new forms of communication and online ents contributes to them. As it is the case sharing represents a new arena to study in when working with natural data on online the realm of family communication. Clear forums, we were not able to know demo- boundaries between systems, agreement graphics characteristics of the actors. The between parents, mutual understanding “generation” of the MILs, though, was re- and respect of these boundaries seem then ported several times by posters as some- to be pivotal for family relations to tackle thing that may cause a lack of familiarity these dilemmas and maintain systemic with social media privacy and “etiquette” differentiation in the digital home. (see the “Naïve MIL”), and possibly explain their photo-sharing behavior. Additionally, while most of the post- Acknowledgement ers in these threads reported to have children in the early childhood stage, it will The authors wish to formally thank re- be important to more accurately consider search assistant Carlotta Bagnasco, stu- the age of the child. Research shows that dent at the University of Milan-Bicocca, when old enough to have a say in their so- for helping to carefully and thoroughly cial media presence, children lament their code the database and providing insight- parents’ photo-sharing habits when chal- ful feedback throughout the data analysis lenging the impression of themselves they process. 198 Cino & Dalledonne Vandini / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 181–202

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Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 205–209

Introduction: Hybrid journalism? Making sense of the ﬁeld’s dissolving boundaries Colin Porlezza*, City, University of London, Department of Journalism, United Kingdom Philip Di Salvo, Università della Svizzera italiana (USI), Institute of Media and Journalism, Switzerland *Corresponding author: [email protected]

In the last couple of years, hybridity has ic Section contains a selection of papers become a buzzword in journalism studies. presented at this specific pre-conference, Hybridity has often been used to describe where Adrienne Russell (University of ongoing transformations in journalism. In Washington, USA) was the keynote speak- this sense, the increasing use of hybridity er. In addition to such specific events, hy- in the discipline can be seen as an answer, bridity has also been discussed in a special as Witschge, Anderson, Domingo and Her- issue of the scholarly journal “Journalism” mida (2019, p. 652) declare, “to rising com- (Mast, Coesemanns, & Temmermann, plexity in both journalism practice and 2017). Moreover, several articles (e. g., scholarship”. At the same time, however, Deuze & Witschge, 2018; Mellado et al., the use of the concept has itself become 2017; Papacharissi, 2015; Ruotsalainen, an object of scholarly debate: while some Hujanen, & Villi, 2019; Witschge et al., reject the notion as an undercomplex 2019) as well as books (e. g., Chadwick, “catch-all” concept, others believe in its 2013; Deuze & Witschge, 2020) have been heuristic and analytical prowess. This de- published that discussed the topic from bate is reinforced by the multiple conno- many different perspectives and contrib- tations attributed to the notion, and how uted significantly to push the concept to the term is used in positive (“a capacity for the core of scholarly debates. growth”; Stross, 1999, p. 257) or negative The concept of hybridity understands (“diluted version of [the] antecedents”; journalism as part of a wider network, in Chadwick, 2013, p. 14) senses. Either way, which different fields, actors, genres, and hybridity’s success in journalism studies values come together, blend, and affect certainly reflects an emancipation from each other (Chadwick, 2013; Witschge conventional journalism theory, and as a et al., 2019). In addition, the datafication call to develop “new conceptualizations, of journalism – the fact that journalism is terminology, and vocabulary” (Witschge increasingly produced by different actors et al., 2019, p. 652) in order to grasp the with different backgrounds, intentions current transformations in journalism – and norms such as hackers, activists or and the different forms of journalism that even by artificial intelligence-led tools – go beyond traditional understandings and shows that journalism often transcends definitions of journalism. traditional conceptions of journalism. The proliferation of the hybridity no- Speaking with Latour (1993), hybridity tion within journalism studies is also mir- can help us to place journalism in a larg- rored by the different academic events and er socio-technical environment and to scholarly publications. There were several better understand how new and complex symposia dealing with the topic, for in- patterns are formed. However, there are stance the ECREA pre-conference entitled several open questions with regard to the “Dissolving Boundaries of Hybrid Jour- concept of hybridity and to its use in journalism”, which was held at the Università nalism research, which led Baym (2017) della Svizzera italiana in Lugano, Switzer- to conclude that hybridity is an under-re- land, on October 31st 2018. This Themat- searched and under-explored topic.

https://doi.org/10.24434/j.scoms.2020.02.004 © 2020, the authors. This work is licensed under the “Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial – NoDerivatives 4.0 International” license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). 206 Porlezza & Di Salvo, Guest Editorial / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 205–209

First, is the concept heuristically and push the field forward. As Zelizer (2009, analytically robust enough to be applied p. 1) wrote way before the hybridity con- in the investigation of ongoing changes cept became widely used in journalism in journalism? As Witschge et al. (2019, studies, news and journalism have al- p. 654) state, we need to evaluate hybrid- ways been “multiple, multi-dimensional, ity’s “explanatory value and take the next multi-directional and multi-faceted”. Hy- step to not only name but also describe bridity is thus able to depict “the develop- and theorize the complexity of the field” of ment of journalism towards a networked, journalism. Hybridity entails the risk that de-bounded and de-institutionalized fu- it can be used as a shortcut to describe ture” (Ruotsalainen et al., 2019, p. 2). and analyze convoluted transformations Third, the notion of hybridity pre- in news production, distribution, and con- sumes a logical dependence that there was sumption. As a consequence, the same something “pure” before (Chadwick, 2013, authors who proposed hybridity as a via- pp. 14–15) that needs to be combined in ble analytical concept, later on calling to a new blend, from which, in turn, a new deal “with the mess we made” (Witschge hybrid would emerge. However, there has et al., 2019). Instead, they suggested to go never been something like “pure journal- beyond hybridity and to understand it not ism”. This can be seen in the relation be- as a simple absence of order, as a chaotic tween journalism and business practices mashup of different things, but rather as a that are often more complex than theo- dynamic order that is more liquid, fragile, retical principles of newswork and pure and unstable, and thus more in line with logics might suppose (Raviola, 2014). Sim- how journalism actually presents itself ilar phenomena can be observed when it today. Nevertheless, the main goal is to comes to promotional news discourses understand “how that order is construct- (Erjavec, 2004), different values and norms ed, given the complex set of relations in (Porlezza & Splendore, 2019), or different any given context” (Witschge et al., 2019, cultures (Mellado et al., 2017). p. 656). Hybridity can thus be understood The notion of hybridity has been ap- as a viable starting point to overcome a plied – although not exclusively – to var- simple “either/or” thinking (Chadwick, ious areas of contemporary journalism 2013, p. 4), and allows us to move more characterized by a strong reliance on dig- closely towards a “both” option. ital technologies and practices or where Second, even if we argue that the main forms of innovation take place on the ter- advantage of the concept of hybridity is to rain of “new” technologies entering the allow us to move beyond simplistic and journalistic field. In particular, this has dichotomic notions of what journalism is happened, in relation to data journalism, and what it is not, approaching hybridity interactive journalism, forms of reporting as “a particularly rich site for the analysis influenced by either activist, hacktivist or of forms and processes of experimenta- hacker stances and automation and artifi- tion, innovation, deviation and transition cial intelligence. All these forms of journal- in contemporary journalism” (Mast et al., ism, although different in various regards, 2017, p. 3) would alter it into a one-size- are characterized by an interplay between fits-all concept used to explain what we are pure journalistic elements and others, unable to grasp. Nonetheless, the “hybrid non-journalistic ones. This introduction turn” was a refreshing – and necessary – certainly doesn’t aim at providing a full transformation in the way journalism literature review about how the notion of scholars understood journalism, which in “hybridity” has been used to analyze and the past has far too often focused “on a sta- define crossover typologies of journalism. bilized and homogeneous understanding Thus, the four aforementioned macro- of the field” (Witschge et al., 2019, p. 652). areas appear to be the most fruitful ones in As the journalism field changes not only terms of making sense of innovation and at its peripheries, but increasingly also at change in contemporary journalism. its core, the concept of hybridity is able to Porlezza & Di Salvo, Guest Editorial / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 205–209 207

Starting from data journalism, Mark in various contexts and Adrienne Russell Coddington (2014, p. 337), in one of the (2016, p. 12) has offered some insights most influential papers about computa- about how “hacker-activist or hacktivist tional journalism, pointed to this form sensibilities are gaining increased media of reporting’s “cross-field hybridity” to capital across fields, including journalism, highlight its relationships with the cod- activism and government”. This has been ing world and the open source culture in visible, in the journalistic field, especially particular. Drawing on Chadwick’s notion on the level of the adoption of tools and of “hybrid media system” (2013), instead, software that are common among hackers Alfred Hermida and Mary Lynn Young and hacktivists for communication, secu- (2016, p. 59) have proposed a “hierarchy rity and organizing. Hackers, in particular, of hybrid” culture for Canadian journal- as it will be discussed in one of the articles ism based on the encounters between included in this Thematic Section, have older media logics and newer “data” logics. gained increased prominence in the jour- Their results show the existence of a “hier- nalistic field, as providers of technological archy of hybridity” among different media solutions for information security or as and based on the agency / power acquired sources. thanks to the presence of technologists in “Combining human knowledge and the newsroom and the overall blending of expertise with the capabilities of machi- journalism and technology. nes to cope with an immense scale of da- The idea of blending between journal- ta” is instead one of the instances where ism and tech is at the core of various forms “hybridity” emerges in the relationship of reporting where hacker-journalists and between journalism and artificial intelli- their computational backgrounds play gence, according to Nicholas Diakopoulos a major part in shaping new journalistic (2019, p. 245). According to Diakopoulos, cultures and practices. Without explicitly human-machine hybrid systems, such as referring to hybridity, Seth C. Lewis and those created by the interplay between al- Nikki Usher have explored an array of the gorithms or bots and human journalists, areas where the encounter of journalists will have a decisive role in shaping jour- and technologists has brought to crossover nalism in the future, as more and more forms of journalism: they indicated the “fu- forms of artificial intelligence and ma- sion of computer science and journalism”, chine learning come to support, enhance for instance, as the core of technology- or even substitute human journalists in focused journalism innovation based on the making of various journalistic tasks. open source culture (Lewis & Usher, 2013, This brief overview of how various p. 603) and have looked at the “Hacks/ interpretations of the notion of “hybridi- Hackers” conference series as a case study ty” has been used in research about new to see how “the journalism and technolo- forms of crossover journalism sets the gy worlds came together” (Lewis & Usher, stage for the contributions included in this 2014, p. 384). Usher, instead, has looked at Thematic Section of Studies in Communi- “interactive journalism” – a broader cate- cation Sciences (SComS). The Section aims gory that includes multimedia, immersive at contributing to the analysis of the phe- storytelling, data visualization, data-driv- nomenon of hybridity in journalism both en stories, explanatory graphics or other by providing theoretical reflections about interactive features – as a terrain to look at the conceptualization of “hybridity”, and in order to understand how practitioners some case studies that look at particular with a coding background contribute in aspects of hybridity. On the theoretical bringing new knowledge to the practice of side, an interview with Andrew Chadwick, journalism (Usher, 2016). authored by Adrienne Russell, opens the When it comes to activist, hacktivist or Thematic Section and brings new insights hacker stances influencing the journalistic about the evolution of the “hybrid media field, instead, forms of hybridity – again in system” (Chadwick, 2013), particularly Chadwick’s terms (2013) – have emerged in light of recent global political turmoil 208 Porlezza & Di Salvo, Guest Editorial / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 205–209 and uncertainty. Christopher Buschow, nalism, and computer-assisted reporting. in stead, discusses practice theories as in- Digital Journalism, 3(3), 331–348. novative ways of looking at empirical chal- Deuze, M., & Witschge, T. (2018). Beyond jour- lenges in journalism studies, especially nalism: Theorizing the transformation of in regard to the journalistic production. journalism. Journalism, 19(2), 165–181. Finally, Di Salvo and Porlezza, who are also Deuze, M., & Witschge, T. (2020). Beyond jour- the editors of this Thematic Section, dis- nalism. Malden: Wiley. cuss how hackers can become journalis- Diakopoulos, N. (2019). Automating the news: tic sources, forcing reporters to re-discuss How algorithms are rewriting the media. their role, professional norms and practic- Cambridge: Harvard University Press. es, while dealing with controversial hybrid Erjavec, K. (2004). Beyond advertising and players. journalism: Hybrid promotional news dis- As both this Introduction as well as course. Discourse & Society, 15(5), 553–578. the three papers in the Thematic Section Hermida, A., & Young, M. L. (2016). Finding the show, hybridity is more than just a heu- data unicorn: A hierarchy of hybridity in ristic notion that allow us to go beyond data and computational journalism. Digi- a binary understanding of journalism. It tal Journalism, 5(2), 159–176. goes beyond re-mixing genres, new blends Latour, B. (2013). An inquiry into modes of of journalism and entertainment or activ- existence. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Uni- ism, and collaborations between journal- versity Press. ists, hackers, computer scientists, or even Lewis, S. C., & Usher, N. (2013). Open source AI-driven tools. As Mast et al. (2017, p. 9) and journalism: Toward new frameworks declare, hybridity “can be a fruitful con- for imagining news innovation. Media, cept to study from an interdisciplinary culture & society, 35(5), 602–619. perspective the creative transformations, Lewis, S. C., & Usher, N. (2014). Code, collabo- productive collaborations and innovative ration, and the future of journalism: A case developments, witnessed in contempo- study of the Hacks/Hackers global net- rary journalism, which is always ‘in prog- work. Digital Journalism, 2(3), 383–393. ress’ or ‘under construction’”. However, Mast, J., Coesemans, R., & Temmerman, M. while the notion’s deployment remains (2017). Hybridity and the news: Blending problematic given its multiple connota- genres and interaction patterns in new tions, often loose meanings, and manifold forms of journalism. Journalism, 18(1), normative associations, it definitely holds 3–10. the power to challenge traditional under- Mellado, C., Hellmueller, L., Márquez-Ramírez, standings of journalism – which may be M., Humanes, M. L., Sparks, C., Stepinska, necessary if we want to capture and un- A., … Wang, H. (2017). The hybridization derstand the increasing complexity of the of journalistic cultures: A comparative journalistic field. study of journalistic role performance. Journal of Communication, 67(6), 944–967. Milan, S. & van der Velden, L. (2016). The al- References ternative epistemologies of data activism. Digital Culture & Society, 2(2), 57–74 Baym, G. (2017). Journalism and the hybrid Papacharissi, Z. (2015). Toward new journal- condition: Long-form television drama at ism(s): Affective news, hybridity, and the intersections of news and narrative. liminal spaces. Journalism Studies, 16(1), Journalism, 18(1), 11–26. 27–40. Chadwick, A. (2013). The hybrid media system: Porlezza, C. & Splendore, S. (2019). From open Politics and power. New York: Oxford Uni- journalism to closed data: Data jour- versity Press. nalism in Italy. Digital Journalism, 7(9), Coddington, M. (2014). Clarifying journalism’s 1230–1252. quantitative turn: A typology for evaluat- Raviola, E. (2014). We have never been pure: ing data journalism, computational jour- Negotiations between journalism and business in newspaper organizations. Porlezza & Di Salvo, Guest Editorial / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 205–209 209

In J. Pallas, L. Strannegård, & S. Jonsson Usher, N. (2016). Interactive journalism: (Eds.), Organizations and the media: Orga- Hackers, data, and code. Champaign, IL: nizing in a mediatized world (pp. 96–115). University of Illinois Press. London: Routledge. Witschge, T., Anderson, C., Domingo, D., & Ruotsalainen, J., Hujanen, J., & Villi, M. Hermida, A. (2019). Dealing with the mess (2019). A future of journalism be- (we made): Unraveling hybridity, nor- yond the objectivity–dialogue di- mativity, and complexity in journalism vide? Hybridity in the news of entre- studies. Journalism, 20(5), 651–659. preneurial journalists. Journalism. Zelizer, B. (2009). Introduction: Why journal- Advance online publication. https://doi. ism’s changing faces matter. In B. Zelizer org/10.1177/1464884919867216. (Ed.), The changing faces of journalism: Russell, A. (2016). Journalism as activism: Re- Tabloidization, technology and truthiness coding media power. Cambridge: Polity. (pp. 1–10). New York: Routledge. Stross, B. (1999). The hybrid metaphor: From biology to culture. Journal of American Folklore 112(445), 254–267.

Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 211–225

Coming to terms with dysfunctional hybridity: A conversation with Andrew Chadwick on the challenges to liberal democracy in the second-wave networked era Adrienne Russell, University of Washington, Department of Communication, USA [email protected]

Abstract Andrew Chadwick’s view of today’s “hybrid media system,” as outlined ﬁrst in his 2013 book of the same name, has moved scholars to understand how changes in politics are linked to changes in communication infrastructures and tools and to the ways people negotiate power in the networked media environment. His work has provided readers with a blueprint to follow that moves focus beyond the usual categories of media and the usual sites of power. In this interview, conducted in November, 2019, Chadwick discusses what he calls “dysfunctional hybridity” and the urgency that kind of hybridity brings to the need to update our thinking about media, power and society.

Keywords dysfunctional hybridity, networked journalism, online civic culture, disinformation

Andrew Chadwick’s view of today’s “hybrid the work of journalists, expanding the field media system,” as outlined first in his 2013 in significant ways and shaping on a new book of the same name, has moved schol- level traditional news stories and genres. I ars to understand how changes in politics could sense there at the conference a shift are linked to changes in communication in thinking among the participants, away infrastructures and tools and to the ways from old categories and assumptions people negotiate power in the networked about topics worth studying and where media environment. His work has provid- power resides. I also saw the way many of ed readers with a blueprint to follow that the participating scholars, myself includ- moves focus beyond the usual categories of ed, are struggling with how to make sense media and the usual sites of power. In the of the darker side of hybridity that has fall of 2018, just after the publication of the become apparent in recent years. In the updated second edition of The Hybrid Me- interview below, conducted in November, dia System, in which Chadwick responds 2019, Chadwick discusses his recent pre- to Trump-Brexit-era developments, Colin occupation with what he calls “dysfunc- Porlezza and Philip Di Salvo, the editors tional hybridity” and about the urgency of this Thematic Section, convened an that kind of hybridity brings to the need to ECREA pre-conference in Lugano, Swit- update our thinking about media, power zerland, titled Dissolving Boundaries of and society. Hybrid Journalism, where I saw firsthand This conversation has been lightly ed- the impact of Chadwick’s work on the field. ited and condensed for publication. Scholars there presented work exploring the role played by bots, whistleblowers, ac- Adrienne Russell: The second edition of tivists, entrepreneurs, among other actors “The Hybrid Media System” (2017), your in shaping the structure and content of in fluential book, includes a new chap- journalism work. I opened the event with a ter on the election of Donald Trump and talk about my 2016 book, Journalism as Ac- a compelling discussion of what you call tivism, which highlights some of the ways “dysfunctional hybridity,” in which the media activists adept at using and creating networked media landscape plays host to new communication tools are taking up practices and technologies – fake news, bots,

https://doi.org/10.24434/j.scoms.2020.02.005 © 2020, the authors. This work is licensed under the “Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial – NoDerivatives 4.0 International” license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). 212 Russell / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 211–225 hacking, and so on – that contribute to the Russell: Which raises many more ques- erosion of democratic norms. Yours is one tions, made more urgent by developments of the best updates to a lot of frankly very over the past three years. Like, what does optimistic research and writing, including the term liberal democracy mean today, my own, that emphasized the democratic given an environment where political in- potential of the networked environment. stitutions are openly laced with corruption How did you get there? and political processes in many cases are breaking down? Andrew Chadwick: Well, yes, one of the challenges of the hybrid media system Chadwick: I appreciate that the term lib- framework is that it celebrates and de- eral democracy is deeply problematic, scribes the increasing diversity of me- because there are all kinds of arguments dia-related practices. We can talk about about the limitations of that particular how people share information and about model of politics. But I think we need to their interventions in the public sphere. take a step back and consider that there are We can see how digital media enabled certain groups with ideologies that seek to a whole range of different activities that undermine the values of tolerance, of mu- previously weren’t possible in the broad- tual understanding, respect, civility – dare cast-dominated media system. But a lot I even use that term? – and that we’re living of us missed what I call the dysfunctional in a time when these kinds of forces are aspects of hybridity. The same technolog- probably more powerful than ever in influ- ical elements of social media platforms, encing the public circulation of symbols including the way journalists use digital in politics. I can’t remember a time – per- sources for their stories – those elements haps the late 1970s when I was only eight also newly empower actors whose ideolo- or nine years old – when the far right was gies conflict with what we understand as as active as it is in contemporary British the core of liberal democratic societies. society, and I think much the same could The big dilemma, really, is how to start be said about the United States as well thinking about the problematic things as Europe, particularly Eastern Europe. we’ve seen over the last three or four years – Equally, I think we’ve seen, when it that I would add were always there – but comes to the antifeminist movement – the are now surfacing in such concentrated “manosphere,” or the various manifes- and visible forms. How can we understand, tations of networked misogyny online – for instance, the role of the hybrid media we’ve witnessed an incredible amount of system in empowering white suprema- visibility for these ideas. We always knew cists, networked misogynists, or racist they were there, but it’s the visibility and xenophobes? I think that’s what we in the the regularity with which they appear in field have missed. We’ve underplayed the the kinds of networked forms of participa- spread of these digitally enabled pathol- tion that we now know are hugely import- ogies. And maybe that’s because most re- ant for all types of political activity. searchers, generally speaking, work from a Where I’m coming at this from, really, liberal or leftist perspective, which shapes is to say that, if we look at what we mean the kinds of things we’ve looked for. A lot by media hybridity, we’ve got to open up of the literature on social movements and and recognize that many of our theoretical protest using digital media has – not all of perspectives were hatched only in relation it but most of it – cherrypicked examples to progressive examples. Think of Lance that are innately progressive. It has tended Bennett and Alexandra Segerberg’s work to ignore examples of activity that aren’t in The Logic of Connective Action (2013) or progressive. The bigger picture question some of my work before The Hybrid Media is: What kind of media system do we really System, in which I examined forms of ac- want to put in place to serve liberal demo- tivism largely involving progressive actors cratic societies? trying to contest news frames that were portraying their side in the worst light. Russell / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 211–225 213

We didn’t train as much attention on the lic. If you think about the role of misinfor- way these dynamics also work to empow- mation and disinformation in our politics er forces destructive to liberal democratic now, I think we’ve got to acknowledge the norms. role played by ordinary social media users, non-elites, in spreading problematic in- Russell: In addition to playing catch-up on formation. But we’ve also got to be acutely that score, though, there’s also a tendency aware of the role elites play in introducing to think and talk and write as if we’re in a that information into the media environ- constant state of change – which is true, we ment. And, of course, we have to also be are in a constant state of change – but I’m aware of efforts to document and call out wondering about how these trends you’re such activity. talking about, the ones we missed and that One example of the latter is Glenn we’re living with as a powerful force in our Kessler, who has been the editor and chief lives now, are creating lasting impacts. writer of The Washington Post’s “The Fact Checker”1 since 2011. He’s produced ex- Chadwick: I’ve become increasingly inter- traordinary catalogs of the number of in- ested in long-term change and how we can terventions that Donald Trump has made get beyond the idea that everything is al- just based on lies. Trump made more than ways and forever in a state of chaos, transi- 6,000 false and misleading statements tion, and turbulence, and start to focus on in the ﬁrst two years of his presidency. how norms become embedded. You and We’ve always had partisan bias in media, I have talked before about how people’s of course, but if Glenn Kessler and his expectations about acceptable behavior fact-checking team is saying on the record start to change, in a rather complex and that they have a catalog of several thou- dynamic relationship with technological sand false utterances, I think we’re in a dif- shifts. We have also talked about the kinds ferent kind of environment than where we of social cues people now encounter in the were even ten years ago. media environment. You and I have been I think there’s also something of a researching this ﬁeld for quite a long time broader cultural shift going on, which I’m now – 20 years in my case – and I think calling the culture of indeterminacy, which we’ve got to start pointing to some of the empowers and disempowers people in longer-term shifts in people’s norms – different ways in different settings. It’s be- what I’m calling online civic culture. come part of the fabric of our politics in a way that I don’t think we could have pre- Russell: Okay, right, so can you talk a lit- dicted even a short time ago. Whether or tle about online civic culture in relation to not that’s likely to change when, if, Trump Trump and the various cultural and politi- doesn’t win next year, I’m not so sure. cal streams that came together to secure his election. I thought you very effectively took Russell: And it’s not an isolated example, of that up in the second edition of “The Hybrid course. How is the culture of indeterminacy Media System”. playing out in British politics?

Chadwick: Yes, thanks. When it came to Chadwick: Recently, we’ve seen various the new chapter in the second edition, manifestations. From the Remain side of it took me a long time, and I became ob- the Brexit debate we‘ve had bizarre state- sessed with it, really going into as much ments about the amounts of money that depth as I could, within the constraints of supposedly will be available to reinvest in a book chapter, albeit a rather long one. public services and the National Health I found that one of the most interesting Service should the UK not leave the EU. elements of online civic culture in rela- 1 Glenn Kessler, Fact Checker: The Truth Be- tion to Trump is that it formed through a hind the Rhetoric, The Washington Post. combination of the activity of both elite https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/ actors and ordinary members of the pub- fact-checker/wp/category/donald-trump/ 214 Russell / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 211–225

This is a mirror image of the lies that were Chadwick: It’s obviously an extreme ex- told by the Leave campaign during the ample, but what this brings home is the Brexit referendum. None of these numbers unexpected affordances that social media is based in any kind of objective reality. environments now provide for inauthentic At the same time, we’ve also seen an behavior. The game isn’t just about auto- extraordinary BBC investigation into sup- mated, inauthentic accounts. That whole porters of the Conservative Party behav- scene has become implicated in a much ing in ways that make their social media broader scene of trolling and of so-called posts – Facebook posts on Boris John- “playfulness.” Not the kind of playfulness son’s public page – appear as if they are that people were celebrating in the early automated, bot like responses.2 The story days of social media, or, going back even emerged about three weeks ago. Observers further, the idea of playfulness around dig- started suspecting that posts appearing on ital identity in the late 1990s – not that – Boris Johnson’s page – very short bursts of but a disruptive, chaotic, destabilizing commentary saying things like “100 per- impulse. cent agree” or “I’m with you, Boris” – were There’s this 2018 American Political generated by bots. It was a rush to judg- Science Association conference paper by ment. Fragments of code also started to political psychologists Michael Bang Pe- appear in the messages. So it looked as if tersen, Mathias Osmundsen, and Kevin it was an automated, scripted intervention Arceneaux, where they talk about the need that had gone wrong. But it transpired that for chaos as a motivator for people who real people were pretending to be bots. spread false information, conspiracy the- They were deliberately acting like bots to ories and rumors on social media. I think troll critics of Boris Johnson. that there’s something in that. They did surveys in the US and Denmark. There is a Russell: So, the advantage of pretending group – it’s a minority, but it’s a substantial you’re a bot is, like, next level agitation? minority of people (they estimated these Bots exacerbate polarization, so humans attitudes are present in up to 40 percent behaving in bot-like ways is meant to just of the US population) – that now see the further piss off the opposition? media environment as an opportunity to destabilize and to behave in ways that Chadwick: This is the thing, right? To goad amount to giving the finger-stick to polit- the other side, to, yes, have a sense of mis- ical elites of various kinds – and indeed to chief, to irritate the opponents. Looking at the whole rationality of the political pro- the code that was supposed to have been cess. To some extent it’s a manifestation mistakenly introduced, looking at it now, of the way the hybrid media system can it does look like it has just been pasted in enable these very rapid, real-time inter- by somebody, because it doesn’t look like ventions in political discourse in ways that any code that would be involved in an au- weren’t possible before. tomated campaign. That struck me as just extraordinary. I’ve never come across any- Russell: So, what are the implications of thing like that. these interventions – sometimes carefully orchestrated but other times spontaneous Russell: But it’s recognizable now for what and grassroots? it is – a contemporary media practice. But it’s also the kind of thing that points to a Chadwick: Mass publics now use social broader cultural shift in how politics is media to send signals to others who might playing out, among elites, among everyday think “I wouldn’t mind doing some of people, right? What’s it telling us? that. I’m on the side of people who want 2 Joey D’Urso, “The real people pretending to cause a bit of trouble, a bit of mischief, to be ‘Boris bots’ on Facebook,” BBC, 1 No- and I’ve got reasons for doing it and op- vember, 2019. https://www.bbc.com/news/ portunities too”. The reasons people have blogs-trending-50218615 for doing it – that’s the hard part. How we Russell / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 211–225 215 dig into those motivations – and they’re that’s the correct way. There’s some ex- likely to be extremely complicated – that’s cellent work emerging. Kate Starbird and a big challenge for researchers. But if we Emma Spiro, for instance, at the Universi- think about the mere existence of the ty of Washington, are doing some interest- need for chaos, in days gone by, we might ing big data-driven analysis.3 There’s been have said, “Well, it’s great. It’s playfulness. some great experimental literature in the There’s too much constraint in the public field driven by political psychology and sphere” because we’d look at the broadcast political communication researchers such media system and think ordinary people as Jason Reifler, Adam Berinsky, and Bren- don’t have a say and it’s top-down and dan Nyhan. That’s useful, in part, because controlled. Think about when TV became it’s very controlled and strict in its models really important in politics from the 1960s of causality, but it doesn’t say a great deal onwards. Well, by the late 1990s, the liter- about the specifics of social media envi- ature in political communication was full ronments and the particular technological of pessimistic assessments of alienation designs that shape and constrain the ways from the media, alienation from the polit- people behave. I would also say that sci- ical process, apathy, disengagement, as a ence and technology studies has been a bit result of the broadcast media system. slow to react to the post-2016 shift. But then the Internet comes along Surveys are also useful. That’s some- and everybody thinks “Oh, it’s going to be thing we’ve focused on at the Online Civ- so different. People will get empowered. ic Culture Centre (O3C)4 at my university We’re going to see voices in the public (Loughborough) because we were lucky sphere. We’re going to see pluralism on a enough to partner with a survey compa- scale that we haven’t seen before.” ny, Opinium Research. What was notable All of that happened, but what we un- about the data we found in a nationally- derestimated was that this pluralism also representative survey from late 2018, enables these kinds of democratically dys- which we published in our report in the functional behaviors that we need to keep spring of 2019, is that 43 percent of news an eye on. That’s been the agenda since sharers on UK social media share inac- 2016. There’s a whole range of interest- curate or false news. Seventeen percent ing research coming out now and a lot of knowingly share news they thought was younger scholars are fired up by this agen- made up when they shared it. It’s not a nu- da as well. anced or complex finding, but it does help establish just how prevalent and wide- Russell: There are all kinds of related im- spread is the behavior. We received quite a plications. At the level of online civic cul- lot of feedback on that finding – “Are you ture, norms are changing, and there is an sure?” “Yes, we’re sure,” we said. expansion of ways for people who are dis- gruntled to express themselves, in playful Russell: That’s a standout statistic, espe- ways and in frightening ways, and so on. cially because it’s difficult for many of us to Meantime, at the level of elite strategizing, imagine being part of that particular prob- we have seen an industry emerge around lem. developing purposeful interventions into the system to disrupt, misinform, and create chaos. Given that it may not be a char- 3 See, for example, Kate Starbird, Dharma Dai- acteristic confined in the media system to a ley, Owla Mohamed, Gina Lee, and Emma moment of transition, but rather one that S. Spiro, “Engage Early, Correct More: How might already be embedded, how do schol- Journalists Participate in False Rumors On- line during Crisis Events.” In Proceedings of ars approach these shifted practices? the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, p. 105. ACM, 2018. Chadwick: On the level of documenting it, 4 Online Civic Culture Centre. https://www. I don’t have any kind of huge methodolog- lboro.ac.uk/research/online-civic-culture- ical plan that I want to lay out and say that centre/ 216 Russell / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 211–225

Chadwick: The underlying reasons for strong partisans tend to believe infor- these numbers are very, very difficult to mation that presents their side in a good identify, but just as a simple description, light. We know about motivated reason- it helps put the problem on the agenda. ing, whereby people justify to themselves, I’m currently working on designing a more often using very elaborate methods, their in-depth, longitudinal, qualitative, inter- pre-existing prejudices and false beliefs. view-based study. It’s to try to understand They will have those in mind as they are in a much more contextual and relational exposed to media content. But we know way why it is that false and misleading in- much less about what goes into the deci- formation has come to have the kind of so- sion to share content. That’s what we’ve cial and political utility it does, both online tried to focus on here at O3C – the ingre- and in local communities. dients that go into the share. But we know The media literacy debate went a little very little right now, and I don’t think we’re stale, but it’s reemerging powerfully. The likely to learn everything about the ingre- number of events that I’ve been to over dients that make the share from large-N the last three years where media literacy studies and descriptive, big data studies. has been raised as a panacea for all of the One way we plan instead to study world’s ills, I can’t tell you – but then little this is by asking subjects to take out their gets done about it in relation to online mis- phones and talk through the problematic information. One of the interesting things pieces of information that figure in their with the media literacy debate is that, as everyday lives in a detailed, contextual computers became more important and way, where one recognizes that there’s re- digital media became more important, the flexivity in the interview process. We won’t debate became much narrower. It often be able to generalize to the population, became a debate about digital skills and but then we might have much more re- how to teach people how to use websites, fined and interesting variables to explore how to buy stuff online, and how to apply in broader survey-based studies. This is for a passport or Medicare or whatever. I not to say that qualitative work is superi- know critics such as danah boyd have ar- or to general survey-based research; they gued that media literacy may have back- complement each other. fired because it fostered a culture of cyn- icism toward media.5 But I’m not so sure Russell: Right, getting a closeup view of about whether that applies in all contexts. how people are actually engaging with the One thing that certainly has happened is material can help know what questions to that digital literacy has become very nar- ask. It’s interesting that you’re focusing on rowly defined. There are people who have the media habits of individuals. Can you continuously pushed against this, such as elaborate? Why might it be more interesting Sonia Livingstone (2004), for instance. to look at individual practices rather than I think there’s something in the idea at things like the kind of technology people that we can go into people’s socially situat- are using or technology policy? ed daily lives and find out a lot more about their motivations for sharing problematic Chadwick: On the issue of people-ver- information. What is missing at this point sus-technologies, I’ve just never seen it is a richer, more contextual understand- like that. I’m heavily influenced by Latour ing of the role that information plays in and the ideas of actor-network theory. I’m people’s everyday lives and how it gains not the only one, of course. There was a and loses social utility for specific groups whole wave in that late-2000s moment, of people. That process is also tied to the lots of interesting ideas floating around question of identity. We already know that about the interactions between technolo- 5 See, for example, danah boyd, “Did Media gies and humans and their mutually con- Literacy Backfire?” Data & Society, 5 January, stitutive roles as actants. I’ve always been 2017. https://points.datasociety.net/did- influenced by that particular perspective. media- literacy-backfire-7418c084d88d When I talk about the hybrid media sys- Russell / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 211–225 217 tem, that does include technologies and ceptable and not acceptable in the public people and all of the interactions between sphere. That’s the biggest normative con- them. What I don’t subscribe to, though, cern I’ve got with online civic culture – that is the idea that it necessarily means that there are large numbers of people now who you’re being technologically determinist. are seen as willing to engage in behaviors I dislike that term, and it’s become a lazy that are problematic for liberal democratic critique of a lot of work, including Latour’s societies. Does that answer your question as well. The reality is that we are shaped by about a system-versus-individual focus? our interactions with technologies. We’re not fully determined by them. The tech- Russell: It does. What about the part about nological environments within which we the elite forces, not the everyday people, behave play a role in shaping our behav- that are shaping the system in “democrati- ior, and I’m completely unashamed about cally dysfunctional” ways? How do we deal saying that. That’s not to say that they de- with that? termine everything in the first or last instance, but they play a role. Chadwick: That is, in some ways, a more When I’m talking about individuals, tractable problem than the problem of I’m talking about the need to understand digital literacies. That said, it requires how individuals are socially situated, but some kind of political intervention. also technologically situated as well. Again, We’re now in a situation where the idea I’m not the only person. Look at the new of the social media company as platform, outpouring of work on algorithms, such if you start deconstructing it, it’s more and as Taina Bucher’s great book If … Then, more bizarre. I think Tarleton Gillespie’s which came out last year. (Disclosure: the work has been very valuable on this. You’ve book is published in the Oxford University got these metaphors used by Google, Face- Press series I edit). It’s this idea that it’s not book, Twitter of providing a stage on which a binary either/or when it comes to media others act. The original model is that they technologies and social practices. You’ve don’t take much responsibility for the ways got to look at people in their socially situ- in which people act, that they’re just pro- ated context. Part of that socially situated viding a stage, a platform. That model is context is a technological context. When now almost dead. We’re actually seeing people are interacting online, the news the dying days of it play out. It won’t be feed, it’s the ways that’s algorithmically cu- as quick a death or even the same kind of rated – ways that, as we know from surveys, death, maybe, in the United States as it will many members of the public just don’t in, say, Western Europe. For example, we’ve fully understand. Of course, academic re- seen the signs of that just this week, with searchers don’t fully understand it either, scholars having a real argument on Twitter because we don’t have access to whatever about freedom of speech and “freedom of “secret sauce” makes the algorithms. reach” after Facebook began insisting that When I’m talking about these long- it won’t regulate political ads the way that term shifts in online civic culture, those Twitter has said it will. are partly technologically shaped, and There’s a peculiarly US perspective on they’re about the moments of interaction these things. Liberal-left US scholars are between humans and technologies. It’s arguing that it’s wrong to outlaw political that dialectic that drives the whole pro- advertising on Twitter because that will cess forward. I’m not saying that there’s create jurisdictional problems and erode something called culture, which is innate the anti-Trump movement. Also, that it and intrinsic in human brains, if you will, will deny speech and reach to progressive that then acts as a force in the world. What movements as well because they want to I’m saying is that these complex social and advertise online and inform the public. technological variables, and the ways hu- It’s really hard to decide what’s po- mans behave over time, lead to changes litical, and what isn’t, and of course, that in expectations about what’s seen as ac- problem is not going to go away. The Brit- 218 Russell / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 211–225 ish perspective on these things is very dif- of speech on social media. But thinking ferent because historically, we’ve long had about the US and the European context, regulation of advertising in elections. We that’s where the debate is happening. This don’t have political advertising on broad- means regulation. It will be different in dif- cast media. That’s why, when we in the UK ferent countries, but I can’t see any reason see so much campaign advertising on UK why we shouldn’t look at some form of reg- social media, it looks like a crazy Wild West ulation as a positive outcome. scenario. British scholars have been far more reticent about participating in the Russell: Yes, I agree. On that score, how do debate about Twitter’s banning of political you perceive the news coverage of the dys- ads because we recognize that there are functions we’ve been discussing? Even as many, many reasons why you would want recently as 2016, there was very little main- to regulate political advertising, not least stream coverage of technology’s role in poli- because there are inequalities between tics and strategic political communication, different providers of ads. If you go back to the relationship between the data indus- the early 2000s and the McCain-Feingold tries and democracy, of micro-targeting Act on campaign finance in the United publics and misinformation – on so many States, one of the Democrats’ major con- of the things academics have been study- cerns was that the Republicans would al- ing. Cambridge Analytica was a shock to ways outspend them using soft money, be- the press and to the public, but not so much cause wealthy donors would always tend to academics. Now the coverage seems to to favor the Republicans. be getting more thorough. The BBC inves- It is strange that we’re seeing these tigation into the fake bot posts, you just kinds of ideas recur, but the current chang- mentioned, the recent investigative section es in the media environment are challeng- of the New York Times performing a data ing us all. The established terms of debate analysis of Trump’s tweets.6 Some journal- have quickly started to dissolve. ism outlets are recognizing how central the Coming back to your original ques- story of technology is to politics and public tion about what kinds of interventions life. But this is of course complicated by the are required, I think that it’s always going fact that there’s a decrease in trust in these to be a mix of government regulation and press outlets. What’s the proper role for self-regulation by the platform compa- journalism and a realistic expectation of nies themselves. But that self-regulation how effective journalism can be in exposing doesn’t come about by accident or just out and educating people about “dysfunctional of the goodness of their hearts; it comes hybridity”? from real political pressure, including from policymakers, to clean up the Inter- Chadwick: The first thing I’d like to say net. If we’ve got an environment where it’s is that the ways in which journalism has easy for political elites to circulate preju- evolved means journalists are implicated dice, falsehoods, all kinds of inaccurate in the current crisis on a number of lev- information strategically released to di- els. Some of it is just part of the pressure vide communities and to pit one commu- of having to adapt to a hyper-competitive nity against another, whether it’s religious media environment where the number of or racial, we need to tackle the problem. new actors – not all of them survived but We have to take sides and say, “There are still, if you think about the likes of Buzz- things we need to do to make sure that so- Feed, the likes of Vice – it’s just a much cial media environments are making good more complicated environment in which contributions to civic culture rather than to be a professional elite journalist now eroding or undermining our civic culture.” than it was even ten years ago. If you think I think that that’s where we are right 6 See “The Twitter Presidency,” New York now, though I recognize that is a bizarre Times, 2 Nov. 2019. https://www.nytimes. generalization because there are coun- com/interactive/2019/11/02/us/politics/ tries where there is no genuine freedom trump-twitter-presidency.html Russell / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 211–225 219 back twenty years, it’s a completely differ- happened. One fascinating thing here is ent situation. A lot of the pressure is being how social media have enabled the signal- created by the need to compete. ing of transgression. Trump was, and still The reality is that journalists them- is, “good” at transgressing norms. By that I selves are implicated in the obsession with mean the traditional norms that we would breaking news, the obsession with social expect presidential candidates to adhere media metrics, the obsession with Trump’s to, he just deliberately rips those up in or- latest tweets at what time of the day or night der to generate attention. Boris Johnson in and how many likes or retweets they get. the 2019 UK campaign has used the same As I’ve shown in The Hybrid Media strategy. System, journalists have embedded so- It’s almost like the old cliché, “There’s cial media into their working practices, no such thing as negative publicity.” In not just at the level of sourcing. In other the second edition of The Hybrid Media words, there are literally journalists, and System, I noted that we’re now in a media you know this, of course, whose beat is to system where attention is such a valuable sit and look at social media screens, dash- resource, that there are so many opportu- boards unfolding all day long. It’s not just nities for you as an individual to devote about that. It’s also that the texture of news your attention to so many different types stories and the actual presentation of facts of content, that actually grabbing atten- in the world now relies upon social media tion in that old way, but with new meth- discourse. This is what Trump recognized ods, has become much more important. in 2015, actually, long before the election Distortion in the economy of attention in campaign properly got underway. He rec- the public sphere is something we’re only ognized it really early on. just really coming to grips with. There were a few people who pointed This is an important part of what this out, but few were paying attention. Trump was doing in 2016. It’s become a Then all of a sudden, as soon as he was characteristic in general of strategic cam- elected, it was, “Let’s go back and look at paigners who want to try and grab atten- Donald Trump’s tweets,” and, “Oh, yes, we tion, even if only very fleetingly, for their saw it all along.” particular cause. There’s this mythology Quite a few saw it happening during that built up in the 2016 campaign about the campaign and thought, What’s going whether or not journalists were taking on here? One of the longstanding argu- Trump seriously enough and the pitfalls of ments about political campaigns is that doing so. They face a similar issue when it they can use social media to bypass tra- comes to ideas that are destructive of lib- ditional media. This was said in the days eral democracy as well. Extreme misogyny, back in 2004, 2006, and 2008, when we saw white supremacy, misinformation – how email come into its own as a campaign do you report these things while drawing medium. The argument was, “They’re go- attention to them in a way that shows that ing to bypass traditional media and reach they are transgressions of norms that ought the public. They’re going to reach their not to be transgressed in a liberal demo- partners and supporters and we won’t cratic society? How do you do that in a way know anything about it.” What we didn’t that doesn’t risk you just simply spread- understand back then (and this is part of ing the word? This is a major problem. the hybrid media system framework) is One of the things that’s become fas- that it’s not just about bypassing; it’s about cinating again is thinking about norms influencing. Trump’s approach was not and the long-term reshaping of people’s about bypassing mainstream media; it behavior. We know, going back to social was about using social media to influence psychology studies of the diffusion of ru- mainstream media. That’s become almost mors, for instance, all the way back to the a truism in the last couple of years, but in Second World War, is that what the social 2016, there weren’t many people saying psychologists call fluency is a an important that. In the book, I tried to show how this 220 Russell / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 211–225 determinant of how people come to hold havior, cueing, fluency, why people come false beliefs. to act on informational cues in ways that The disturbing thing about fluency – don’t seem to be perfectly rational. Well, and again, this rests on all of the repetition they’re partly explained by the social-cu- and circulation affordances that we’ve all ing contexts of our behavior. When you celebrated as being so beneficial about throw technological affordances into that social media – the reality is that simple mix as well, that makes it even more com- repetition and recirculation exposes larger plicated. numbers of people to problematic infor- When journalists produce news, part mation. Even if that information is deep- of the problem is that they’re now in an ly false, it still enhances a sense of ease environment where other people’s behav- or fluency with the information. Fluency ior and the likelihood of recirculation of a leads to credulity. The more fluent you are, story is important and plays a role in what in other words, the more you’ve been ex- gets written about. Journalists might not posed to a particular piece of information, have a full awareness of the limitations even if it’s false, the more likely you are to on the rationality of that environment. We believe it. need to understand far more about what It’s a major problem for how jour- shapes and constrains rationality in the nalists report. Perhaps we’re now seeing public sphere, not least because social journalists fighting back and coming out media discourse goes constantly circuits the other side, certainly in the big profes- back into professional journalism. This is a sional media organizations, such as The hybrid media system problem, but I didn’t Washington Post and the New York Times. have anything to say about rationality in We’re starting to see signs now of a much the book. more savvy approach to social media as a source for stories. I’ll just park this Russell: It makes a lot of sense to think thought for now, but what we also need about the social psychology aspect given the to recognize is that there are many, many issues about which people have very differ- cash-strapped news organizations that ent perceptions – the seemingly increasing don’t get the chance to make this decision. areas of irreconcilable differences. I’ve been They are, by necessity, deeply implicat- thinking a lot, for example, about climate ed in writing and thus amplifying stories communication and about why there is so about viral YouTube videos, or outrageous much discussion and effort around getting tweets. There’s some interesting research the right information or the right amount now coming out in journalism studies of information, even though people who that speaks to the new reality of the local doubt and deny climate change continue newsroom. When I say that some news or- to do so despite the flow of excellent report- ganizations are getting more savvy, I think ing. The idea of fluency, that’s actually very that’s the elite-of-the-elite organizations, helpful in thinking about these matters. and also the well-funded ones, as well. We Couldn’t the solution to disinformation be mustn’t forget the political economy of simply working to interrupt fluency? this, because the Washington Post is now far better resourced than it was before Jeff Chadwick: Yes, the solution is to interrupt Bezos bought it. fluency. But then there’s also motivated So, yes, journalists are implicated in reasoning. Therefore, even if you’re inter- the current crisis, but I also think that it’s rupting the environment in which fluency not just about the structure of the news can occur, you’re never fully going to get industry. It’s a deeper problem of the so- beyond people’s prejudices and precon- cial psychology of behavior online. I’ve ceived biases. My problem with all of this, become more and more interested in the as a communication and media scholar, is individual, psychological roots of people’s where did these biases come from in the behavior, the behavioral tradition in psy- first place? This is one of the things that’s chology: flocking behavior, herding be- bedeviled our field, hasn’t it? You look at Russell / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 211–225 221 the historical debates: strong effects versus if only we could get people to weigh up the weak effects. There’s been a real reluctance arguments on both sides, the argument on the part of many communication and runs. I’m not sure that that’s going to work. media researchers to talk about media ef- We have plenty of opportunities for people fects. There has to be a renewed conversa- to learn online about different perspec- tion now about where norms and behavior tives on the world, but do these have utility actually derive from in the first place and for people in their everyday lives in their how they become embedded over time. communities? For many people, it’s not a I’m a fan of Mark Deuze’s idea in his simple question of saying, “I’m going to book Media Life, that we live in media, as go online and learn about all of the differ- fish live in water. There’s a lot to be said for ent sides of the story” – not least because that perspective. Of course, the mechanis- it becomes really exhausting to do that. tic traditions of some quantitative social To come back to the role of news, jour- science finds that difficult to fathom, be- nalists might need a much richer under- cause information is theorized as some- standing of the kinds of information that thing that is fully exogenous and operates people find useful in their communities as a force upon us. and how they can intervene in those con- We need to understand that peo- texts to create information that empowers ple’s perceptions of the world are built people with the truth. I don’t think jour- up through many complex but often very nalists should just give up and say, “Every- short-term interactions that accrete over thing’s post truth. There’s indeterminacy time. I think accretion is a good word in everywhere. We can’t make a difference. this regard. As things accrete over time, Let’s just follow the dollars.” There are you can see that it’s phony, in a way, to say, some newsrooms that may think like that, “If only we could introduce, in a one-off but journalism must retain its public mis- setting, correct information about how to sion to enlighten citizens. It’s a question of see climate change.” finding the truthful information that citi- I keep coming back to this idea of a zens need in order to become empowered. relational perspective on digital literacies, and I deliberately use the plural term, lit- Russell: Conversely, what sorts of informa- eracies, because I don’t think we’ll reach a tion is disempowering, not only for the in- stage where there is a singular, universal dividual but for various groups? state of being digitally literate. We need to understand how different types of infor- Chadwick: Good question. Take, for exam- mation have different forms of social util- ple, Urban Dictionary, which has been a ity in specific community, familial, social, fascination of mine for a long time now. I and cultural contexts. This is the lesson of spoke about this at some length in a talk some of the qualitative work that’s emerg- I gave at the Reuters Institute at Oxford in ing. Think about Arlie Russell Hochschild’s 2018. My 11 year old daughter sometimes book, Strangers in Their Own Land, Kathy searches Google for stuff like language Cramer’s work on rural politics in Wiscon- use, special terms, definitions, all sorts sin, which both show how people devel- of slang, so I see this on a personal level. op narratives of how to make sense of the Now, I know that street slang evolves very world. For them, these narratives, or deep quickly – absolutely. But Urban Dictionary stories as Hochschild calls them, have real is bizarre. It’s mixture of misogyny, rac- purpose, and it’s about getting into those ism, casual insults against all sorts of dif- moments, trying to develop long-term ferent religious communities, stuff that’s educational interventions that make a dif- just made up, stuff that has no basis and ference to how people see others who are terms that are clearly not used by people unlike themselves. in everyday life. But this great piece just It’s not simply about balancing opin- came out in New Media & Society by com- ion as well. That’s been a trend in the media munication and media scholars Debbie literacy literature going back thirty years – Ging, Theodore Lynn, and Pierangelo Ro- 222 Russell / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 211–225 sati at Dublin City University. It just hit on Chadwick: Right. That really struck a the head what I was struggling with when chord. This is something we need to pay trying to present last year at Reuters (to much more attention to – and I think frowning faces) about why I think Urban journalists in particular should be aware Dictionary is a problem. (Incidentally, I of how this works. Journalists can make a dug into the economics of the site and how difference because many have the power it’s funded through ads it sells through the to introduce information into the public Google Ad Exchange network and how it sphere, which will get highly ranked by makes its money. It’s quite a lucrative web- Google, and prioritized in search. It may site, often in the top-500 Alexa rankings in also get prioritized in social media feeds the world. It’s seriously big, with 180 mil- if what the social media companies say lion monthly page views, mostly clicked about prioritizing reputable sources and via Google search.) curating feeds with human intervention Interestingly, given the mixed econ- actually happens and makes a difference. omy or the division of labor, however we Facebook’s record has been patchy in that might want to describe it, in content cre- regard, lately. ation and linking in the online space, what Take, for example, the issue of climate Ging and her colleagues argue is that Ur- change or science communication more ban Dictionary entries are hijacked by the broadly: these areas are problematic as manosphere online, who, after all, have well because much of the scientific litera- their own mixed economy of content ture doesn’t get returned in regular Google based around their own wikis and forums. searches. Even if it did, would it be acces- Again, these are things that we used to sible to the average member of the public? celebrate about Web 2.0. We thought, It’s Probably not. Again, that places a huge good. It’s empowering lots of people. Well, responsibility on journalists to introduce yes, it’s empowering extreme misogynists high-quality information into the public as well. So the lexicon of the manosphere realm, in the knowledge (or perhaps hope) gets encoded into the entries in Urban that, in turn, it will have an influence on Dictionary, and then people do searches search rankings and ultimately determine on Google, and the economy of attention people’s ability to find good information. has already been hijacked because Goo- It’s probably time we moved away from gle is prioritizing Urban Dictionary in its this notion that the Internet is all about search results. The implication of Ging’s social media news feeds or all about news and her colleagues’ article is that we need organizations’ websites, and toward the to be much more strategic about examin- assumption that there’s actually a compli- ing these interconnections between online cated division of labor when it comes to content – the divisions of labor between the production and consumption of on- news and journalism, search engines and line information. rankings, retweets, shares, likes, how all of that goes together in ways that can skew Russell: Point well taken – and I’m not the information environment for people sure how Google has managed to sidestep who are looking for particular types of in- so many of these debates. It’s a messy com- formation at particular moments. plicated set of realities, and one that’s only Recently, Michael Golebiewski and going to grow more complicated. But if danah boyd at Data & Society released a we start taking a more holistic view of the new report about data voids. I don’t know problems and of the solutions, along the if you’ve seen this – ? lines that you’re talking about, we’ll be better prepared. I keep thinking the main insti- Russell: Yes, it’s about how data voids, or tutions of democratic society have just been searches that turn up little to no results, are so reactive, or less than reactive – which I seen as opportunities by people looking to think is what has people terrified about the manipulate the information environment era of widespread deepfakes, which seems and so fill those voids with misinformation. like it’s days away at this point. Russell / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 211–225 223

Chadwick: Yes, Cristian Vaccari and I have ing without adequately reflecting upon the a project underway here at O3C on deep- content or checking it, the desire to fit in, fakes, on which Cristian is leading. The the excitement, the thrill of participating first disturbing thing about deepfake video in the news cycle. All of these things are comes from what we know about individ- important and need to be brought into the uals and how they process information. analytical mix as well. That’s the problem We know from experimental research that of deepfake video: it speaks to an envi- individuals are more likely to recall video ronment where the kinds of expectations and image content than they are textual that we used to have about how audienc- content. That was demonstrated in exper- es critically interrogate content become imental settings long before digital media somewhat unsettled. How can audiences emerged. contextualize a deepfake video of a politi- On the other hand, we spend a long cian or a journalist when the deepfake has time in communication and media re- been created by deep learning AI scripts search examining the active audience that actually draw upon the other public- and in understanding how people make ly available representations of that person sense and interrogate the nature of media that are online? content. People adapt their expectations It’s a dystopian version of intertextu- over time to what’s factual and what’s fic- ality, in which the deepfake video is itself tional. It’s really fascinating. Take, for ex- fabricated from existing publicly available ample, early cinema. When cinema was video, audio, and still images of a person introduced in the 1890s, people would that already exist in the public realm. The go into movie theaters and be astonished idea that we can get to the bottom of it is and sometimes scared out of their wits. problematic … You see what I’m saying? Some people were terrorized by images they’d never seen before. A good example Russell: Yeah, it’s sort of, for now, not re- is when, in 1895, the Lumière brothers ally fiction; it’s fabricated reality. It’s the screened their short film « L’Arrivée d’un real person in a real setting that that real Train en Gare de La Ciotat » (“Arrival of a person really exists in a lot of the time – a Train at La Ciotat Station”). But people news-show set, a stump speech stage, on the soon adapt. Special effects in Hollywood, floor of Congress, whatever. So it demands a the line between fact and fiction: humans new digital literacy to detect it as quickly – are really good at making that distinction. or more quickly – than the time it would The problem with deepfake video is take your impulse to share to spur you to that it’s fabricated nonfiction. It’s not fic- act! The mechanisms are so sophisticated tional content and it’s not wholly about that you can’t anticipate that they would entertainment. Imagine a viral video be factoring into what you’re witnessing. At deepfake of, say, a politician or perhaps least at first, in the first-wave deepfake era, more likely, a newsreader or a reporter that you’re not properly, instinctively on guard. isn’t particularly well known, speaking in a mocked-up studio news environment. The Chadwick: Logically, it’s problematic be- problem is that it’s so perfectly executed cause there’s no obviously discernible un- and the representation is so convincing. If derneath, below the surface, due to how we think about this, it throws into jeopardy the technology seems to be developing. some of these preconceived ideas we have I don’t really have any good answers to about the active audience and our ability this one. That’s why I think regulation is to decode political bias. actually really important in the sphere Add into that mix the rapid-fire nature of deepfakes, and I think the platforms of exposure to these videos and the ways themselves have started to realize this as people seem to be very comfortable now well. I mean, Zuckerberg came out with it in spreading information (in ways that re- last week, where he said, “Deepfakes are a searchers didn’t foresee) very, very quickly, problem.” Jack Dorsey, one of the found- even if they haven’t interrogated it. Shar- ers of Twitter, explicitly mentioned the 224 Russell / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 211–225 problem of deepfakes in his tweets when one of the problems was withdrawal. Peo- he was talking about Twitter’s decision to ple just think, Well, I’m going to stay out of ban political advertising. It’s that sense of public life and I’m not going to get involved. not being able to get beyond the surface to, It just becomes too difficult and I think I don’t know, factcheck. It is more difficult that’s a real problem that we might face if to factcheck a deepfake when the deepfake indeterminacy becomes widespread. Han- itself has been made from resources in the nah Arendt, in her writing about the nature public domain. of totalitarianism also raised this problem. This presents liberal democracies with This is much more damaging, and just as a major challenge. The biggest long-term damaging as the argument that harass- problem with a culture of indeterminacy is ment and intimidation silences people. It’s the lack of trust that emerges from it. If it related. The alt-right are very aware, when becomes hugely exhausting trying to make they organize concerted harassment at- sense of this environment, and if there’s a tacks on feminists or people of color, they realization that the old tools of fact-check- know what they’re doing. It’s not just that ing and responsible journalism will work they’re trying to spread the word about only some of the time and a lot of the time their ideas. They’re also trying to silence will be compromised, then we could be their targets, get them to withdraw into the in trouble. One of the problems is that it private sphere. opens up space for authoritarian leaders to say, “I’m going to restore order,” and we Russell: Whitney Phillips (2019) recently could then end up with regulation of me- wrote a fascinating piece published in So- dia that is draconian. cial Media + Society that interrogates the On the other hand, the other prob- influence of subcultural trolling and what lem is that people withdraw into the pri- she calls exclusionary laughter. In it she ar- vate sphere and they think, “Politics is not gues that mainstream culture has played a for me. That’s the public realm. It’s crazy.” key role in normalizing cultures of hate by Then I think we could be in trouble. allowing their expressions to be amplified under the guise of humor without consid- Russell: That’s a very optimistic statement ering the impact that amplification has on you just made, I think. “We could be in groups who are their direct targets. Related- trouble” you said. That means we could not ly, Mike Ananny (2017, 2018) has been writ- be in trouble, too! I’m pretty sure we’re in ing about listening and the role networked trouble. press systems can and ought to play in ensuring certain stories, groups, voices don’t Chadwick: If we just let these forces have become eclipsed by all of the noise. It’s real- free rein, then liberal democracies could ly key for us to be paying attention to what be in trouble in the longer term, because kind of people are most likely to withdraw the cultural effects over time could be and based on what kind of factors. And damaging. It’s not just a question of people what kind of changes would prevent that actively participating in spreading illiberal kind of exodus? You can imagine the net- ideas. It’s also that people will withdraw work splitting into neighborhoods, some into their private sphere and say, “This isn’t clean and neat, more civil, more informed, for me.” Dissident critiques of propaganda but also more constrained and expensive, in the Soviet Union and the former Eastern others more expressive but also cluttered Bloc states discussed this. Much of the em- with ads and hateful trolling. On some level phasis in propaganda studies has been on you can see the momentum for that kind of persuasion, influence, and deception, or thing already building. how it leads people to adopt false beliefs. But one of the real problems of propagan- Chadwick: I agree. Again, it comes back to da in the Eastern European context – if you this idea that the media environment now read dissident-turned president Vaclav is very different from the one that pre- Havel on Czechoslovakia in the 1970s – vailed 20 years ago. Media today are not Russell / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 211–225 225 just about communication; they’re about Arendt, H. (1973). The origins of totalitarian- organization. If you think back to the early ism. New York: Harcourt, Brace, debates about digital media and politics in Jovanovich. the 2000s when Bruce Bimber, Lance Ben- Bennett, L. & Segerberg, A. (2013). The logic of nett, Dave Karpf, myself and others were connective action: Digital media and the theorizing how digital media may spur or- personalization of contentious politics. ganizational change – one of the strands of New York: Cambridge University Press. the hybrid media system framework. You Bucher, T. (2018). If … then: Algorithmic power can also apply these ideas now to the issue and politics. New York: Oxford University of silencing and marginalization online. Press. When white supremacists and misogynists Chadwick, A. (2017). The hybrid media system: mobilize harassment in a distributed net- Politics and power, 2nd edition, New York: work environment, they are using media Oxford University Press. as a means to force organizational change Cramer, K. (2016). The politics of resentment: upon their opponents. The organizational Rural consciousness in Wisconsin and the outcome in this case is silencing and de- rise of Scott Walker. Chicago: University of mobilization of those opponents. When Chicago Press. women see other women being harassed Deuze, M. (2012). Media life. Cambridge: Polity. online they are more likely to think “I’m a Ging, D., Lynn, T., & Rosati, P. (2019). Neo lo- woman. I’m a feminist but I don’t want to gising misogyny: Urban Dic tiona ry’s folk- be out there in the public realm because I sonomies of sexual abuse. New Media & don’t want to be attacked. I don’t want to Society. doi:10.1177/1461444819870306 be doxed. I don’t want my personal data Golebiewski, M. & boyd, d. (2019). Data put all over the Internet. I don’t want peo- voids: Where missing data can easily be ple creating pornographic deepfake videos exploited. Data & Society. https:// of me.” datasociety.net/output/data-voids/ This, again, is a democratically dys- Hochschild, A. R. (2018). Strangers in their own functional outcome of the communica- land: Anger and mourning on the Ameri- tion-as-organization idea that was so im- can right. New York: New Press. portant when social media were new, a Latour, B. (2005). Reassembling the social: decade ago. And now, more than ever, we An introduction to actor-network-theory. can learn from the insights of that work London: Oxford University Press. but recalibrate them for a new era. We Livingstone, S. (2004). Media literacy and the again need to go beyond the idea that dig- challenge of new information and com- ital media are solely about the transmis- munication technologies. The Communi- sion of messages or representations, and cation Review 7(1), 3–14. instead focus on how they have become Petersen, M.B., Osmundsen, M. & Arceneaux, central to all types of formal and informal K. (2018). A need for chaos and the sharing organizational power. of hostile political rumors in advanced democracies, American Political Science Association conference paper. https:// References psyarxiv.com/6m4ts/ Phillips, W. (2019). It wasn’t just the trolls: Early Ananny, M. (2017). The whitespace press: Internet culture, “fun,” and the fires of ex- Designing meaningful absences into clusionary laughter. Social Media + Society. networked news. In P. J. Boczkowski & doi:10.1177/2056305119849493 C. W. Anderson (Eds.), Remaking the news: Russell, A (2016). Journalism as activism: Re- Essays on the future of journalism scholar- coding media power. Cambridge: Polity. ship in the digital age (pp. 129–146). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Ananny, M. (2018). Networked press freedom: Creating infrastructures for a public right to hear. Cambridge: MIT Press.

Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 227–241

Practice-driven journalism research: Impulses for a dynamic understanding of journalism in the context of its reorganization1 Christopher Buschow, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Department of Media Management, Faculty of Media, Germany [email protected]

Abstract This paper proposes a practice-theoretical journalism research approach for an alternate and innovative perspective of digital journalism’s current empirical challenges. The practice-theoretical approach is introduced by demonstrating its explanatory power in relation to demarcation problems, technological changes, economic challenges and challenges to journalism’s legitimacy. Its respective advantages in dealing with these problems are explained and then compared to established journalism theories. The particular relevance of the theoretical perspective is due to (1) its central decision to observe journalistic practices, (2) the transgression of conventional journalistic boundaries, (3) the denaturalization of journalistic norms and laws, (4) the explicit consideration of a material, socio-technical dimension of journalism, (5) a focus on the conﬂicting relationship between journalistic practices and media management practices, and (6) prioritizing order generation over stability.

Keywords journalism, journalism theories, practice theory, theory development, digitization

1 Introduction1 ing overlooked or even suppressed, from the viewpoint of traditional approaches. Theory development is typically regard- Today, against the background of advanced as an essential driving force for the ing digitization, the question arises as to progress of scientific knowledge. It is pri- whether the current changes in the me- marily comprised of the construction dia environment can still be adequately of approaches for responding to newly addressed within the range of established emerging theoretical and practical prob- theories. This is especially relevant to jour- lems – to empirical challenges – in a cer- nalism, since its traditional mass media tain field of research (Morrison, 2018). structures are collapsing over the course Altered or new theories should help to of economic, technological and socie- describe, understand, explain and, if pos- tal changes (Alexander, 2015; Deuze & sible, forecast such empirical challenges Witschge, 2018). and propose solutions. In contrast to the In this paper, I will highlight certain natural sciences, theory development in processes of journalism’s current reorga- media and communication studies ap- nization and the empirical challenges they parently results less from fundamental pose, which I aim to address from an alter- anomalies in empirical research than from native theoretical angle. In doing so, I will relevant aspects of a research object be- refer to the family of practice theories that connect to ongoing renewals in journalism 1 This is a slightly updated and translated studies (Ahva, 2017; Ryfe, 2018; Witschge & version of the German article: Buschow, C. Harbers, 2018), as well as media and com- (2018). Journalistik praxistheoretisch betrei- ben: Impulse für ein dynamisches Verständ- munication studies (Couldry, 2004; Pent- nis des Journalismus im Kontext seiner Neu- zold, 2020). These theories have gained ordnung. Publizistik, 63(4), 513–534. https:// popularity in numerous fields of the social dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11616-018-0458-5. sciences, especially because they promise

https://doi.org/10.24434/j.scoms.2020.02.006 © 2020, the authors. This work is licensed under the “Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial – NoDerivatives 4.0 International” license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). 228 Buschow / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 227–241 innovative perspectives and new concep- media, (2) the rapid development of new tualizations of problems. Unlike middle technology, (3) difficulties in financing range theories (Merton, 1968), practice journalism, and (4) a widely-reported cri- theories are not clearly structured, falsifi- sis of its legitimacy and authority. These able systems of hypotheses. In the empir- empirical challenges have been, as I will ical-pragmatic interpretation I present in illustrate in the following, essentially ini- this paper, they act more as a ‘theoretical tiated or advanced by the digitization of toolbox’ that enables new types of ques- today’s media environment. tions, perspectives and forms of empirical research (Nicolini, 2012, pp. 216–219; 2.1 Demarcation Reckwitz, 2002, p. 257). With this, I aim to In a media landscape characterized by provide a practice-driven journalism reprint and broadcasting, definitional ques- search approach that allows for the rein- tions of journalism have been primarily terpretation of current empirical challeng- a matter of academic controversy. To the es, especially in journalistic production extent that the emergence of digital media (Ryfe, 2018). However, I do not explicitly today enables the participation of every seek to present practice theories in their user, with new voices gaining publicity and entirety, deconstruct them critically, con- communication power (Castells, 2009), ceptually enhance them, or compare dif- the formerly academic discussion about ferent streams of literature. journalism’s boundaries is becoming in- The paper is structured as follows: In creasingly relevant in praxis: who can be Section 2, central empirical challenges of considered a journalist today if everyone journalism are briefly summarized, which can publish, and at any time? What dis- are primarily initiated by digitization and tinguishes journalistic actors from other interpreted as building blocks of its cur- speakers in digital media? What relation- rent reorganization. Section 3 drafts an ship should journalism have with these empirical-pragmatic interpretation of communicators? The variety of answers to practice theories and illustrates their (ex- these questions reflects a growing uncer- emplary) potential for the observation tainty on all sides – journalistic profession, and reinterpretation of the challenges de- users, scholarship – about the phenomena scribed. Thus, as summarized in Section that can still be classified as ‘journalistic’ 4, a promising perspective on journalism (Loosen, 2015, p. 77; Neuberger, 2018, is proposed, one which can provide inno- pp. 36–38). vative impulses for the progress of scien- This “identity crisis” (Neuberger, 2018, tific knowledge in the field. This does not p. 36, my translation) provokes active mean, however, that established theories boundary work on the part of journalists should be discarded. Nevertheless, a crit- (Carlson & Lewis, 2015). Today, the differ- ical revision seems to be necessary (espe- ences between journalism and the forms cially given developments in the field), so of public communication that have mostly that theories of journalism studies do not emerged under conditions of digitization become an “obstacle to knowledge” (Rühl, and compete for users’ attention are being 2011, p. 11, my translation). consciously stressed. For instance, differences between individuals with high levels of publicity and reach (so-called ‘influenc- 2 Empirical challenges: The ers’), social networks and their algorithms, reorganization of journalism under citizen journalism, advertising, and corpo- digitization rate communication.

At least four intertwined, partly global 2.2 Technology problems pose empirical challenges to Due to the rapid development of new (in- journalism (Neuberger, 2018; Siles & Bocz- ternet) technologies, which are reaching kowski, 2012): (1) increasing problems market maturity in increasingly shorter in- of definition and demarcation in digital tervals, and due to the growing relevance Buschow / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 227–241 229 of data and networks in a digitalized me- 2.3 Economy dia environment, journalism seems to be The current financial difficulties of jour- caught up in a technology race that takes nalism have arisen under a digital media on crisis-like characteristics. Enormous economy in which competition for atten- pressure to change and great uncertainties tion has become much fiercer, unlike print are evident in at least three areas: (1) work- and broadcast media (Nielsen, 2016). The ing methods, (2) products and genres, and long-established business model of the (3) (editorial) organization and forms of daily newspaper is barely functional under cooperation. these conditions. Journalistic media products currently only generate small profits, 1. As new technologies make their way both on the digital advertising and read- into the core of journalism, estab- er markets (Buschow & Wellbrock, 2019; lished ways of working are changed Picard, 2014). and questioned, while new ones are Since no economically sustainable created (Anderson & De Maeyer, 2015; alternatives to the traditional revenue Lewis & Westlund, 2015). Datafication streams have yet been developed, jour- has opened up innovative research nalism faces great economic uncertainty. and verification possibilities, as well A large number of press publishers are re- as completely new data journalistic acting to the economic challenges brought activities (Hermida & Young, 2019). about by digitization by consolidating and User data, such as that generated when reducing costs, and in some cases entire sharing or commenting on news, also newspapers have been discontinued. Be- has a great influence when the data tween 2006 and 2013, 40,000 jobs were traces generated become the basis of cut across all the publishers in Germany journalistic work and control its activi- (Seufert, 2013). In some cases, this has ties (Tandoc, 2019). Non-human actors led to atypical employment relationships are becoming increasingly important (Deuze & Witschge, 2018) and the emer- for the execution of journalistic activ- gence of new companies and start-ups ities, such as when computer systems outside established media structures (Bu- select, present or even generate news schow, 2020; Küng, 2015). In this increas- (so-called ‘automated journalism’) ingly precarious economic environment, (Hermida & Young, 2019). journalism can hardly take place under 2. “Virtual reality”, “augmented reality”, comparable working conditions to those “speech recognition” and other tech- possible in the mass media structures of nologies have opened up potential the 20th century (Anderson et al., 2012; for modified modes of presentation, Deuze & Witschge, 2018). genres and completely new media products in digital journalism (Godul- 2.4 Legitimacy la & Wolf, 2017). Each time, the ques- Journalism has recently become the fo- tion arises as to whether journalism cus of heated controversy about its privi- should make use of a new technol- leged social position, following (political) ogy / platform for the circulation of attacks. Some parts of the population are news, because it has the potential to questioning its legitimacy, authority and develop into a new mass medium, or truthfulness, and claiming that there has whether it is just hype. been a stark drop in quality (Quandt, 2018). 3. As “post-industrial means of produc- Debate is emerging about echo chambers tion” (Alexander, 2015, p. 17), hardware and filter bubbles, which are supposed to and software technologies create the be created by communication and datafi- basis for new forms of networked co- cation on platforms and presumably lead operation in journalism, which are no to a fragmentation of audiences and in- longer necessarily bound to traditional creasing polarization on the spectrum of workplaces like the newsroom (Ander- opinions (Pariser, 2011). son, Bell, & Shirky, 2012). 230 Buschow / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 227–241

The empirical data on alleged quality output by considering influencing factors losses is as ambiguous as that on the wide- on different levels or to focus on journal- ly-reported loss of trust and echo cham- istic mechanisms of content presentation bers / filter bubbles (Neuberger, 2018). At (e. g. news values research, gatekeeping the same time, these debates about legit- ap proach, agenda-setting theory). On imacy affect journalism in the already-vol- the other hand, attempts were made – at atile times that digitization has created. least in the German-speaking scientific Legitimacy debates are a plausible conse- com munity – to embed research in the so- quence of new forms of public communi- called ‘grand social theories’, e. g. in the so- cation in digital media, which, as indicated cial systems theory with reference to Niklas in Section 2.1, now fundamentally enable Luhmann or in Marx’s historical materi- all kinds of ‘media critique’ (Jarren, 2016). alism (Loeffelholz & Quandt, 2005). The epistemological interests of these journalism theories and their mechanisms in the 3 Theoretical reactions: A practice- conceptualization of empirical problems driven approach to addressing the are mainly based on the questions and an- empirical challenges of journalism swers of pre-digital journalism, in which its order seemed to be taken for granted, The crisis-like developments identified in and remained largely unquestioned. the previous section can be interpreted as There have thus been increasing signs the expression of a reorganization of jour- of a “next generation of journalism theory” nalism under the conditions of its digitiza- (the title of an edited book by Altmeppen, tion (Buschow, 2018). They pose empirical Hanitzsch, & Schlüter, 2007, my transla- challenges that are acknowledged as rele- tion). Several authors are concerned that re- vant both within and outside the academ- searching journalism with entrenched con- ic world. The extent to which a theory can cepts, traditional terminology and middle grasp these challenges and deal with them range theories based on principles of falsi- productively is an important criterion for fication could suppress novelty in the re- evaluating its performance. search area (Ahva, 2017; Deuze & Witschge, Are established theoretical approach- 2018; Ryfe, 2018; Witschge & Harbers, 2018). es capable of adequately focusing on the Deuze and Witschge (2018, p. 177) have challenges outlined above and proposing called for “a toolkit that looks at the field productive solutions to them? A substan- as a moving object and as a dynamic set of tial number of the approaches still applied practices and expectations – a profession in in journalism studies today have been a permanent process of becoming”. Such a developed in the light of historical con- theoretical toolbox can be developed, as I ditions. Modern research on journalism will illustrate in the following, based on the emerged when many of its research ob- family of practice theories. jects (media organizations, newsrooms, employed journalists) were quite homo- 3.1 Background: An empirical-pragmatic geneous and distinct. Against this back- interpretation of practice theories ground, empirical research on the profes- Although several heterogeneous approa- sional field of journalism and its actors in ches are regarded as practice theories, particular has been accused of a certain which can be traced back to different “abstinence from theory”, as it takes con- fields of origin (sociology, social philos- cepts and categories for granted and ap- ophy, sociology of science, science and plies them without sufficient theoretical technology studies, etc.) and which are reflection (Raabe, 2005, p. 19; Rühl, 2011, clearly distinctive in detail, they are nev- pp. 11–12). In a simplified form, the the- ertheless connected by a certain “family oretical field of journalism studies can be resemblance” (Reckwitz, 2002, p. 244).2 categorized as follows: on the one hand, theories of middle or small range focus on 2 Due to the limited scope of this paper and explaining the emergence of journalistic its aim of proposing an ‘ideal type’ of prac- Buschow / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 227–241 231

What practice theories have in common chow, 2018, pp. 233–235; Nicolini, 2012, is that they develop a novel kind of social pp. 228–235; Schatzki, 2016, pp. 16–23). ontology through which the world can be Social practices thus always remain tied experienced in a specific way: their atten- to a trans-situational structure, which pro- tion is on social practices as fundamental vides a backdrop for analysis and can be units of analysis, which (from this point refocused on again at any time. of view) form the relevant constituents of Due to their focus, practice theories everyday human life and the social world cannot be meaningfully classified either (Feldman & Orlikowski, 2011; Giddens, as action or structural theories: they do 1976; Giddens, 1984; Nicolini, 2012; Reck- not begin with superordinate structures or witz, 2002; Schatzki, Knorr-Cetina, & von with the single actions of individuals, but Savigny, 2001; Schatzki, 2002; Schatzki, focus on typical patterns of action in a re- 2016; Shove, Pantzar, & Watson, 2012). In search area and link these with structural essence, social practices can be under- conditions and consequences (Giddens, stood as typical patterns of action, which 1984). However, it is the constant, repet- are enacted regularly, across contexts, at itive interaction of action and structure different times and in different places. Al- in and through social practices that (re-) though this definition highlights a certain produces social order, whose continuous routinization, regularity and stability of production, perpetuation and eventual social practices, the transformative poten- disruption are the programmatic core of tial of practices must always be taken into practice-theoretical research interest. In account. Anthony Giddens (1976, p. 102) the understanding of practice theories, so- emphasizes that social practices carry cial phenomena – including subjects, their both continuity and renewal: “All repro- mental characteristics and structures – are duction is necessarily production, howev- not axiomatically presupposed by theory er, and the seed of change is there in every but are first and foremost shaped and (re-) act which contributes towards the repro- produced by social practices (cf. Schatzki duction of any ‘ordered’ form of social 2002, pp. 89–105). To this end, practices life.” Social practices constitute broader ‘choose’ various (possibly also non-hu- social phenomena, the so-called practice man) actors as carriers and, thus, (re-)pro- constellations (such as organizations, net- ducers (cf. Shove et al. 2012, pp. 63–66). works or markets) which indicate a certain The focus of the approaches considered orderliness of the social (Giddens, 1984; here is therefore less on fixed entities, but Schatzki, 2016, pp. 5–7). rather on fluid processes and the mech- Even if practice theories always take anisms through which order is generat- social practices as their starting point, ed. At the same time, theories of practice they by no means only focus on the local, bear critical potential, such as when they situational actions of actors – unlike clas- reveal the inequalities and power differ- sical theories of action or interpretative ences reproduced in praxis and when they phenomenological approaches (Giddens, question their “reification” – an assumed 1976). In addition to an in-depth analy- non-human facticity of human phenom- sis of individual practices, the aim is to ena (cf. Berger & Luckmann, 1967, p. 88). reflect on their structural embedding, on In recent years, practice theories have their interweaving and interdependence sparked a broad spectrum of novel re- with other practices, their effects and so- search in numerous social science disci- cial consequences in the constitution plines. They are particularly stimulating of wider-reaching phenomena (cf. Bus- where traditional theories, categorizations and terminology have reached the limits tice theories for use in journalism research, of dynamic fields of investigation and em- the theoretical and methodological differences between these individual approaches pirical challenges. This is because prac- cannot be discussed in detail in the follow- tice theories denaturalize the theoretical ing (for an introduction, see Nicolini, 2012; entities derived from previous research, Reckwitz, 2002; Shove et al., 2012). the seemingly self-evident definitional 232 Buschow / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 227–241 instruments and their established (actor) stituted, perpetuated and changed as a categories which have been consolidated practice constellation solely through the over longer periods. These can, therefore, enactment of social practices. What is con- suppress the observation of changes in sidered journalism is taken from the on- journalism (Domingo, Masip, & Costera going praxis itself – from what the actors Meijer, 2015, p. 64). regularly do across contexts, and them- Practice theories should thus not be selves define as journalism. At the same understood as permanent knowledge, time, it is newly empiricized: journalism is from which hypotheses can be empirically what is established as ‘journalism’ both in derived, tested and possibly falsified. They and through social practices (Ahva, 2017; are more of a theoretical point of depar- Buschow, 2018; Raabe, 2005; Ryfe, 2018; ture from which an altered understanding Witschge & Harbers, 2018). The question of the current challenges facing journal- of which social practices to focus on is an ism is possible, and from which innovative empirical one, which does not necessarily research can be initiated. Nicolini (2012) have to be decided before the start of the showed that such an empirical-pragmatic research process. With such an open and interpretation of practice theories is prac- exploratory procedure, unexpected find- ticable when he proposed a “toolkit ap- ings that have not been specifically looked proach” (pp. 213–241) that allows for new for beforehand can be captured. questions and the reinterpretation of em- In the following, the potential of a pirical challenges (also see Reckwitz, 2002, practice-driven journalism research ap- pp. 257–259). Such a toolbox includes the proach will be explained, with reference characteristics of the practice theories out- to central problems of journalism’s reor- lined in this section: a specific conceptual ganization, as outlined in Section 2. The instrument, basic units of analysis, and main focus will be on demonstrating the assumptions about processes and mech- extent to which a practice-theoretical ap- anisms in the constitution of social order. proach proves to be useful and innovative, in order to productively address the 3.2 The performance of practice four empirical challenges. Does the prac- theories in conceptualizing the tice-theoretical perspective provide alter- reorganization of journalism native perspectives that stand out from It is apparent that the interpretation of the established approaches of journalism practice theories I have developed here is studies? Does it open up promising start- capable of conceptualizing the current re- ing points for new questions and empiri- organization of journalism. A primacy of cal investigations? the empirical, a focus on the accomplish- ment of typical patterns of action, and a 3.2.1 Demarcation: Capturing new processual, dynamic understanding of a practices and actors by deliberately constantly evolving order (instead of fun- crossing borders damental stability) are the important ad- How can the proposed perspective help vantages of an analytical perspective that to overcome the identity crisis of journal- seeks to grasp the increasingly fluid insti- ism outlined in Section 2.1? The answer to tutional context of journalism.3 this question is sobering: practice theories In terms of practice theories, jour- are quite unsuitable for making a tangi- nalism is always ‘in the making’. It is con- ble distinction between media contexts that could support journalists in drawing 3 These characteristics prove to be advantages boundaries with neighboring communi- with regard to the specific objectives of this cation phenomena, such as PR or propa- paper – to provide a new research perspec- ganda. The expectation is already at the tive for the empirical challenges of journalism outlined above. Other characteristics of core of the idea that practice constellations practice theories, which could not be dis- have blurred often precarious boundar- cussed here, may be considered advantages for other objectives (see also Section 4). Buschow / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 227–241 233 ies.4 Anthony Giddens (1984, p. 165), for the well-established practices of investi- instance, highlights that “it is important gating or selecting in newsrooms that were to re-emphasise that the term ‘social sys- usually examined in journalism studies tem’ should not be understood to desig- (Buschow, 2018, p. 120; Lewis & Westlund, nate only clusters of social relations whose 2015, pp. 28–33). The example emphasizes boundaries are clearly set off from others. the extent to which the practice-driven re- The degree of ‘systemness’ is very vari- search approach can identify new or pre- able …”. The proposed approach hence viously marginalized patterns of action in stands in stark contrast to system-theoret- the traditional work environment. ical principles, which intend to clearly de- Furthermore, practice theories open lineate the journalistic system by means of up an innovative perspective, because specific functional attributions (cf. Raabe, they do not adopt the often value-laden 2005, pp. 48–75). This results in at least debates of demarcation, but quite deliber- four promising research perspectives that ately exceed the boundaries of the estab- hold potential for conceptual innovations lished set of actors in journalism. Past and and impulses in journalism studies. empirical studies on the professional field As outlined above, all practice theories of journalism, which are mainly informed start with a focus on social practices, i.e. by systems theory, usually start with a few the typical patterns of action in a research narrowly-focused categories of actors, area. From a research strategic point of such as ‘press publishers’, ‘broadcasters’ view, normative classifications such as or ‘full-time journalists’. Practice theories “journalistic programs” that are ground- are not based on these traditional catego- ed in past studies do not a priori prescribe ries. Thus, in principle, a greater variety of the aspects to be examined (Buschow, actors as carriers of journalistic practices 2018, pp. 119–121). Instead, it is primarily can be examined: journalism research can through empirical research that the prac- then be applied to organizations such as tices that produce the social phenomenon start-ups or research networks, as well as of ‘journalism’ are exposed. Therefore, to non-human, sociotechnical actors (al- even in established work environments gorithms, robots or code), which now car- like the newsroom, the established social ry out activities previously performed by praxis of everyday news work becomes humans (Buschow, 2018, pp. 330–335). visible, along with the (possible new) ac- Seen through the lens of practice the- tivities that were not dealt with by previous ories, the normative premises or laws of research, or only very marginally (Ahva, journalism also appear in a different light. 2017). Through the practice-theoretical They are often interpreted as preceding or lens, ‘boundary management’ (the dis- superordinate to social praxis, and demar- tinction between and drawing of boundar- cations are thus established on their basis, ies; see Section 2.1) becomes recognizable for instance in media systems research or as a journalistic practice that exerts a de- media law (cf. Witschge & Harbers, 2018, cisive influence on the emergence of jour- p. 107). From the perspective followed nalism as a practice constellation, just like here, however, these norms and laws, which are in a certain respect ‘reified’ (see 4 From my point of view, a practice-driven Section 3.1), must be understood as social journalism research approach does not in- constructions and as condensed, codified tend to completely ‘erode’ the limits of its results of previous social praxis. research object (Ahva, 2017; Ryfe, 2018). It is Practice theories can be applied in rather about breaking with what I call ‘defi- order to explore the mobility and strate- nitional orthodoxy’: Practice-driven journal- gic transportation of journalistic practices ism research differs from such approaches into new contexts – together with the con- that in a traditional (“orthodox”) way very narrowly define the spectrum of journalistic sequences for the practices concerned, the actors and thus exclude important research practice constellations and their boundar- objects from whose investigation these ap- ies. They promise insights into the way in proaches would have empirically benefited. which practices are ‘re-localized’ beyond 234 Buschow / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 227–241 pre-defined borders. In doing so, it is pos- oretical perspectives. It not only allows in- sible to trace the extent to which journalis- dividual rules of journalism (professional tic practices are removed from their orig- and legal norms, quality standards, role inal (organizational) contexts and copied attributions, public image, etc.) or isolated or imitated in new environments, such as resources (tools, technologies and infra- in corporate publishing or in the so-called structure, business models, etc.) to be ex- ‘newsrooms’ of political parties, with the amined selectively, but also focuses on the aim of legitimizing the activities under- interaction of all these components in and taken there, or creating brand value (Neu- through the journalistic practices that inte- berger, 2018, pp. 37–38). grate them (Buschow, 2018, pp. 121–125). Since established practices, tradi- Such an integrative, anti-reductionist ap- tional actors and reified norms do not proach clearly distinguishes practice the- mark the boundaries of the research area, ories from classical social theories, which the practice-theoretical conceptualiza- often focus on a single social dimension, tion re mains open to grey areas and nich- such as economic resources or cultural dis- es which can anticipate future steps in the course (cf. Giddens, 1981, p. 26). development of journalism, and show- The material world (bodies, natural case possible futures (Strippel et al., 2018, things, artifacts, etc.) and technology are p. 12–13). With reference to practice theo- seen to have an essential meaning in the ries, a much wider spectrum of journalis- constitution of social practices.5 Neverthe- tic activities and actors can be registered less, practice theories do not understand when compared to the established the- technology as a seemingly autonomous, ories, which often start ‘top-down’ from natural resource that, once invented, sud- existing organizations, individuals or ac- denly creates upheavals in journalism. The tivities. Practice theories’ sensitivity to appropriation and application of technol- variety and diversity promises to tie jour- ogies within social practices (such as the nalism studies closer to its research object, journalistic practices of investigating, se- which in its richness is experienced in a lecting, and producing) is only possible new, empirical-explorative way (Couldry and meaningful because of the carrier’s 2004; Deuze & Witschge, 2020; Witschge & knowledge of these practices. Actors must Harbers, 2018). In practice-driven journal- take possession of technology by ‘putting ism research, the empirical challenges of it into practice’, and institutionalize its use demarcating journalism are therefore to before it can actually lead to renewal in a be reinterpreted as a promising starting practice constellation (Feldman & Orli- point for empirical research to transgress kowski, 2011, pp. 1247–1249). certain, supposedly solid boundaries of The conceptualization of technology journalism. as a resource to be integrated within journalistic practices demystifies, to a certain 3.2.2 Technology: Understanding extent, claims of the technology-induced technology as a constitutive element pressure for change presented in Section of social practices 2.2. It avoids two fundamental theoreti- There is no agreement within the family of cal problems (Alexander, 2015): a deter- practice theories as to whether social prac- ministic understanding of technology as tices are the basic building blocks of social an external, largely independent force life, or whether practices are to be traced that quasi-automatically triggers change, back to other components. If the latter and a voluntaristic perspective of tech- view is held, then interpretative, normative nology as a genuine positive tool that en- and material components of social practices are usually differentiated between 5 Controversies within the family of practice (Reckwitz, 2002; Shove et al., 2012). Since theories arise from the question whether the practice-theoretical approach takes all objects and things can be understood as in- three analytical dimensions into account, dependent agents (“actants”) (e. g. Schatzki, it integrates previously separate social-the- 2002, pp. 190-210). Buschow / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 227–241 235 ables journalists to work more freely and localized, disintegrated and networked self-determinedly. From the perspective of forms of journalistic work (Buschow, 2018, practice theories, both approaches, some pp. 335–341). The analytical focus on the of which are represented in established procedural nature of technology and on research (cf. Witschge & Harbers, 2018, its role as a component of social practices p. 109), must be rejected as reductionist. provides an enriching perspective for con- The perspective proposed here thus differs temporary journalism research. clearly from a technology-dependent or a technology-skeptical journalism research 3.2.3 Economics: Unbundling the approach. tense interrelationship between From the perspective of practice theo- journalism and media management ries, specific questions can then be raised: Unsurprisingly, practice theories do not what significance do individual technolo- succeed in formulating prescriptive rec- gies have as resources within the accom- ommendations for the development of plishment of a specific journalistic prac- financing alternatives in journalism that tice? With new technologies, how does this could be used to solve the economic dif- practice differ from its past conditions? ficulties outlined in Section 2.3. Rather, How do the new technologies find their the approach advocated here presents way into journalistic practices, and what economic problems in a new light. They other components (e. g. discourses on are taken as opportunities to unravel the their usage) do they carry into the prac- significant and tense interrelationship be- tice constellation of journalism (cf. Shove tween journalism and media management et al., 2012, pp. 21–41)? An exemplary re- (e. g. Altmeppen, 2006; Bachmann, 2017). sult of the influx of technology is the phe- In this way, practice theories sensitize us to nomenon of data journalism, understood the fact that economic conditions always from a practice-theoretical perspective as have both a restrictive and an enabling in- an integration of resources and discourses fluence on journalism. This distinguishes from data analytics, statistics, computer them explicitly from system theories, in and hacker culture in journalistic prax- which it is sometimes argued that jour- is. The same applies to drone or sensor nalism has ‘built its organizations’. The journalism, by means of which previously fact that clearly economically-motivat- separate practice constellations (aviation, ed media companies (cf. Ludwig, 1999) computer science, robotics) are finding created these organizations under spe- their way into journalism. cific conditions is neglected here. From The analytical gain of this perspective a practice-theoretical point of view, the is also visible in the influence of technol- disciplinary separation of ‘journalism’ and ogy on news production structures and ‘media management’ is recognizable as an organizational forms of journalism. New artificial juxtaposition (especially under software and hardware technologies, as current market conditions and the com- components of journalistic practices, al- petition for attention) which sometimes low for the joint management of these conceals certain power relations (Knoche, practices as virtually mediated, without 2014). Unlike approaches based on Marx, necessarily presupposing the same physi- however, in theories of practice, economic cal location or simultaneous activities on conditions are not understood as inescap- the part of their carriers (Knorr-Cetina & able constraints, but as media manage- Bruegger, 2002). Based on the introduc- ment practices that are an integral part tion of the telegraph in the 19th century, of journalism and which should not have Anthony Giddens addressed this phe- been given conceptual precedence from nomenon with reference to the concept the very beginning. of “time-space distanciation” (Giddens, From a practice-theoretical perspec- 1991, pp. 23–27). Today, however, tech- tive, the mutual influence of management nologies in social practices become even practices and journalistic practices, their more decisive for the constitution of de- concatenation and interdependence, and 236 Buschow / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 227–241 the social effects associated with them can sciously) in the constitution of journalism, be seen very clearly (Winter & Buschow, such as journalists, media managers, us- 2017). Media management practices de- ers, companies and political parties. The termine the respective business models social praxis of journalism is neither the for financing journalism. Just like technol- result of the efforts of certain individuals ogy (see Section 3.2.2), business models or partial groups nor the result of some are presented as components of journal- anonymous force which works behind the istic practices. In this context, advertis- backs of the actors (‘invisible hand’, histor- ing financing has different effects on the ical laws, etc., as assumed in some grandi- implementation of journalistic practices ose social theories). Neither is journalism to financing primarily through subscrip- a “rational product” (Park, 1923, p. 273) tions. As practice-theoretical research on which is planned or determined by these newly founded organizations in journal- mechanisms. This is particularly evident ism shows, the coupling of these start-ups today under the conditions of digital, net- with new sources of financing and with worked media, and was already a topic of changed business models has a decisive the sociological Chicago school around influence on the type of journalism pro- Robert E. Park, who emphasized: duced (Buschow, 2018, pp. 344–346). In order to attract venture capital financing, The press, as it exists, is not, as our moralists for instance, start-ups must align their sometimes seem to assume, the wilful prod- journalistic practices with the expecta- uct of any little group of living men. On the tions of their investors (Buschow, 2018, contrary, it is the outcome of an historic pro- pp. 272–275). The practice constellations, cess in which many individuals participated which emerge through the interlocking without foreseeing what the ultimate product of journalistic practices and media man- of their labors was to be. The newspaper […] agement practices, influence the function is not wholly a rational product. No one and the goals that start-ups combine with sought to make it just what it is. In spite of all their journalistic products, as well as, pre- the efforts of individual men and generations sumably, the image of their social role and of men to control it and to make it something journalistic output (Buschow, 2018, p. 357). after their own heart, it has continued to grow The consideration of media manage- and change in its own incalculable ways. ment practices in general and of business (Park, 1923, p. 273). models as components of journalistic practices appears, then, to be a promising undertaking for journalism that wants to Against the backdrop of fierce media cri- take appropriate account of the economic tique (which may be based on false em- upheavals in its subject area, without nec- pirical assumptions, see Section 2.4, but essarily assuming a primacy of the eco- exemplarily illustrates the influence of nu- nomic realm. merous actors in the constitution of journalism), the practice-theoretical perspec- 3.2.4 Legitimacy: Applying controversies tive proves useful for grasping episodes of as episodes of journalism’s continuous generation, stabilization and permanent becoming disruption of journalism’s order. Practice theories alter perspectives on the From this, the following research op- frequently discussed crisis of journalism’s portunities arise (among others): by spe- legitimacy (see Section 2.4). From a prac- cifically focusing on the emergence of or- tice-driven viewpoint, these discourses der, practice-driven journalism research underline the fact that journalism is not a can observe how new concepts of jour- fixed, reified entity, but rather constantly nalism are developed in response to de- ‘in the making’ through the enactment of bates on its legitimacy and quality. It can social practices (Deuze & Witschge, 2018, also understand these new concepts as p. 169). Numerous individual and corpo- the results of power struggles between ac- rate actors participate (more or less con- tors. In doing so, it investigates the actors’ Buschow / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 227–241 237 vested interests, means of power and (ma- 3. Denaturalization of journalistic norms terial) resources, as I have shown in a re- and laws: The constitution of social construction of the debate on an ancillary praxis through constant (re-)produc- copyright for press publishers in Germany tion explains apparently reified norms (Buschow, 2012). Finally, the perspective and laws of journalism as the results allows for the reconstruction of the extent of previous social practices, which, as to which (individual and corporate) actors Rühl (1980) states, are not “[categories] are ‘manufactured’ into a specific role – for the essence of journalism that [are] e. g. as a journalist or journalistic organiza- fixed forever, unchangeable” (p. 327, tion – through their enactment of certain my translation). practices in the first place. 4. Consideration of a material, sociotechnical dimension of journalism: Practice theories also emphasize the material 4 Conclusion dimension of social life. They emphasize the fundamental intertwining of Practice theories understand journalism as technology with journalistic practic- a social phenomenon that can be grasped es, and refer to the possible agency of by means of the social practices that are technology in journalism. recursively (re-)produced in their enact- 5. Conflicting relationship between jour- ment over time and space. In this paper, I nalistic practices and media manage- have argued that the definitional, techno- ment practices: By researching the in- logical, economic and legitimation-related terconnectedness of social practices, empirical challenges of journalism, which the collision of practices – for instance, arose primarily in the context of its digi- between journalism and media man- tization, appear in a new light from such agement – can be grasped and exam- a perspective and can thus be dealt with ined with regard to their (intended and more productively. On this basis, the pre- unintended) effects. vious chapters outlined points of depar- 6. Prioritizing order generation over ture for alternative questions and empiri- stability: By taking into account the cal perspectives. The particular relevance constitutional mechanisms of order and specific advantages of a theoretical generation in journalism, practice the- perspective that understands journalism ories sensitize us to the fact that work as social praxis primarily result from the on journalism is always carried out by following characteristics: numerous heterogeneous actors, who have often been given insufficient con- 1. Central decision to observe journalistic sideration in research. practices: A relatively impartial, inductive empirical approach to journalistic Despite these strengths, the application of practices can also capture such pat- practice theories will hardly solve all the terns of action that – unlike the ‘stan- challenges of contemporary journalism dard practices’ described in traditional (research). Above all, practice theories do journalism studies – have not been the not make prescriptive recommendations focus of previous research. that would offer clear solutions to concrete 2. Transgression of conventional bound- problems (see Shove et al., 2012, pp. 162– aries of journalism: An initial focus 164). In the interpretation presented here, on journalistic practices decentralizes they form an alternative perspective for established sets of actors, so that even the exploration of journalism, from which marginal actors, niche phenomena its problems and challenges appear in a and contexts formerly regarded as dis- different light and can be reflected upon tant from journalism attract research in a new way (Nicolini, 2012; Shove et al., attention – in the sense of “theoriz- 2012). ing journalism from the ground up” Practice theories have been criticized (Deuze & Witschge, 2018, p. 169). on various occasions. Among the prob- 238 Buschow / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 227–241 lems identified are an investigation of so- nally, it can analyze the linkage of practices cial practices that mostly relies on enact- into broader practice constellations, and ment in the field itself, the risk of following thus trace the genesis of newly-emerg- a definitional relativism that puts the noring production networks that have so far mative foundations of journalism at stake, played only a minor role in (German) jour- and a theoretical bias that could under- nalism studies (Buschow, 2018). As social estimate the stability of order. Anderson science methods, primarily qualitative (2020) has recently criticized how prac- (participant) observations and news work tice-driven journalism studies “does not ethnographies prove to be adequate, since do enough to explain how media actually they allow for the following of social prac- matter for culture and politics in the ear- tices in their actual enactment (Ryfe, 2018). ly 21st century” (p. 349), particularly as it Nevertheless, their application is always does not take sufficient account of media limited when journalistic practices, as vir- content. This criticism must be adequately tually mediated practices, are carried out reflected upon in practice-driven journal- neither at the same time nor in the same ism research. It points to the fact that the place, something which seems increasing- field needs a rich pluralism of theories, so ly to be the case (Anderson, 2011). Here, that the blind spots of practice theories approaches of “multi-sited ethnography” become visible and can be addressed with (Marcus, 1995) can be considered. For spe- alternative approaches (Anderson, 2020; cial research contexts (e. g. media compa- Steensen & Ahva, 2015). nies where the implementation of (some) In this paper, I have developed a sim- practices is the subject of in-depth discur- plified understanding of practice theories sive reflection), non-observational, ver- as a theoretical toolbox for new perspec- bal methods such as survey studies (with tives and alternate conceptualizations of ‘practitioners’ or in ‘communities of prac- problems in journalism studies. Further tice’) and document analyses may also be accentuations (e. g. the body-bound na- viable (Hitchings, 2012).7 ture of social praxis, or the tacit knowledge It was the German journalism scholar inscribed in practices) and controversies Manfred Rühl who emphasized that schol- within the family of practice theories could ars alone are in the position “to enter new not be taken up from the empirical-prag- territory that is difficult to access, i.e. to matic understanding presented here. With think about journalism other than only in few exceptions, there was no occasion in terms of the categories and concepts that this paper for a systematic comparison of have been handed down through history” practice theories in relation to more estab- (Rühl, 1980, p. 13, my translation). Today’s lished social theories. research cannot fall behind this convic- Where can practice-driven journalism tion: it will be of vital importance for fu- research start in empirical investigations? ture-oriented journalism studies. The Several points of departure are conceiv- practice-driven approach outlined in this able: it can start out from a single journalis- paper proposes a fertile point of departure tic practice, which is captured in depth, fol- to address Manfred Rühl’s call under the lowed over space and time, and examined current dynamics of digitization. with regard to changes of (several of) its components (“follow the elements of practice”; Shove et al., 2012, p. 22). It can focus on concrete ‘sites of the social’ (Schatzki, theoretical sense: Practices always cross the 2002), for instance on established news- boundaries of organizations; a too narrow rooms or news start-ups, which, of course, perspective fails to reveal this interwoven- ness. always have to be regarded as provisional 6 7 For an overview of practice-theoretical re- products of social praxis (Ahva, 2017). Fi- search strategies, see Bueger & Gadinger (2018, pp. 131–161), Jonas, Littig & Wro- 6 Here, however, there is a risk of defining blewski (2017), Nicolini (2012, pp. 213–242) and ‘cutting’ practices in a classical social and Ryfe (2018). Buschow / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 227–241 239

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Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 243–254

Hybrid professionalism in journalism: Opportunities and risks of hacker sources Philip Di Salvo*, Università della Svizzera italiana (USI), Institute of Media and Journalism, Switzerland Colin Porlezza, City, University of London, Department of Journalism, United Kingdom *Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract Hackers have a double relevance with regard to the transformation of the journalistic field: first, they have established themselves as journalistic actors, even if their work may sometimes seem unfamiliar. Second, hackers have not only become important sources for information but they are also a topic of public interest in a data-driven society increasingly threatened by surveillance capitalism. This paper critically discusses the role of hackers as news sources by analyzing the “stalkerware” investigation carried out by the online news magazine Motherboard. Drawing from field theory and boundary work, the article sheds light on how hackers exert an increasing influence on journalism, its practices, epistemologies, and ethics, resulting in an increasing hybridization of journalism. Journalism has become a dynamic space, in which hackers are not only becoming relevant actors in the journalism field, but they often represent the only sources journalists have to shed light on wrongdoings. Hence, hackers are increasingly defining the conditions under which journalism is carried out, both in terms of its practices as well as in its normative framework.

Keywords boundary work, ﬁeld theory, hackers, hacking, hybridity, journalism ethics, news sources

1 Introduction ing the news (Thorsen, 2017). In addition, some data journalists have adopted de The past 10 years have seen a progressively facto hacking practices for data scraping, more extended presence of hackers in the data sourcing and have integrated coding journalistic ﬁeld. Hackers have become, as a regular component into their report- on different levels, active journalistic playing (Usher, 2016). The “Panama Papers” ers: they have brought topics and themes investigation, for instance, has shown the on top of journalists’ and policy makers’ computational element of data-driven re- agendas; they have contributed to jour- porting at its best (Cabra & Kissane, 2016). nalistic practices by providing new tools Furthermore, hacking-related issues such and technology and, in certain instanc- as information security and the use of en- es, they have become sources providing cryption software for source protection ﬁrst-hand source material to investigative have also become a topic in particular reporters (Di Salvo, 2017). News about for investigative journalists, particularly state-sponsored hacking attacks in the if they work with whistleblowers and oth- context of political elections, such as those er sensible sources (Posetti, 2017). Safer that occurred during the 2016 US Presi- communication tools such as Signal, the dential election campaigns, have made Tor Browser, or whistleblowing platforms the news worldwide and sparked a wide based on open source software GlobaLe- debate around politically motivated hack- aks and SecureDrop are also progressive- ing and information warfare. At the same ly becoming routinized in newsrooms (Di time, hacking topics such as cybersecuri- Salvo, 2020). And also WikiLeaks, as con- ty, encryption, online privacy, state hack- troversial as it may be as an actor in the ing powers, online surveillance or data media landscape, continues to exert its breaches and theft are now regularly mak-

https://doi.org/10.24434/j.scoms.2020.02.007 © 2020, the authors. This work is licensed under the “Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial – NoDerivatives 4.0 International” license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). 244 Di Salvo & Porlezza / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 243–254 influence on journalism, its practices and their business with non-democratic gov- epistemologies (Brevini, 2017). ernments (Citizen Lab, 2013, 2014, 2015; Moreover, some investigations pub- Coleman, 2017a). lished in the past few years have been based This paper will look at a particular on source materials released by hackers as case study, the “stalkerware” investigation a result of cyberattacks against institutions published by the online magazine Mother- or individuals. Gabriella Coleman defines board, as an example of how hackers may these practices as “public interest hacks” become journalistic sources. In this par- (PIH) (2017a) and has traced their origins ticular case, Motherboard journalists con- back to 2008, when hackers orchestrated ducted an investigation into the so-called the first attack of this kind against the US “stalkerware” software market, based on white supremacist radio host Hal Turner. illegally obtained documents and provid- In Coleman’s view, PIHs consist of two sep- ed by hackers. Specifically, the documents arate elements: the “hack” and the “leak” contained evidence about two firms that of digital documents. When conducting produce surveillance software, their distri- PIHs, hackers attack servers and commu- bution and technical details. By asking the nication networks with the aim of extract- question “how are hacker sources changing otherwise private information with ing journalism?”, we specifically look at the the final purpose of leaking it via different epistemological and ethical implications strategies, including dumping or provid- such collaborations with hacker sources ing it to journalists via encrypted commu- might entail, particularly when materials nication channels. Hackers have targeted obtained from hackers may have been very different organizations and individu- gathered illegally. In particular, we look at als with PIHs in the past ten years (Cole- whether hackers are accepted as sources man, 2017a): politicians or former politi- within the boundaries of the journalistic cians such as Sarah Palin, Colin Powell and field and how this is at the core of the es- Emmanuel Macron; the Syrian and Peruvi- tablishment of new professional norms in an governments; companies such as Sony regards of sourcing. Pictures and political parties such as the First, we will offer a description of the US Democrats and the Turkish AKP, Recep specific case discussed in Motherboard Tayyip Erdoğan’s party. In most of these as it represents the basis of our reflec- instances, the stolen and leaked materials tions. We then take a step back and turn have been private emails extracted from to a macro-level perspective in order to organizations’ servers. Hackers responsi- analyze how such specific cases are chal- ble for these PIHs have been affiliated with lenging and questioning the boundaries hacktivist groups such as Anonymous or of journalism (Carlson and Lewis, 2015). RevoluSec. Some of them acted on their The use of hacker sources in journalism own, as it is in the case of Phineas Phish- represents a professional and normative er. Others, instead, were under the control challenge for reporters and journalism of state actors or intelligence agencies, as and results in a negotiation processes re- it is for the infamous Fancy Bear group or volving around topics such as hacking, the Guccifer 2.0 persona that hacked the security, journalism ethics and the public US Democratic National Committee in interest. In addition, these developments 2016 and released the material using dif- create issues for journalism ethics: while ferent channels, including WikiLeaks. In the question of whether and how to use some other instances, instead, PIHs have illegally obtained information is all but interested private companies operating new, the changing media ecosystem does in the surveillance market, such as the indeed raise new dilemmas as actors such Anglo-German Gamma Group, the Italian as WikiLeaks now occupy “the space be- Hacking Team, or the Israeli Cellebrite. tween publishers, sources and journalists” In these instances, companies have been (Owen, 2016, p. 27) and can, on their own, targeted by hacktivist hackers whose aims release information as they see fit or with- have been exposing those firms making out necessarily involving traditional news Di Salvo & Porlezza / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 243–254 245 organizations. However, the publication identities of the hackers responsible for the of illegally obtained information can, for Retina-X and FlexiSpy leak has not been instance, entail legal consequences, al- disclosed and only the nickname of one of beit most often the source – and not the the two – Leopard Boy – has been revealed. publisher – risks being prosecuted. In ad- In their reporting, Franceschi-Bicchierai dition, there is always the question about and Cox included some quotes coming the tendency – or (hidden) agenda – of the from the communication exchanges oc- source. By using one specific case study, curred between them and their sources this paper offers a theoretical reflection on via online chats. Hackers have explained how hacker sources challenge journalistic on the record their motivations and ratio- boundary maintenance, how they create nales about hacking the two companies new moral dilemmas, and how they con- and releasing the information to the press tribute to the continuous hybridization of (Franceschi-Bicchierai & Cox, 2017). Ac- journalism and the emergence of new pro- cording to Franceschi-Bicchierai and Cox, fessional norms regarding hackers. hackers targeted Retina-X and FlexiSpy to send a message to the industry as a whole. In particular, Leopard Boy, quoted Phineas 2 The “stalkerware” surveillance Fisher, the hacker or group of hackers re- market Motherboard investigation sponsible for the PIHs against surveillance firms Gamma Group and Hacking Team, In April 2017, VICE’s technology channel to explain their motivations: “leaking isn’t Motherboard published an investigation an end in itself; it’s all about the message,” titled “Inside the ‘Stalkerware’ Surveil- said the hacker (Franceschi-Bicchierai & lance Market, Where Ordinary People Tap Cox, 2017). For their part, the unnamed Each Other’s Phones,” authored by Loren- hacker added instead more details about zo Franceschi-Bicchierai and Joseph Cox what motivated them: “99% of the people (2017), two widely known journalists in being spied on with these things don’t de- the field of technology and information serve to have their lives invaded so much” security reporting. The story was based (Franceschi-Bicchierai & Cox, 2017). In an on a cache of hacked documents coming interview with Leopard Boy, published a from two US-based companies, Retina-X few days after the publication of the inves- and FlexiSpy that both specialize in coding tigation, Cox and Franceschi-Bicchierai and selling “stalkerware”, malware soft- referred to their sources as “hacktivists” ware engineered to remotely monitor mo- (2017). bile phones or computers. The peculiarity Joseph Cox has also reflected on the of the software commercialized by the implications of using hacked materials two companies was their domestic use: and hackers as sources for journalistic in- in fact, Motherboard journalists were able vestigation in two different background to publish details about a growing market articles published on Motherboard (2016, demand from private citizens who use 2017). In his stories, Cox discusses some “stalkerware” to monitor their loved ones’, of the most pressing ethical and practical employees’ or other common people’s issues involved in these reporting scenar- private communications. As the two journalists wrote in their story, the data for the submit documents anonymously and safely investigation was provided by two hack- over the Internet. When sources approach a ers, independent of each other, in part via SecureDrop on the Internet, their identities Mother board’s whistleblowing platform, are masked by the Tor Browser and other based on the SecureDrop software.1 The encryption standards to the point that, without any further explicit inquiring, sources’ 1 SecureDrop is a technical solution made identities are masked even to the receiving available by the Freedom of the Press Foun- journalists. In principle, SecureDrop – as the dation that enables journalists and news other available whistleblowing software, Glo- organizations to create an online dropbox baLeaks – is based on the technical approach whistleblowers and other sources can use to that WikiLeaks pioneered since 2006. 246 Di Salvo & Porlezza / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 243–254 ios. Interviewing scholar Paul Bradshaw, no systematic body of knowledge when it for instance, Cox discussed the points of comes to the universally accepted norms, contact between whistleblowing-led re- values and routines, formal and on-the- porting and reporting on leaks originated job-training often help defining the pro- from cyberattacks (2016). In the second fession. Historically, journalists belonging piece, instead, Cox discussed agenda is- to a legacy news media confirms their ac- sues highlighting journalists’ need to ceptance of a specific set of ethical norms clarify hackers’ motivations for leaking and standards, which is essential for offer- information and consequently take trans- ing credible information to the public, but parency steps to inform readers about the also, in turn, for the audience to believe potential controversial origins of the ma- the journalists’ work (Gans, 2003). In par- terials used as evidence in the reporting ticular, as Becker (1967) and Cook (1998) (Franceschi-Bicchierai & Cox, 2017). As have shown, journalists’ legitimacy as ser- Cox (2017) argues, the risk to be primari- vants of the public good stems from their ly avoided from a journalist’s perspective relationship to authoritative and credible is becoming a “puppet” by simply ampli- sources. At the same time, sources need fying hackers’ agendas or aims for leaking journalists in order to gain attention, and information. Cox’s self-reflection about access to the public (Cook, 1998; Sparrow, doing journalism with hacker sources of- 1999). fers the possibility to dig into a journalist’s Leaks and “irregular” journalistic sour- reasoning about ethical issues involved in ces, such as WikiLeaks, not only show that news work and, at the same time, are an the question of credible sources is para- occasion to look at how journalists reflects mount for the professionalism and the le- about their roles and how controversial gitimacy of journalism. It also shows that practices, such as reporting on hacks, are the question of boundaries is relevant negotiated within the journalistic field, when it comes to discourses of acceptance and how they contribute to the emergence or exclusion from the journalistic field gen- of new forms of professionalism. erated by the pressing of newcomers or new practices at the most peripheral areas of it (Wahl-Jorgensen, 2014). 3 Hackers knocking at the door Bourdieu’s “Field Theory” is an often- used theoretical background on which dis- The participation of hackers into the jour- courses about the expansion of the bound- nalistic field is a sign of how porous the aries of journalism and the incorporation boundaries of the field have become to of newcomers or the establishment of new the influence of new actors who are claim- practices have been grounded (Bourdieu, ing participation among the journalism 1993, 2005). Following this approach, realm. In sociology, the notion of “bound- Eldridge (2014, 2017), for instance, has ary work” has been used to identify and analyzed how “interlopers” or peripheral explain instances of different social fields – players come to terms with the journal- or fields of knowledge – finding common istic field and how, despite their irregular grounds, developing interconnections traits, their practices can be embraced by and debating proximity and cultural mu- more traditional actors, who sit in more tual acceptance (Gieryn, 1983). When it established positions within the field. In comes to journalism, the notion has lately Eldridge’s view (2017), “interlopers” are been used as a theoretical framework to newcomers to the journalistic field that discuss the expansion of what is normally claim residency in the field despite being conceived and accepted as “journalism” non-traditional or irregular players. In and is thus legitimized and accepted in Bour dieuean terms, fields find their struc- the journalistic field and within the cor- tures and equilibrium when put in relation pus of professional norms and practices to the influence expressed by other fields that define journalism as an identifiable gravitating around them and by demarcat- activity (Carlson, 2016). Although there is ing social space in terms of distinction, by Di Salvo & Porlezza / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 243–254 247 setting boundaries. The journalistic field is ing “boundary work” that is prone to “ex- among the most exposed to the influence pand” the limits of what counts as jour- of external factors (Bourdieu, 2005, p. 33), nalism, “expel” those elements that have which is why Bourdieu has defined it as a no legitimate residence in the field or to relatively weak field, caught and pressured “protect” journalism from incursions from between politics on the one hand, and outside the field that may compromise the economics on the other. In the theoretical autonomy of the field itself. The constant debates revolving around journalism as a need for journalism to engage in boundary field, it has traditionally been understood maintenance is due to the fact that jour- as a heteronomous field and a “site of nalism does not match the requirements struggle”, where different actors “compete of sociological definitions of profession- for authority through defining – and con- alism (Eide & Sjøvaag, 2016, p. 4). Inde- testing – its cultural boundaries” (Carlson pendently of the outside pressures applied and Lewis, 2015, p. 7). Technological shifts, to the field, the redrawing of the borders and the way journalism is increasingly im- of journalism is a constant process that pacted by data, algorithms and code (Pav- crystallizes those norms, values and myths lik, 2016), have also reshaped the relation that ensure stability in the journalism pro- between journalists and sources, in other fession. This is also the reason why even words: its internal structure. The integra- traditional professional norms of journal- tion of “boundary work” and field theo- ism, such as verification and news gath- ry offer a useful lens to analyze ongoing ering have been going through processes changes in journalism and how these “ex- of “boundary work” in recent times (Her- ternal changes are ‘refracted’ at the field’s mida, 2015; Wahl-Jorgensen, 2015). Par- boundaries” (Lowrey, 2018, p. 138). The re- ticularly in the online realm, professional fraction, and therefore the re-positioning norms are in fact changing as new tech- of the boundaries, can be observed in the nologies are adapted into existing news- case of joint ventures between journalists, room practices and environments (Agarw- activists, coders, or hacktivists (Russell, al & Barthel, 2015). This paper locates the 2016, pp. 68–108; see also Lewis & Usher, use of hackers as sources within this same 2014). contexts of boundaries negotiation, dis- But technology is not the only terrain cussing how irregular “interloper” players on which boundaries get discussed and (Eldridge, 2017) become accepted sourc- set: norms, participants and practices es of news, passing through the gates of are also topics around which “boundary contemporary journalism. Digitalization battles” (Russell, 2016, p. 37) are waged has fundamentally changed the way that along the boundaries of journalism. Fol- journalism as a profession relates to its en- lowing Gieryn’s (1983) outline of “bound- vironment: Particularly, the “networked” ary work”, Carlson and Lewis (2015, paradigm of the contemporary news eco- pp. 9–12) have produced a framework for system has forced journalists to “open the analyzing the various forms of “bound- gates for new stakeholders” also in regards ary work” in journalism. In their view, of who becomes an accepted source for “boundary work” in the context of news news (Raeymaeckers, Deprez, De Vuyst, & making can happen on the levels of “par- De Dobbelaer, 2015, pp. 105–107), as it is ticipants”, “practices” and “professional- for hackers, the topic at the core of this ism” and follow patterns of “expansion”, paper. This leads to what Eide and Sjøvaag “expulsion” or “protection of autonomy.” (2016, p. 5) describe as both an ambigu- The notion is thought to be applied to ous and a flexible situation, “as journalis- “who” and “what” is to be considered by tic boundary maintenance also implies a journalists as “appropriate” to the field challenging and questioning of the bor- and to establish “journalism” as a distinct ders of the profession”. As a consequence, community with specialized knowledge journalism’s professionalism is confront- (Carlson & Lewis, 2015, pp. 10–11). The ed with an interesting paradox at its core typology goes in the direction of defin- 248 Di Salvo & Porlezza / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 243–254 that Anderson (2006) pointed out: while Examples of these hybrid interactions the challenge to strengthen journalism’s between different – older and newer – log- professionalism through “boundary work” ics have been visible on various levels, implies a clear demarcation against other especially with the adoption of digital professions, journalism also needs to keep technology for reporting. For Chadwick its borders open for relevant input, for in- (2017, pp. 103–129), WikiLeaks – a contest- stance when audience members or experts ed journalistic institution with profound are asked to contribute to the journalistic hacker roots and practices – has repre- practice. Particularly in the current digi- sented one of the most powerful examples tal environment, van der Haak, Parks and of how players embodying stances from Castells (2012) envision the emergence of different fields may position themselves a networked journalist, that is “driven by a between sources and publishers, and networked practice dependent on sourc- therefore along the boundaries of jour- es, commentaries, and feedback, some of nalism, constantly acting as bridges be- which are constantly accessible online”. tween the two sides of the spectrum. The Such a networked notion of journalism “boundary work” between hacker sources has also led to more dynamic, but also un- and journalists in the Retina-X and Flex- stable forms of journalism, as journalism iSpy investigation bears more nuanced startups or collectives have entered the interpretations. In fact, although there is field (Deuze & Witschge, 2020). no doubt that conducting cyberattacks Therefore, source materials delivered against companies’ servers is an illegal act, by hackers might well undergo a similar the agenda and motivations of the hack- process of acceptance as it happened with ers who shared the hacked information user-generated content. However, hack- with the journalists clearly had a political ers remain a controversial news source, and hacktivist nature of the kind which as some of them may act on and be mo- would fit under the “data activism” label tivated by criminal intent, even when (Milan and van der Velden, 2016). Data they communicate with journalists. These activism, in this sense, can be understood challenges do not only entail questions of as a social practice that is deeply rooted in “boundary work”, but they also force jour- technology that also takes a “critical view nalists to make the “biases”, that is the po- towards datafication” (Gutiérrez, 2018, tentially hidden agenda and motives be- p. 1). The aspect of social change is at the hind the sources’ information, transparent heart of such proactive data activism (Mi- to the audience. lan & Gutiérrez, 2015), particularly if one takes into account that huge data vaults 3.1 A hybrid constellation: Between are controlled by private organizations identity reinforcement and openness and governments without being transparent, accessible or accountable – which led The approximation of the journalistic field Caron (2016) to define this the “era of the and the hacking one takes place in a me- leak”. Albeit not being journalistic actors dia system whose dynamics and structures themselves, hackers such as the ones in are increasingly “hybrid”. Chadwick has the “stalkerware” investigation, can nev- defined the contemporary “hybrid media ertheless influence the way that journal- system” as built upon “interactions among ists operate in these circumstances and older and newer media logics” (2017, p. 4) contribute to an “emerging liminal press”, and in his view, media logics can be tech- here intended as a set of field level rela- nologies, genres, norms, behaviors and or- tionships among actors who can define ganizational structures defined in the re- the conditions under which news is cre- flexivity of different fields – intended again ated and circulates despite not necessar- in Bourdieusian terms – that can relate to ily self-identify as journalists (Ananny & each other by process of mutual adapta- Crawford, 2015, p. 193). For these actors tion or interdependence. are driven by the emergent networks determined by a more dynamic ecosystem of Di Salvo & Porlezza / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 243–254 249 information sharing (Owen, 2016, p. 33), low established journalistic ethical norms. they produce new journalism practices Additionally, the problem of accuracy and that extend themselves between different facticity is enhanced by the fact that, now- identities, ideologies and assumptions adays, leaking has not only become easy as about the intersection of news and public many news outlets have developed their life (Ananny & Crawford, 2015). As a con- own platforms, but it has become part of sequence, however, they also produce un- the daily news production: certainty within the profession, not least from an ethical perspective. Like the appetite for leaks, the risks have also grown, and now have to be weighed at a faster 3.2 The ethical challenges of hacking pace than ever. Where leaks were once a first step in the long, deliberative process of in- Contemporary forms of investigative re- vestigative journalism, they’re now part of a porting, such as those that rely on the hyperactive daily news cycle. (Marcus, 2017) use of technology such as whistleblowing platforms, or that make use of leaks, have already shown their impact on the Additionally, as journalists are working in “boundary work” regarding the practic- a digital environment, most of their ac- es of journalism. However, they also raise tivities are somehow traced and tracked, new issues in relation to journalism ethics. meaning that While the question of how and whether to use illegally obtained information is not all too easy to inadvertently reveal the direc- a novelty in journalism, it is the changed tion of an ongoing investigation. Moreover, media ecosystem that instills the problem because leaks are now often larger than any with new aspects. Given the existence of one journalist – or journalistic organization – organizations such as WikiLeaks, that op- can typically handle, they present unique erate in a border space among different collaboration and publication challenges, all journalistic actors, access to information of which must be carefully engineered to bal- is no longer limited to journalists and ance efficacy, transparency, and privacy. (Mc- sources. And sources such as hackers have Gregor & Brennan, 2019) now other means to publish information as the information spaces are no longer exclusively controlled by traditional me- However, the way that (illegal) informa- dia institutions (Owen, 2016, p. 31). This tion is obtained does not change the jour- brings us to the main ethical question: nalistic responsibilities with regard to how can journalists make sure to preserve the usual verifications to apply to newly their obligation to truth, accuracy and fac- gained material or to source protection. ticity? And how can they avoid becoming What changes, though, is the handling of puppets, whose strings are pulled by (hid- the information, not only because digi- den) political actors when publishing ille- tal datasets can involve incredibly large gally obtained materials (Cox, 2017)? amounts of data and metadata and keep- When it comes to collaborative in- ing them safe and secure can be challeng- vestigations between whistleblowers and ing, but also because journalists might get journalists, previous research has shown in touch with highly sensitive information that the performance of accountability in that represent an issue for the balancing such whistleblowing-induced investiga- of privacy and transparency. Additionally, tions may be “shared” between sources data often misses contextual information, and journalists (Porlezza & Di Salvo, 2019). which makes it hard to understand the po- However, in the case where journalists are tential impact of the investigations. There offered illegally obtained materials from are thus also the risks of selectivity and hackers, the moral quandaries may be dif- hermeticism, if the overall significance of ferent, especially when players involved a leak is unknown (Christofoletti, 2016). are particularly controversial or do not fol- 250 Di Salvo & Porlezza / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 243–254

In addition, the real intentions of hack- nalism is carried out. By doing so, hackers ers can remain unknown to the journalists. are influencing the journalistic practice as Even if journalists are able to discuss the well as its normative framework, pushing motives with the hackers, as it was the case journalists to come to terms with work- in the “stalkerware” example, the real in- ing in growingly complex and sometimes tentions can remain dubious, which is why controversial grounds. Albeit some of the this has to be one of the core questions of ethical considerations are certainly not journalists when it comes to such collab- new (verification, accuracy, truth), other orations (Gourarie, 2015), especially when issues have become paramount: questions hacker sources do not present an explicit of privacy, transparency, security, and at- political or hacktivist agenda or public tribution. This is a direct consequence of interest motivations. As Cox’s (2016) own the wider change in the journalistic field meta-journalistic discourse shows, this is that can be traced back to a networked or- a central issue since “hacks vary greatly in ganization of newswork and to the conse- quality, depth and importance”. As hack- quent expansion of the boundaries of the ers, who may have a different ethical and journalistic field. Whether this networked cultural framework, are increasingly oper- orientation of journalism has been origi- ating within the boundaries of journalism, nated by economic reasons (by pooling to- there will be a process of mutual adapta- gether human, financial and technological tion and interdependence when it comes resources, or even through integration and to journalistic norms. convergence strategies in news organizations due to economic shortcomings), or by cultural changes due to new actors en- 4 Conclusion tering the field of journalism (for instance in the area of data and interactive journal- Journalism has become a dynamic space. ism figures such as computer engineers, In this changing media ecosystem, hack- data scientists, design specialists, activists ers are becoming relevant actors in the or – well – hackers) is hard to tell. We are journalism field, not only because they inclined to believe the latter, as other stud- can actually cover journalistic roles, but ies have shown (Agarwal & Barthel, 2015). also because they often represent the only The “boundary work” concept is use- sources journalists have to shed light on ful to understand the current media land- wrongdoings that threaten the public in- scape and the technological change and terest (Bok, 2003). When it comes to topics dependency that it has brought along. related to surveillance, cybercrime or the The Motherboard “stalkerware” investiga- secretive market of snooping technology, tion offers a clear example of “boundary hackers – together with whistleblowers – work” at play in the context of sourcing. may be the only sourcing option for jour- Applying again Carlson and Lewis’ (2015, nalists. Moreover, in recent years, hackers pp. 9–12) framework, the use of hackers have also expanded the scope of their ac- as sources can be seen from two different tivist and hacktivist involvement, becom- perspectives: a) as a sing of “expansion” ing more and more actively engaged as of the boundaries of journalism, as “in- “public participants in our daily geopo- terloper” (Eldridge, 2017) actors such as litical goings-on” (Coleman, 2017b, p. 91) hackers become accepted as sources with- finding in journalism a terrain for cooper- in the journalistic field and b) as a sign of ation and influence. In asking the question “protection of autonomy”, since – as Cox “how are hacker sources changing jour- self-reflection articles show (2016, 2017) – nalism?”, the discussed example permits journalists respond to this adoption with to reach some conclusions: first of all, it strategies that re-enforce their profession- shows that hackers are contributing to the al roles and independence. While we must ongoing “boundary work” in journalism. avoid falling for any form of technologi- Most importantly, hackers are increasingly cal determinism, it is nevertheless useful defining the conditions under which jour- to remind ourselves that contemporary Di Salvo & Porlezza / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 243–254 251 journalism needs a more complex under- study. The case was limited to one partic- standing of the role and impact of jour- ular investigation, in one particular online nalists than what orthodox perspectives news outlet, in which the role of hackers as of professional journalism may be able to news sources played a crucial role. Albeit offer. The example analyzed in this article single case studies can offer a nuanced shows how “boundary work” in journalism and context-rich insight into a particular can also be related to core elements of the phenomenon, they remain subject to the profession, including sourcing strategies limitation of generalizability. However, and actors who can be accepted as sourc- even if this is a valid criticism, it was never es of information. Hackers, in this sense, our intention to strive for the generaliza- contribute to the continuous evolution of tion of our findings, but on the contrary, the field. As Deuze and Witschge (2020, for their particularisation by a strategic se- pp. 125–126) state: “there is not just one lection of the case, which allows for an ex- journalism, there are many forms, and it is ploratory and analytical deep dive. There- forever changing, forever becoming: each fore, we feel confident in the findings and new form and practice of journalism adds their contribution to a specific field of to what we consider to be journalism.” Yet, research that still lacks a thorough inves- despite the growing presence of hackers in tigation. We therefore suggest that future the public sphere, we should also not for- research should include further empirical get that hacker-sourced investigations are investigations to detail what new types of still a highly specialized and rare area of norms emerge in the newsrooms, or what reporting: journalists working in this field kind of norms are adapted by the inclu- usually have a strong background in infor- sion of hacker sources. Additionally, given mation security, coding and may be con- that hacking is a global phenomenon, fu- sidered as “hacker-journalists” (Parasie, ture scholarship should also consider ei- 2011) themselves. In other words: these ther case studies from other countries, or hacker-journalists may have developed even comparative analyses of how hacker their own professional identity in a hybrid sources are experienced in different news- environment. In this sense, they could rooms. also be considered as “pioneer journalists” (Hepp & Loosen, 2019), for they act as “in- termediaries” (Bourdieu, 2010) between References the journalistic field and what hackers have to offer from the outside, pushing Agarwal, S. & Barthel, M. (2015). The friendly for the normalization of the practice with- barbarians: Professional norms and work in the journalistic field. In the sense, this routines of online journalists in the United article showed exactly how journalism is States. Journalism, 16(3), 376–391. changing, and how new actors are becom- Ananny, M. & Crawford, K. (2015). A liminal ing part of its field within the boundaries press: Situating news app designers within of the profession. 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Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 257–263

Médias d’actualité, journalistes et publics sur Twitter : vers un renouvellement des relations ? Résumé de la thèse de doctorat Florence Van Hove, University of Fribourg, Department of Communication and Media Research DCM, Switzerland ﬂ[email protected]

Swiss Association of Communication and Media Research (SACM) – Dissertation Award 2020 Florence Van Hove has been awarded the SACM Dissertation Prize 2020, which honors the best PhD thesis in communication and media sciences completed at a Swiss university or by a Swiss researcher. SComS is happy to publish a summary of Florence Van Hove’s (University of Fribourg) winning PhD thesis entitled “Médias d’actualité, journalistes et publics sur Twitter : vers un renouvellement des relations ?”.

Abstract This thesis focuses on the question of the renewal of relations between media actors and audiences in the context of the digital transformation of journalism and the advent of social media. It is based on a qualitative and a quantitative content analysis of tweets related to twelve francophone news threads in 2011 and 2016. The results mainly show a gap between uniform and unidirectional uses of Twitter by media actors and the diversiﬁed, personal and interactive uses of news on Twitter by audiences. Findings suggest the persistence of long-standing trends in the relations between media actors and audiences – which remain asymmetrical (and tend to become stronger in this sense) despite the possibilities of social interactions offered by the microblogging tool Twitter – and a “resistance” by media actors, especially journalists, to change institutionalized journalistic practices.

Keywords social media, Twitter, journalism, journalistic practices, audiences, content analysis

1 Introduction car les journalistes doivent respecter les normes et standards journalistiques tradi- Dans l’espace public du Web social, ou- tionnels tout en s’adaptant à un environ- vert aux contributions des individus dits nement social et interactif (Barnard, 2016; « participatifs », les professionnels de l’in- Hermida, 2010a, 2010b; Holton, Lewis & formation sont confrontés à de nouvelles Coddington, 2016; Lee, 2016; Molyneux, pratiques de consommation et de diffu- 2015). Notamment, il été démontré que sion de l’actualité, qui imposent de nou- le partage d’opinions personnelles pou- velles façons d’échanger et de collaborer vait être en contradiction avec le respect avec les publics. Tel est le cas sur Twitter, des normes d’objectivité et de partialité un outil majeur de diffusion des informa- (Lasorsa, Lewis, & Holton, 2012) et que la tions et des actualités en ligne utilisé à la diffusion de messages de tiers (retweets) fois par les médias, les journalistes et les pouvait ébranler le rôle de gatekeeping des publics (Hedman & Djerf-Pierre, 2013; journalistes (Molyneux, 2015). De plus, la Kwak, Lee, Park, & Moon, 2010; Marwick & présence de multiples audiences sur cet Boyd, 2011; Rieder & Smyrnaios, 2012). outil de microblogging complique la ges- Les recherches portant sur les usages de tion de l’identité numérique de ces acteurs Twitter en lien avec l’actualité ont d’em- (Lough, Molyneux, & Holton, 2018). blée montré les déﬁs pour la profession du Par ailleurs, la co-production de « frag- journalisme. Ainsi, l’adoption et les usages ments numériques d’actualités » (Hermi- de Twitter par les journalistes sont dé- da, 2010b, troisième paragraphe) sur les crits comme potentiellement conﬂictuels, médias sociaux par les publics peut être

https://doi.org/10.24434/j.scoms.2020.02.008 © 2020, the authors. This work is licensed under the “Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial – NoDerivatives 4.0 International” license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). 258 Van Hove / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 257–263 interprétée comme un partage du rôle de les acteurs médiatiques en articulation gatekeeping (Bro & Wallberg, 2014; Bruns, avec les usages de Twitter par les publics, 2003) et une intervention à la défini- en essayant d’évaluer à quel point ces tion l’agenda médiatique (Noguera-Vivo, usages façonnent leurs relations. L’inter- 2013), des pratiques participant à l’efface- rogation suivante est posée : en quoi les ment des frontières journalistiques (Carl- usages de Twitter par les acteurs média- son, 2015; Revers, 2014; Singer, 2015) qui tiques et par les publics participent-ils à la contribueraient « à un processus de dé- transformation de leurs relations ? monopolisation et de décentralisation de la production journalistique » (Pélissier & Diallo, 2013, p. 165). En conséquence, en 3 Cadre théorique et approche particulier sur les supports tels que les médias sociaux, les relations entre les ac- La littérature examinée porte tout d’abord teurs médiatiques et les publics sont vues sur la conception du rôle du public dans comme subissant un renouvellement. les médias, ainsi que sur la relation entre les médias et le public, en croisant les approches anglo-saxonnes et francophones, 2 Question de recherche des premières traditions de recherche jusqu’aux plus récentes. Ensuite, nous Cette question fait l’objet d’un débat ré- abordons la problématique du renou- current, que la recherche n’a pas réussi, à vellement des relations entre les acteurs ce jour, à fixer. À notre avis, plusieurs élé- médiatiques et les publics à travers l’ex- ments contribuent à ceci : tout d’abord, posé de la manière dont les évolutions et se lon notre revue de la littérature, relative- avancées du Web – du Web 1.0 au Web col- ment peu d’études ont été consacrées laboratif – ont participé à la mise en place à l’analyse concrète des pratiques des progressive d’un univers de co-création ac teurs médiatiques et des publics sur interactif de contenu en ligne ouvert aux Twitter, en observant qualitativement les « produsagers », désigné comme la partici- con tenus qu’ils diffusent par exemple. pation en ligne. Le concept de journalisme Sou vent, les études se basent sur des participatif est ensuite convoqué. Nous questionnaires ou entretiens réalisés avec présentons les caractéristiques concep- ces acteurs, ce qui revient à interroger tuelles et fonctionnelles de l’outil de mi- leur réflexivité sur les pratiques. En au- croblogging et de diffusion des informa- cun cas nous questionnons la légitimité tions en ligne Twitter, puis, nous analysons ni la qualité de telles approches, qui ont les différentes perspectives de recherche certainement participé à la définition du (ainsi que leurs conclusions) sur, d’une phénomène du journalisme sur les médias part, les usages de Twitter par les publics sociaux. Cependant, il nous paraît impor- en lien avec l’actualité en ligne, et d’autre tant de relever qu’une approche centrée part, les usages de Twitter par les médias sur les contenus des messages peut être et les journalistes, en lien avec les normes une approche complémentaire de quali- et standards journalistiques traditionnels. té. Dans le même sens, peu d’attention a La dernière section théorique est consa- été accordée, étonnamment, à l’examen crée au concept de l’identité numérique conjoint des pratiques des acteurs mé- (des journalistes), qui est lié à celui de la diatiques et des publics, dans une même relation. étude. Or, pour comprendre les relations La discussion critique des connais- entre ces acteurs, il paraît évident d’exami- sances issues de la littérature nous a per- ner comment leurs pratiques s’articulent, mis de construire un cadre conceptuel soit quels sont les contenus et la qualité et analytique original, basé sur deux ap- communicationnelle de leurs messages. proches principales. Dans l’optique de contribuer à la fixa- Nous convoquons l’approche franco- tion du débat, nous proposons d’examiner phone des usages des Technologies de les dynamiques des usages de Twitter par l’Information et de la Communication Van Hove / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 257–263 259

(TIC), défendue notamment par de Cer- nellement été considérés comme ayant teau (1990), Jouët (2000), Jauréguiberry un pouvoir d’influence sur leurs publics, (2011), Proulx (1994, 2001, 2015) et Cardon les recherches montrent que le contexte (2010), en tant qu’approche essentielle, de la culture de la participation et des mé- car elle met l’accent sur la dimension so- dias sociaux, cette position est considérée ciale de l’utilisation des médias. Elle consi- comme fragilisée. On évoque le « partage dère en effet les TIC comme des objets et » de certaines normes journalistiques trades systèmes de communication et met ditionnelles entre les acteurs médiatiques l’accent sur leurs mécanismes de sociali- et les publics, lorsque les publics créent et sation, en s’opposant au modèle classique diffusent des contenus ; on parle de remise de diffusion des médias de masse. Dans en cause de l’objectivité et de la neutralité le même sens, elle s’attache à concevoir des journalistes quand ceux-ci partagent le public comme un acteur actif, qui n’est leurs opinions personnelles. À travers leurs pas uniquement un récepteur de l’infor- relations, la prise de pouvoir de l’un et mation. Elle affirme que les individus ont l’autre acteur est alors constamment mise des pratiques personnelles et sociales avec à l’épreuve, voire redistribuée, selon les les TIC, en s’appropriant les outils, en ré- chercheurs. inventant les pratiques et en contournant les usages prescrits (de Certeau, 1990). Ces usages traduisent ainsi des rapports de 4 Méthodologie force entre les usagers et les outils ou entre les usagers et les médias, et pas unique- Pour approcher les usages de Twitter, nous ment des rapports linéaires émetteur-ré- analysons qualitativement et quantitative- cepteur (de Certeau, 1990; Cardon, 2010). ment les caractéristiques des tweets diffu- La deuxième approche convoquée est sés et échangés dans des fils d’actualités celle, plus politique, de la participation qui concernent douze médias d’actuali- dans les médias (Carpentier, 2009; Dahl- té (médias télévisés, quotidiens et pure gren, 2009). Bien qu’elle soit issue d’une players) en France, Suisse romande et Bel- tradition de recherche différente, elle se gique francophone, en recourant à l’ana- rapproche, à notre avis, de celle défendue lyse de contenu. Des dimensions compa- par les approches sur les usages des TIC. ratives sont introduites pour étudier d’une Elle considère notamment que les indi- part, l’évolution des tweets émis par les dif- vidus sont impliqués dans les processus férents acteurs, en comparant un échantil- de décision (Carpentier, 2011b), ce qui lon de tweets de 2011 et de tweets de 2016 implique que la participation est liée à (7302 messages analysés), et d’autre part la notion de pouvoir. L’inclusion ou l’ex- pour mettre en lumière les ressemblances clusion des individus dépend de la struc- et divergences des usages de Twitter par ture de l’organisation (Carpentier, 2011b; les médias, les journalistes et les publics, Kelty et al., 2015), qui peut décider d’une en 2016 (10 778 messages analysés). Nous “participation” minimale (interactions) cherchons particulièrement à distinguer ou maximale (co-décision) (Carpentier, les usages qui se réfèrent aux normes jour- 2011a). Sur les médias sociaux plus spéci- nalistiques traditionnelles ainsi qu’aux fiquement, la participation des individus « normes » ou codes des médias sociaux. se limite souvent à la distribution et l’in- Dans un deuxième temps (deuxième terprétation des contenus (Domingo & al., recherche empirique), nous nous focali- 2008). sons sur les usages de Twitter par les jour- Dans notre travail, le concept de rela- nalistes et la façon dont ils se présentent tion de pouvoir (ou de force) fait ainsi ré- sur cet outil, en recourant au concept férence à la position « hiérarchique » de d’identité numérique et de branding. Nous chaque acteur (médias d’actualité, jour- considérons en effet que les pratiques nalistes et publics) dans les rapports qu’ils d’image de marque des journalistes, cor- entretiennent sur Twitter. Alors que les respondantes à leur identité profession- médias et les journalistes ont tradition- nelle ou personnelle, peuvent également 260 Van Hove / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 257–263 nous renseigner sur les relations qu’ils 6 Analyse et interprétation entretiennent avec les publics, et dans une des résultats certaine mesure, avec leurs employeurs. Pour ce faire, nous comparons l’activité gé- L’analyse et l’interprétation de ces résul- nérale (nombre moyen de tweets, d’abon- tats nous conduisent à formuler que les nées et d’abonnements) ainsi que les mes- relations entre les acteurs médiatiques et sages de journalistes qui se présentent de les publics, sur Twitter, sont complexes. deux façons différentes sur l’outil de mi- Les médias et les journalistes semblent croblogging : les journalistes qui indiquent « normaliser » fortement et de façon crois- dans leur profil des formules de décharge sante leurs usages, qui sont concentrés de responsabilité comme par exemple sur la diffusion des actualités (sur la « mes tweets n’engagent que moi » et ceux norme du gatekeeping), comme démon- qui ne mentionnent pas ce type de for- tré dans de précédentes études (Ahmad, mule. Trente journalistes détenant des 2010; Zeller & Hermida, 2015). Ce rôle de fonctions distinctes et travaillant pour des transmission des actualités est à notre avis types de médias différents ont été retenus. mobilisé pour renforcer la position des acteurs médiatiques, dans une logique de (re)professionnalisation du métier. Le fait 5 Résultats que l’accent soit fortement mis sur la diffusion de contenus institutionnels, orga- Les résultats de notre travail indiquent nisationnels et professionnels et montre tout d’abord une mutation majeure des de la même manière que c’est l’identité caractéristiques des tweets diffusés en professionnelle qui est surtout mise en 2016 comparativement à 2011. En ce qui avant sur les médias sociaux (Molyneux, concerne les émetteurs, nous avons noté Holton, & Lewis, 2017), dans une logique un fort recul de la présence des médias, d’auto-régulation des contenus, probable- une grande augmentation de la propor- ment pour éviter des biais et des risques tion d’individus et une faible progression de dommages réputationnels, comme indes journalistes. Concernant les conte- diqué par Fincham (2015). nus, nous avons observé un recul de la Les interactions avec les publics sont proportion d’actualités et une grande minoritaires, tout comme les incitations augmentation des opinions personnelles, à participer et les feedbacks d’acteurs tandis que les contributions sont de plus médiatiques envers les publics. Ces faits en plus orientées vers les interactions. Le démontrent que les pratiques ne sont deuxième résultat indique un profond pas orientées vers les publics et appuient décalage entre d’un côté des usages très l’idée que la participation des publics n’est uniformes et un mode de diffusion uni- pas envisagée comme une dimension stra- directionnel de la part des acteurs média- tégique dans le processus de légitimation tiques (les médias d’actualité et les journa- du journalisme, contrairement à ce que listes) qui tendent à être peu voire moins certaines recherches ont indiqué (cf. Sin- présents sur les fils de discussion qui les ger, 2005; Lasorsa, Lewis, & Holton, 2012). concernent, et d’un autre côté, des usages De même, les relations avec les pu- diversifiés, plus personnels et plus inte- blics, qui, selon notre étude, ne sont pas ractifs de l’actualité sur Twitter de la part non plus caractérisées par des interac- des publics qui tendent à être plus nom- tions horizontales, nous indiquent que les breux. Le troisième constat est l’absence acteurs médiatiques veulent réactiver des de contrastes notoires entre les choix des relations de force traditionnelles. Il sem- actualités diffusés par les acteurs média- blerait ainsi que les relations entre les ac- tiques et ceux diffusés par les individus. teurs médiatiques et les publics sur Twitter Enfin, sur Twitter, les journalistes exposent (re)tendent, dans une certaine mesure, principalement des contenus liés à leur vers des formes asymétriques. Dans le identité professionnelle. même sens, les usages que nous avons mis en lumière tendent à confirmer que les ac- Van Hove / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 257–263 261 teurs médiatiques, bien qu’ils envisagent Au regard des éléments précédents, les publics comme des acteurs « actifs », notre travail peut être vu comme une ne les considèrent pas comme des acteurs contribution qui soutient une approche « d’égal à égal » dans le processus de pro- alternative aux discours qui ont tendance duction de l’actualité. Néanmoins, il faut à mettre l’accent sur la nature changeante bien insister, à notre avis, que ces rela- des relations entre les acteurs médiatiques tions, bien qu’asymétriques, ne semblent et les publics sur les médias sociaux. Il pas transmettre en fond une vision des tend à démontrer, au contraire, une per- publics réduite à un rôle purement de ré- sistance de tendances longues en matière cepteur. de relations entre les acteurs médiatiques L’analyse des usages de Twitter par et les publics, qui restent asymétriques (et les publics en lien avec l’actualité montre qui ont tendance à se renforcer dans ce que les publics ne semblent pas, non plus, sens) malgré les possibilités de socialisa- intéressés par des interactions avec les tion offertes par l’outil de microblogging journalistes. Ils diffusent et par-dessus Twitter, et une « résistance » des acteurs tout commentent et discutent de l’actua- médiatiques, notamment les journalistes, lité entre pairs, ce qui correspond à des à changer des pratiques journalistiques usages « sociaux » de l’actualité (Granjon & institutionnalisées (la « normalisation » Le Foulgoc, 2010). 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SComS Reviews and Reports Volume 20 (2020), Issue 2

Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 267–272

Ursula Ganz-Blättler. “Signs of time: Cumulative narrative in broadcast television ﬁction.” Wien, Zürich: LIT, 2018, pp. 352. ISBN 978-3-643-80273-6 Marcel Verhoeven, FHNW – University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, School of Business, Switzerland [email protected]

TV series are one of the very few “tradition- narrative” entails and how the central fea- al” media formats that continue to thrive ture of accumulation impacts the analysis in the current media landscape. In Europe, of narrative as communication and reflec- the format of TV series (i. e. serial audio-vi- tive stance. sual fictional narratives) has been surging Ganz-Blättler had a background in for some time in terms of numbers of sup- medieval history and film science before pliers and consumers, as well as in shares she ventured into television science, crit- of distributors’ offerings and consumers’ icism, and history. The author focuses in media use. Homegrown high-end original this well-written and highly interesting productions have become “calling cards” habilitation thesis on investigating cu- for suppliers active in the European mar- mulative narrative in broadcast television ket(s). Subscription-based, pay-per-view, fiction. The term “broadcast television” and advertising-based networks, as well as has an outdated ring in the current me- public service suppliers order and finance dia landscape. However, the adaptabil- serial fiction. International players like ity of serial audiovisual fiction to varying Netflix, HBO, Sky, and Amazon invest in distribution forms and its marketability original (co-) productions in many coun- for increasingly dominant over-the-top tries. From a media economic perspective, suppliers ensure that Ganz-Blättler’s work the market entry of more and more “big retains a high degree of relevance. The au- tech” and conglomerate players into the thor discusses episodic fiction in the first production and distribution of TV series two main parts of her book as communi- is another indicator of the importance of cation and as art, respectively. In the third the product TV series. The success of the main part, she discusses the cumulative format warrants extensive investigation. narrative as episodic fiction. In the latter Nevertheless, compared to, e. g., cinema, part, Ganz-Blättler reviews three U. S. TV “new” media, and political communica- series to support and illustrate her argu- tion, the attention of scholars in commu- ments. The author admits to an original, nication/media science and other dis- spectacularly unscientific, yet sympathet- ciplines still seems surprisingly modest, ic inspiration for her habilitation thesis: particularly in Europe. Some noteworthy she wants to see the U. S. TV series Mag- European works on fictional TV series are num P. I. be acknowledged as one of the Schlütz (2016), Redvall (2013), Gormász best ever primetime TV series. Original (2015), and the scientific journal Series – work on TV series is often already outdated International Journal of TV Serial Narra- at the time of publication. The production, tives (series.unibo.it). Ursula Ganz’s work distribution, content, and consumption of Signs of Time was accepted as a habilita- serial audiovisual fiction develop rapidly tion thesis in 2009, and an adapted form in various directions. Ganz-Blättler writes was published in 2018. The thesis thus rep- an addendum to her conclusions that resents somewhat of a European premiere briefly discusses some of the current de- in discussing in great detail and depth velopments in the (Swiss) TV series land- what the term “(audiovisual) cumulative scape.

https://doi.org/10.24434/j.scoms.2020.02.009 © 2020, the authors. This work is licensed under the “Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial – NoDerivatives 4.0 International” license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). 268 Verhoeven / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 267–272

In Signs of Time, Ganz-Blättler states the important aspects of episodic fiction that she is inspired by, and builds pri- from various perspectives. After a segment marily on, the work of Horace Newcomb, dedicated to relevant theorists, Chapter 3 who delineates storytelling as referencing illuminates the concept of episodic narra- events and episodes in the past. Diegetic tive as communication and its workings. memory of characters, and of actively pro- Chapter 4 is entitled “Episodic Fiction as cessing recipients, then becomes a strate- Entertaining Communication” and cov- gic tool for sustaining (and expanding) the ers, broadly speaking, the recipients’ per- established fictional worlds. In addition, spective, the reception and processing of the theoretical framework of the thesis episodic fiction. For readers interested in draws upon Bakthin’s pluralistic dialogue media economics, management, and the perspective on communication, upon cul- production and distribution of TV series, tural studies’ multiplicity of viewpoints Chapters 5 and 6 are of great interest. As- and shifting power relations, as well as pects of episodic fiction relatable to medi- upon Luhman’s system’s theory. McQuail al commodity culture (cf. Hesmondhalg, (2010, pp. 19–20) names (post-) structur- 2012) and cost disease, cross-media own- al and cultural perspectives as important ership, various distribution modes and alternatives to the classical communica- access, as well as conventions and genres tion science approach that has its roots in figure prominently in Chapter 5. Chap- (primarily quantitative methods-based) ter 6 discusses episodic fiction as, simply social sciences. The cultural approach is, put, a broadcasting (industry) “good” and finds McQuail, mainly employed in the investigates broadcasting models, TV sto- investigation of meaning, social contexts, rytelling, TV as a medium and an industry and cultural experiences. The author in transition, episodic series and continu- (2010, pp. 13–14) states that the core ba- ous serials, and three main eras of prime- sis of cultural theory is often “ideation- time drama. Ganz-Blättler’s book shows in al”. Ganz-Blättler investigates cumulative these chapters some overlap with studies narrative in great depth and seeks to ap- by Lotz (2014), Mittell (2015) and Schlütz ply quality criteria to cultural products (2016). Ganz-Blättler’s original work, how- based on consistent argumentation. In ever, predates the latter two studies, and it successfully doing so, the work illustrates offers a great depth of theory-guided in- once more that the cultural approach, as vestigation of episodic fiction, in addition McQuail (2010, p. 20) states, can evoke im- to sophisticated and at times humorous portant insights for media planners and and self-ironic writing. producers. In Ganz-Blättler’s view, story- In investigating the complex develop- telling satisfies essential needs of human ment and production of episodic fictional beings as “a fundamental intrinsically mo- TV series, it is a common trap to attribute tivating communication operation that the quality of an admired TV series to its societies rely upon in order to a) articulate creation by “brilliant” individuals. The aspects of belonging in time and space content of a TV series is to an extent in- and b) make sense of our fragile, and nec- deed assignable to its “showrunner”. From essarily precarious existence” (2018, p. xi). a media sociology perspective, however, In addition, the relevance of storytelling, these main creators (head writers, produc- and thus of the habilitation thesis, lies ers) create content as part of larger teams in the underlying assumption that narra- (writers, producers, directors, actors, etc.) tive communication is “by default media- with certain characteristics and attributes savvy, participatory and highly reflexive” that exercise strong influence on the con- (2018, p. xiii). tent of the series (cf. Phalen & Osselame, After a personal and informative in- 2012; Redvall, 2013). In addition, storytell- troduction, the first part of the habilita- ing formulas of established genres of TV tion thesis is devoted to episodic fiction series influence content, as Ganz-Blätt- as communication. This section consists ler explains. The main creators and their of Chapters 2 through 6, which convey teams are often attached to a production Verhoeven / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 267–272 269 company that inevitably enables, as well that incites customer loyalty in the TV se- as restrains, mediation in TV series. Cru- ries market has been increasing steadily cially, the production company is commis- for decades due to the emergence of com- sioned and remunerated by a distributor petitive additional content-hungry sup- or broadcaster that exerts, as Verhoeven pliers (first cable / satellite TV, then web- (2019) finds, a decisive influence on what based suppliers), and large increases in is mediated in a series. Regarding influ- pay TV consumption. Attributing a surge ences from outside media organizations, in, e.g., continuous series and multilinear the decision-making on content of a storytelling, to several brilliant creators is broadcaster / distributor is itself impacted a seductive, but simplistic, argument. The by the rapidly changing TV / media land- TV landscape opened to innovative types scape, markets, advertising, regulations, of content for many reasons worthy of etc. Finally, the basic conditions for the consideration and further investigation. functioning of any media system and the Art can perhaps be regarded as com- content of its products are shaped by the munication with its own intrinsic goals. encompassing social, economic, political, However, after discussing episodic fiction cultural, national, and global “system” (cf. as communication, Ganz-Blättler names Shoemaker & Reese, 2014, for a hierarchi- the second main part of the habilita- cal model of the enabling and restraining tion thesis “Episodic Fiction as Art”. This influences on media content, and Verho- part consists of two chapters. In the first, even, 2019, for deployment of this model Ganz-Blättler discusses what one might to TV series). Ganz-Blättler walks a deli- call the narration choreography, the tim- cate tightrope between a focus on creation ing or the rhythm of episodic TV fiction as of content by individuals and attention composed by omissions, segments, acts, to the numerous possible extraneous in- beats, and story arcs. The next chapter fluences on TV series. To illustrate the ar- describes the developments towards the gument further regarding some topics of serialized series and the multilinearity of Ganz-Blättler’s book, the innovation in TV TV series, a road map towards what Mit- series in the “network” era (e. g., Hill Street tell (2015) labels “complex TV”, the type Blues, St. Elsewhere) is surely the work of of TV series that critics and scholars often several talented creators and their soon- regard as the most recent (or the one and to-be-legendary independent production only) highlight of the format. The com- companies. However, the broadcaster that monly acknowledged “canon” of TV series finances the innovative new series was is the culmination of the developments (often) driven by losses in market shares: that Ganz-Blättler discusses. Most often the third-rated network amongst CBS, canonized are The Sopranos, The Wire, ABC, and NBC was forced to display a pen- Breaking Bad, and Mad Men. These series chant for risk. In the same vein, the drive demonstrate the completion of the transi- for continuous series is also an effect of tion of TV series from lowest-common-de- suppliers attempting to bind customers nominator mass entertainment products to their platform. In evaluating scripts and (mainly consumed by females) that (al- progressions of the production of a TV se- legedly) merely serve to deliver an audi- ries, Netflix focuses almost exclusively on ence to advertisers, to meaningful, engag- the elements in scripts that incite view- ing, and challenging products of art. These ers to continue watching, as Verhoeven TV series are similar to, and of the same (2019) infers from interviews with creators value as, high-brow cinema, theatre, and of TV series. The trend towards cumula- literature. The appreciation of an upscal- tive storytelling is also an effect (as well ing of TV series after 1998 rests on many as a cause) of the surge in binge-watching valid arguments, including Ganz-Blättler’s. that is in turn enabled by the introduc- However, the largely deprecating connota- tion of a string of new technologies (first tions surrounding pre-1995 TV series, as VCR, then digital hard copies, and finally well as the positive verdict on post-1998 web-streaming). The demand for content TV series, display overtones of gender and 270 Verhoeven / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 267–272 class bias. In short, if many educated mid- the repetition of (intentional, socio-poli- dle-class males also consume the product, tical, or other) messages (Nesselhauf & it must be a serious high-quality good. In Schleich, 2014). Eilders and Nitsch (2015) the same chapter, Ganz-Blättler finds – find socio-political messages frequent- long before many other authors – that the ly mediated in entertainment offerings. dichotomy between episodic series and The authors infer that fiction successfully continuous serials is no longer tenable; circumvents the selection barriers of re- she perceives a continuum between the cipients. Holbert et al. (2003, p. 430) see two extremes along which TV series can political communication and (fictional) be located. Among others, Schlütz (2016) entertainment closely intertwined and arrives at the same conclusion. find that many Americans are unable The third part of the thesis is entitled to distinguish between fact and fiction. “The Cumulative Narrative as Episodic Among investigations of entertainment in Fiction”. It consists of three chapters and a general and fictional TV series in particu- conclusion. The conclusion is rather short lar, the aspect of biased portrayals of so- because many topical findings are pre- cietal groups and topics is an increasingly sented in the various chapters. In this part, prominent theme. Scholars often focus on Ganz-Blättler gracefully rounds out her mediation pertaining to the main social arguments by exemplifying in secondary segregators: class, gender, ethnicity, and analyses the developments in the cumula- sexuality. Whereas the (distorted) portray- tive narratives of three U.S. TV series: Mag- als of gender and ethnicity were (and are) num P. I., Six Feet Under, and The X-Files. for all the right reasons frequently investi- The series Magnum P. I., for example, de- gated (e. g., Ault, 2013; Brook, 2009; Kanter, veloped from loosely connected episodic 2010; Kim, 2001; McRobbie, 2012; Rogers, tales of a rogue character into a more in- 2011; Thomas, 2012; Warner, 2015), and timate, continuing (serialized) story about the analysis of the portrayal of sexuality a complex human character with (hurtful, is gaining more prominence along with mostly Vietnam war-related) memories a string of TV series with LGBTQ main and backstories that are mediated to the characters (e. g., Becker, 2013; Cavalcante, viewers, who then actively process and 2015; Frei, 2011; Renga, 2018), the analysis elaborate on the stories. Ganz-Blättler of the monumentally biased portrayal of (2018, p. 279) finds that “cumulative narra- class is still lagging (cf. Verhoeven, 2019). tives allow for the serialization of episodic Forty years of neoliberal education “poli- fiction”. Pertaining to the post-1998 canon cies” and ideological brainwashing have of TV series, Ganz-Blättler offers a refresh- ensured that the lower classes are severely ing and relativizing finding: diegetic mem- underrepresented in the workforce as well ory as traditionally deployed in daytime as in the products of science and media. soap operas was successfully adopted in For inspired work on the portrayals of class “more classical adventure stories within in TV series, the contributions in Deery the prime time schedule of TV II and TV III and Press (2018) come highly recommend- as ‘neo’ television”. ed. Ganz-Blättler (2018, p. xiii) regards the The customary division between in- narrating of entertaining (cumulative) sto- formation and entertainment concealed ries as a “discordant form of conversation, that “entertainment influences our long- that is precarious, […] open-ended and term values, the norms we obey in every- ambivalent. […] In consequence I do not day life and the stereotypes we hold about consider narratives to be ‘neutral’ or inno- other people or certain social spheres’, von cent since they can just as well build trust Rimscha and Siegert write (2011, p. 1010). as lead astray, can courageously denounce Obviously, the narrative space of TV series mistakes and point out wrongdoings as is large: whereas a cinema film equals a they may obfuscate some truth and rein- novella, a TV series compares to an epic force existing social taboos and power re- novel. This abundant space enables the lations”. It is an author’s prerogative to se- inclusion, and perhaps more importantly, lect and prioritize, and Ganz-Blättler does Verhoeven / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 267–272 271 not elaborate (much) on distortions pres- Eilders, C., & Nitsch, C. (2015). Politics in ent in the content of episodic TV fiction. fictional entertainment: An empirical In conclusion, Ganz-Blättler draws classification of movies and TV series. upon an impressive basis of theories and International journal of communication, 9, manages to offer her readers many im- 1563–1587. Retrieved from http://ijoc.org/ portant insights that entail “everything index.php/ijoc/article/view/3532. one always wanted to know” about the Frei, D. (2011). Verhandlungen um Queerness: meaning, working, functions, effects, and Queer as Folk und The L World als kul- thus the importance of, cumulative nar- turelle Foren. In R. Blanchet, K. Köhler, rative as episodic fiction. The author elo- T. Smid, & J. 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Aebi, Adrian, Göldi, Susan, Weder, Mirjam (Hrsg.). «Schrift – Bild – Ton. Beiträge zum multimodalen Schreiben in Bildung und professioneller Kommunikation» [Writing – image – sound. Studies on multimodal writing in education and professional communication]. Bern: hep, 2020, S. 240. ISBN 978-3-0355-1615-9 Sabine Witt, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Institute of Communication and Marketing, Switzerland [email protected]

The book “Schrift – Bild – Ton”, edited by in multimodal texts. Archer’s critical ex- Adrian Aebi, Susan Göldi and Mirjam amination of conventions in academic Weder, focuses on two fields of multimod- writing is recognizably motivated by Iden- al writing. Accordingly, the eleven contri- tity Politics and serves in part to empower butions are assigned to the two sections the disadvantaged. Thus, Archer likewise “Multimodal writing in the educational ties didactics into a political mission that context” and “Multimodal writing in pro- is strongly aimed at reflection and not just fessional communication”. the use of resources in a semiotic sense. Changes are taking in place academic Unlike the majority of papers sub- writing due to the influence of the English- mitted, Archer’s work on a metalanguage speaking academic community. While attempts to advance theory. Accordingly, these changes are plain to see, they sel- the publishers deserve credit all the more dom undergo critical examination when for having provided a concise overview of it comes to learning how to wield them. the development of theories and concepts Arlene Archer, a South African writing of multimodality in their introduction and researcher and Director of the Universi- thus establishing a unifying foundation. ty of Cape Town’s Writing Center, studies The papers in the first section explore this very aspect of academic language. As didactic topics in the field of higher edu- a keynote speaker at the Forum for Aca- cation, most of which deal with the – yet- demic Writing conference organized in to-be-exploited – potential that lies in collaboration with the Lucerne School of multimodality. The second section centers Business Institute for Communication and around professional communication. Marketing, she was the sole presenter to Ursina Kellerhals and Vinzenz Rast draw attention to the political dimension provide self-critical insight into a new- of participation in academia. Using the ly-conceived teaching subject in visual concept of “voice”, which is to be under- communication at a business school. The stood approximately as “discursive self”, sequence for designing an infographic she highlights the need for a metalan- presented the greatest didactical chal- guage in teaching and learning that will lenge, which is why the authors critically bring visibility to certain limitations on reflect on their approach. While working discourse. Archer uses social semiotics to on the task of numerically visualizing data always link the production of meaning in in a meaningful manner, they unexpected- writing with social implications. She fo- ly discovered gaps in basic mathematical cuses on two central aspects of “voice”: the knowledge among students: The latter ex- recognizability of authorship, which is experienced trouble in rendering numbers pressed in various decisions on how con- in correct spatial proportions across two tent is selected and presented; and cita- or three dimensions. However, the authors tion, which has the ability to open or close do attribute a large portion of the some- the door to academic conversation like a times unsatisfactory results to the circum- key. The author then presents a matrix of stance that students were putting too little terms that can be used to ascertain “voice” thought into planning and reviewing their

https://doi.org/10.24434/j.scoms.2020.02.010 © 2020, the authors. This work is licensed under the “Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial – NoDerivatives 4.0 International” license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). 274 Witt / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 273–278 concept. This was especially the case when All text-based disciplines are likely to be it came to establishing a theme and a cen- experiencing their greatest challenge from tral statement, as the software was gener- other modalities. In contrast to the other ating professional-looking designs rapidly. papers, however, the study by Innsbruck This multimodal teaching project is highly Germanists Bernadette Rieder and Cor- relevant and recommended for replication dula Schwarz does not combine a purely in higher education, as the quality and visual modality with written text. They correctness of data visualizations exert present a teaching project in which speech significant influence over public discourse is given equal importance to writing. They and political decision-making. justify this move by citing professional The paper by Matthias Knopp and areas of activity where multimodal prod- Kirsten Schindler from the University of ucts are relevant, such as academic de- Cologne discusses cooperative writing bates and author readings. The focus projects in primary schools. Here, teams on multimodality throughout the entire of pupils compose fictional stories while learning process, from preparing a line of receiving support via a learning platform argumentation to its execution during a from university students who are study- debate on a specific subject, is aimed at ing education, either asynchronously or enhancing professional skills among stu- in real-time. With regard to multimodal- dents. These include spontaneity, argu- ity, this paper examines typographical mentative cognition, and the creative use and pictorial elements while also taking of language. a side glance at the role of hyperlinks as While multimodal processes are in potentially multimodal blank space. The the foreground in the first section, the sec- pupils preferred to deploy bold and ital- ond section centers around multimodal ics as typographic design elements in the products in professional communication. project. They also made frequent use of Aside from one paper on writing and im- colored fonts for individual statements. age competence for search engine optimi- Having color reflected and expanded a zation, the focus lies on the visual aspect text’s meaning. To cite an example from of multimodal texts. one of the stories, the children set the Adrian Aebi and Bruno Frischherz term “poisonous snake” in a brilliant light from the Lucerne School of Business pres- green. With regard to text-image linking, ent a thorough description of “sustainabil- the authors find that the children made ity reports” as a type of text which is still extraordinarily productive use of their relatively new. They performed 50 quan- creative and semiotic potential in the dig- titative and 2 qualitative analyses of sus- ital medium of the computer. When asked tainability reports from large companies about the dominant use of text or images, and SMEs in order to make statements the pupils showed a clear preference for regarding multimodality. They distinguish using images to illustrate text content, between two main types based on image although nearly all of them used images proportions and target audience: reports with a broad spectrum of combinations. and magazines. On average, 24 percent of Accordingly, the authors draw the prelimi- the texts consisted of images. Somewhat nary conclusion that the link between text surprisingly, image content was primar- and image plays an essential role among ily comprised of people (57 %), and those pupils when it comes to the perception people were primarily employees (62 %), and construction of meaning. One of the in each case by a wide margin. Foreseeable things this project illuminates is how digi- types of content like nature and landscapes tal tools can promote aesthetically creative only ranked third and fifth, respectively. writing processes among children of pri- The qualitative examination of cohesion, mary school age. coherence, and communicative function The fact that all of the papers explore revealed cohesion between images and multimodality on the basis of written text text to be more pronounced than coher- is not solely due to this collection’s theme. ence. The authors postulate that this is due Witt / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 273–278 275 to the visual level’s primary task being the close collaboration between specialized fulfillment of a specific design task and the journalists and infographic designers as a triggering of emotions. This is contrasted key characteristic of the professionaliza- by text, which is intended to provide infor- tion of data journalism. mation about a company’s sustainability The final paper by Jiří Chmelik gives efforts. It would be interesting to compare insight into the perspective of a designer these results with the multimodal design on how the modes of image, character, of something like management reports in and font can interact in layout. He uses order to be able to make statements re- the sociological and ethnological concepts garding a potential specific multimodality of role and ritual to enhance the potential among sustainability reports. that lies in communication design. The il- For the second time now, the col- lustrations make it easy to see how these lection is looking at the subject of info- concepts are manifested in multiple forms graphics. Marina Bräm and Susan Göldi of communication. from the University of Applied Sciences The design decisions for the collection and Arts Northwestern Switzerland study itself were carefully made and perform infographics as a new trimodal type of well at illuminating the kind of impact text, specifically in the professional field of multimodal text design can have. Page data journalism. They point to the various layout and typography have been given types of functions infographics perform: generous dimensions and render compre- Some visualize primarily quantitative da- hension easy. The many color illustrations ta, while others elucidate and illustrate make it easy to absorb key messages. qualitative data. The authors use the pro- This collection of papers on multimo- duction of two daily newspapers as an dal writing stands out with a common the- example for reconstructing each type. In oretical foundation that covers two clear both cases, visual design is preceded by a communicative fields of action in higher complex process of research, data verifica- education and the professional world, en- tion and fact checking, and fact analysis. riching them with current topics and es- Once all facts are known, a narratable sto- says on the state of the art which are well ry is developed. The authors map out the worth reading. 276 Witt / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 273–278

Der von Adrian Aebi, Susan Göldi und mit Didaktik auch einen politischen Auf- Mirjam Weder herausgegebene Sammel- trag, der stark auf die Reflexion und nicht band nimmt zwei Handlungsfelder für nur die Verwendung von Ressourcen im mul timodales Schreiben in den Blick. semiotischen Sinne abzielt. Entsprechend sind die elf versammelten Archers Arbeit an einer Metasprache Beiträge den beiden Sektionen «Multimo- versucht, die Theorie weiterzuentwickeln, dales Schreiben im Bildungskontext» und anders als die Mehrheit der versammelten «Multimodales Schreiben in der professio- Beiträge. Umso mehr ist es ein Verdienst nellen Kommunikation» zugeordnet. der Herausgeberinnen und des Heraus- Zwar verändern sich die Schreibkon- gebers, in ihrer Einleitung einen konzisen ventionen in der Wissenschaft, insbeson- Überblick über die Entwicklung der The- dere durch die Einflüsse aus dem eng- orien und Begriffe zur Multimodalität zu lischsprachigen Wissenschaftsraum. Doch bieten und so eine gemeinsame Basis für selten werden die Konventionen kritisch die Beiträge zu schaffen. Die Beiträge des thematisiert, wenn es darum geht sie ein- ersten Teils befassen sich mit hochschul- zuüben. Die südafrikanische Schreibfor- didaktischen Themen, in denen es zumeist scherin und Leiterin des universitären um das – noch auszuschöpfende – Poten- Schreibzentrums der University of Cape zial von Multimodalität geht. Der zweite Town Arlene Archer behandelt im ersten Teil ist der professionellen Kommunika- Beitrag des Bandes gerade diesen Aspekt tion gewidmet. von Wissenschaftssprache. Als Keynote- Einen selbstkritischen Einblick in ein Speakerin an der Tagung des Forums für neu konzipiertes Unterrichtsfach zu visu- wissenschaftliches Schreiben, das zusam- eller Kommunikation an einer Wirtschafts- men mit dem Institut für Kommunika- hochschule gewähren Ursina Kellerhals tion und Marketing an der Hochschule und Vinzenz Rast. Die Sequenz zum Ent- Luzern – Wirtschaft ausgerichtet wurde, werfen einer Infografik stellte didaktisch lenkt sie als einzige die Aufmerksamkeit die grösste Herausforderung dar, weshalb auf die politische Dimension der Teilhabe die Autor/-innen die eigene Vorgehens- am akademischen Betrieb. Am Konzept weise kritisch reflektieren. Beim Auftrag, Voice, was annäherungsweise als «diskur- Daten in Zahlenform sinnvoll zu visuali- sives Selbst» zu verstehen ist, zeigt sie die sieren, stiessen sie unerwartet auf Lücken Notwendigkeit für eine Metasprache fürs im mathematischen Basiswissen der Stu- Unterrichten und Lernen, mit der sich be- dierenden: Diese hatten Mühe, Zahlen stimmte Einschränkungen des Diskurses zwei oder dreidimensional in die richtigen sichtbar machen lassen. Dank dem Ansatz Flächenproportionen zu bringen. Einen der Social Semiotics verknüpft Archer die grossen Teil der teilweise unbefriedigen- Bedeutungsproduktion beim Schreiben den Ergebnisse führen die Autor/-innen stets mit sozialen Implikationen. Sie fokus- jedoch darauf zurück, dass die Studieren- siert zwei zentrale Aspekte der Voice: die den zu wenig Überlegungen in die Pla- Erkennbarkeit von Autorschaft, die sich nung und Überprüfung ihres Konzepts in diversen Entscheidungen der Auswahl steckten, insbesondere ein Thema und die und Darstellung von Inhalten äussert, und zentrale Aussage zu finden, weil die von das Zitieren, welches wie ein Schlüssel die der Software generierten Designs schnell Tür zur akademischen Konversation öff- professionell aussahen. Das multimodale nen oder verschliessen kann. Die Autorin Unterrichtsprojekt ist hochrelevant und stellt schliesslich eine Begriffsmatrix vor, zur Nachahmung in der Hochschulaus- mit der die «Voice» in multimodalen Tex- bildung empfohlen, da die Qualität und ten erfassbar ist. Archers kritische Ausein- Korrektheit von Datenvisualisierungen andersetzung mit Konventionen des wis- wesent lich öffentliche Diskurse und po- senschaftlichen Schreibens ist erkennbar litische Entscheidungen beeinflussen. durch Identity Politics motiviert und dient Um kooperative Schreibprojekte in nicht zuletzt der Ermächtigung von Be- der Grundschule geht es im Beitrag von nachteiligten. Insofern verbindet Archer Matthias Knopp und Kirsten Schindler von Witt / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 273–278 277 der Universität Köln. Die Schülerinnen professionelle Handlungsfelder, in denen und Schüler schreiben in Teams fiktionale multimodale Produkte wie wissenschaft- Texte und werden dabei von Lehramtsstu- liche Debatten oder Autorenlesungen re- dierenden über eine Lernplattform asyn- levant sind. Der Fokus auf die Multimoda- chron oder in Präsenz unterstützt. Bezüg- lität während des gesamten Lernprozesses, lich Multimodalität werden im Beitrag vor vom Vorbereiten der Argumentation bis allem typografische und bildliche Elemen- hin zur Umsetzung in einer Fachdebatte, te untersucht sowie ein Seitenblick auf die soll die professionellen Kompetenzen der Rolle von Hyperlinks als potenziell multi- Studierenden erweitern, etwa Spontanei- modalen Leerstellen geworfen. Bevorzugt tät, argumentatives Denken und den krea- nutzten die Schreibenden im Projekt als tiven Einsatz von Sprache fördern. typografische Gestaltungsmittel Fett- und Stehen im ersten Teil der Publikation Kursivdruck. Schriftfarbe setzten sie eben- multimodale Prozesse im Vordergrund, falls häufig für einzelne Aussagen ein. Die so rücken im zweiten Teil multimodale Farbe spiegelte und erweiterte die Textbe- Produkte in der professionellen Kommu- deutung, beispielsweise setzten Kinder in nikation ins Zentrum. Den Schwerpunkt einer Geschichte den Begriff «Giftschlan- bildet hier abgesehen von einem Beitrag ge» in einem leuchtenden Hellgrün. Bei über Schreib- und Bildkompetenz für die den Text-Bildverknüpfungen stellen die Suchmaschinenoptimierung der visuelle Autor/-innen fest, dass die Kinder deren Aspekt von multimodalen Texten. kreatives und semiotisches Potenzial im Eine sorgfältige Beschreibung der digitalen Medium Computer ausserge- noch jungen Textsorte «Nachhaltigkeitsbe - wöhnlich produktiv nutzten. Bei der Frage richt» legen Adrian Aebi und Bruno Frisch- nach der dominanten Text- bzw. Bildver- herz von der Hochschule Luzern in ihrem wendung zeigten die Schülerinnen und Beitrag vor. Sie haben 50 Nachhaltigkeits- Schüler zwar eine deutliche Präferenz, Bil- berichte von grossen Unternehmen und der zur Illustration des Textinhaltes einzu- KMUs quantitativ und 2 qualitativ analy- setzen, aber beinah alle setzten Bilder ein siert, um Aussagen über deren Multimoda- mit einem insgesamt weiten Spektrum an lität treffen zu können. Dabei unterschei- Verknüpfungsweisen. Die Autor/-innen den sie nach Bildanteil und Adressaten leiten daraus den vorläufigen Schluss ab, zwei wesentliche Typen: den Bericht und dass die Text-Bild-Verknüpfung für die das Magazin. Die Texte wiesen im Schnitt Schülerinnen und Schüler eine wesentli- einen Bildanteil von 24 Prozent aus. Etwas che Rolle beim Sinnbildungsprozess spielt. überraschend wurden die Bildinhalte von Das Projekt verdeutlicht unter anderem, Menschen (57 %) und unter diesen wiede- wie digitale Tools im Grundschulalter in rum von Mitarbeitenden (62 %) mit jeweils ästhetischer Hinsicht kreative Schreibpro- grossem Abstand angeführt. Erwartbare zesse fördern können. Inhalte wie Natur und Landschaft kamen Dass die Betrachtung von Multimoda- erst an dritter bzw. fünfter Stelle. Die quali- lität in allen Beiträgen vom schriftlichen tative Untersuchung von Kohäsion, Kohä- Text ausgeht, liegt nicht nur am Thema renz und kommunikativer Funktion ergab, des Sammelbands. Die grösste Heraus- dass die Kohäsion zwischen Bildern und forderung durch andere Modalitäten er- Texten stärker ausgeprägt ist als die Kohä- fahren zur zeit wohl alle text-basierten renz. Die Autoren vermuten dahinter die Disziplinen. Anders als in den übrigen Bei- primäre Aufgabe der Bildebene, eine be- trägen wird indes in der Untersuchung der stimmte Designaufgabe zu übernehmen Innsbrucker Germanistinnen Bernadette und emotional anzusprechen, gegenüber Rieder und Cordula Schwarze nicht eine den Texten, die Informationen über die rein visuelle Modalität mit dem schrift- Nachhaltigkeitsbemühungen des Unter- lichen Text kombiniert. Sie stellen ein nehmens bieten sollen. Interessant wäre, Unterrichts projekt vor, bei dem das Reden die Ergebnisse mit der multimodalen Ge- gleichberechtigt mit dem Schreiben be- staltung von beispielsweise Geschäftsbe- handelt wird. Sie rechtfertigen dies durch richten zu vergleichen, um Aussagen über 278 Witt / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 273–278 eine möglicherweise spezifische Multimo- trag, wie die Modi Bild, Zeichen und Schrift dalität von Nachhaltigkeitsberichten ma- im Layout zusammenspielen können. Um chen zu können. die Möglichkeiten des Kommunikations- Das Thema Infografiken wird im Sam- designs zu erweitern, nutzt er die sozio- melband ein zweites Mal aufgenommen. logischen respektive ethnologischen Kon- Mit Infografiken als neuer, trimodaler zepte der Rolle und des Rituals. Wie sich Textsorte, und zwar im professionellen diese innerhalb eines Designauftrags in Feld des Datenjournalismus, befassen mehreren Kommunikationsmitteln mani- sich Marina Bräm und Susan Göldi von festieren, lässt sich dank der Abbildungen der Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz überzeugend erkennen. FHNW. Sie weisen auf die unterschied- Welche Wirkung eine multimodale lichen Funktionstypen von Infografiken Text gestaltung entfalten kann, performt hin: Die einen visualisieren vorwiegend der Sammelband selbst auf überzeugen de quantitative Daten, die anderen erklären Weise, indem die Designentscheidungen und veranschaulichen qualitative Daten. sorgfältig getroffen wurden. Das Seiten- Die Autorinnen rekonstruieren exempla- layout und die Typographie sind übersicht- risch die Entstehung je eines Typs in zwei lich und grosszügig gestaltet. Viele farbige Tageszeitungen. In beiden Fällen geht der Abbildungen veranschaulichen leicht auf- visuellen Gestaltung ein komplexer Pro- nehmbar zentrale Themen des Textes. zess von Recherche, Daten- und Fakten- Der Sammelband zum multimodalen prüfung und Faktenanalyse voraus. Wenn Schreiben überzeugt durch die gemeinsa- alle Fakten bekannt sind, wird eine erzähl- me theoretische Basis seiner Beiträge, die bare Geschichte entwickelt. Die enge Zu- mit dem Fokus auf dem Hochschul- und sammenarbeit zwischen Fachredaktoren dem professionellen Kontext zwei klare und Infografikerinnen arbeiten die Auto- kommunikative Handlungsfelder abste- rinnen als ein wesentliches Merkmal der cken und diese durch aktuelle Themen Professionalisierung des Datenjournalis- und lesenswerte Beiträge zum State of the mus heraus. Art bereichern. Aus der Perspektive eines Gestalters zeigt Jiří Chmelik im abschliessenden Bei - Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 279–280

Zukunftswerkstatt der Ulrich Saxer-Stiftung zum Thema «Media Labs»: Schickes Label oder modernes Arbeiten in der Kommunikationswissenschaft? Corinne Schweizer, University of Zurich, IKMZ – Department of Communication and Media Research, Switzerland [email protected]

Media Labs: Ist das nur ein schickes Label In einem zweiten Beitrag diskutierte oder steht dahinter eine moderne Form der Hans Danuser, renommierter Schweizer Arbeitsorganisation für die kommunika- Fotograf, das Thema aus künstlerischer tionswissenschaftliche Forschung? Dieser Perspektive. Danuser hat sich in seinem Frage ging die Zukunftswerkstatt der Ulrich Projekt «In Vivo» während zehn Jahren Saxer-Stiftung nach, die am 23. Oktober mit Laboren beschäftigt und interpretierte 2020 an der Universität Zürich stattfand. diese als Orte, die mit grosser Macht und Das Ziel der am IKMZ angesiedelten Stif- gesellschaftlichen Werten verknüpft sind. tung ist es, den kommunikationswissen- Entsprechend fotograﬁerte er in Kran- schaftlichen Nachwuchs in der Schweiz zu kenhäusern, Kernkraftwerken und mili- fördern.1 Das tut sie unter anderem durch tärischen Einrichtungen und fokussierte eine jährliche Werkstatt zu einem aktuellen dabei auf tabuisierte Dinge, die kaum bild- Thema. Unter der Leitung von Dr. Corinne lich dargestellt wurden. Danuser befasste Schweizer wurde die Werkstatt Corona- sich aber auch mit der Architektur von bedingt als hybride Variante durchgeführt: Labs, und der Frage, wie die Zusammenar- Einige Teilnehmende und Referierende beit räumlich gestaltet werden kann. Prof. sas sen im Hörsaal, andere waren online Dr. Otfried Jarren, Präsident der Ulrich zugeschaltet. Saxer-Stiftung, führte das Gespräch und Die Werkstatt startete mit dem Vortrag stellte einige Querbezüge zu Journalismus von Prof. Dr. Gudela Grote, Professorin für und Medienforschung her. Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie an Online zugeschaltet war Prof. Dr. Gesa der ETH Zürich. Aus arbeitspsychologi- Ziemer, Professorin an der HafenCity Uni- scher Sicht ist es nicht entscheidend, ob versität in Hamburg. Ziemer leitet das von sich ein Team «Lab» nennt oder nicht, denn der Stadt Hamburg ﬁnanzierte Science das Arbeiten in der Gruppe ist unabhängig City Lab (SCL), das in Kooperation mit vom Label generell äusserst anforderungs- dem Media Lab des MIT Städte im Kontext reich. Gerade dann, wenn die Gruppe krea- der Digitalisierung erforscht. Das SCL ist tiv sein soll und unterschiedliche kulturelle inter- und transdisziplinär: Forschende Hintergründe aufeinandertreffen. Oft helfe aus zahlreichen Disziplinen (darunter je- der Faktor Zeit, um als Team zusammenzu- doch bisher noch niemand aus der Kom- wachsen, jedoch müssten Mitarbeitende munikationswissenschaft) versuchen in heute in vielen Settings – z. B. im Medizin- Zusammenarbeit mit Politik, Industrie bereich oder im Flugverkehr – in ständig und Mitgliedern der Zivilgesellschaft die wechselnden Teams arbeiten. Um als Lab Probleme der Hansestadt zu lösen und erfolgreich zu sein, riet Grote unter ande- die öffentliche Diskussion zu versachli- rem zu einer klaren Rollenverteilung und chen. Wie so etwas aussehen kann, zeigte einem partizipativen Führungsstil. Ziemer am «Finding Places» Projekt, wo Bürgerinnen und Bürger diskutierten, in 1 Für nähere Informationen siehe https://www. welchen Gebieten der Stadt Flüchtlings- ikmz.uzh.ch/de/department/networks/ unterkünfte gebaut werden könnten. saxer-foundation.html.

https://doi.org/10.24434/j.scoms.2020.02.011 © 2020, the authors. This work is licensed under the “Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial – NoDerivatives 4.0 International” license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). 280 Schweizer / Studies in Communication Sciences 20.2 (2020), pp. 279–280

Im abschliessenden hybriden Panel trafen infrastruktur aufgebaut, die eine efﬁzien- Vertretende von drei sehr unterschied li- te, skalierbare Datenerhebung und -analy- chen «Media Labs» aufeinander. Das Me- se erlaubt und offen sein soll für andere dia Technology Center der ETH Zürich Forschende. ist ein Informatik-Lab, das von Schwei- Wer an der diesjährigen Zukunfts- zer Medienhäusern ﬁnanziert wird. werkstatt dabei war, hat einen guten Ein- Dr. Severin Klingler und sein Team ent- druck davon bekommen, welche vielfälti- wickeln z. B. Spracherkennungssoftware gen Erwartungen mit dem Begriff «Media oder «News Recommender Systems». Mit Labs» verbunden sind. Ob hinter dem aktuel len Problemen in der Medienregu- Label neue Arbeitsformen stecken, und lierungs-Praxis beschäftigt sich hingegen welche das sind, muss aber im Einzelfall das von Dr. Gergana Baeva geleitete Media diskutiert werden. Die Zukunftswerkstatt Policy Lab der Medienanstalt Berlin-Bran- hat zudem gezeigt, dass hybride Veran- denburg (MABB). Das kleine «Behörden- staltungsformen funktionieren können. lab» sieht sich als Schnittstelle zwischen 2021 wird die Werkstatt – unter hoffentlich dem MABB und seiner Umwelt und or- einfacheren Bedingungen – von Dr. Domi- ganisiert den Austausch mit Wissenschaft nique Wirz (DCM, Universität Fribourg) und Praxis. Das Digital Democracy Lab organisiert. Sie übernimmt das Amt von der Universität Zürich ist schliesslich ein der Autorin dieses Textes, die in den letz- politikwissenschaftliches Lab, das sich ten Jahren fünf Workshops zu Themen wie mit der digitalen Transformation der Poli- Berichterstattungsfreiheit, Repräsentation tik beschäftigt. Dafür haben Prof. Dr. Fab- von Frauen* und Migrant*innen oder Ver- rizio Gilardi und seine Mitarbeitenden in trauen in Medien und Politik konzipiert den letzten 18 Monaten eine Forschungs- und durchgeführt hat. Studies in Communication Sciences (SComS) is a peer-reviewed, platinum Aims and Scope open access journal for communication and media research. The journal is jointly By virtue of the prevailing multilingualism of both the Editorial Board and the Advi- edited by the Swiss Association of Communication and Media Research (SACM) sory Board, SComS provides a unique forum for exchange among media and com- and the Faculty of Communication, Culture and Society of the Università della munication scientists in English, German, French and Italian. As SComS is based Svizzera italiana (USI Lugano). It is published twice a year with the support of the in Switzerland at the German-, French- and Italian-speaking intersections of the Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences (SAHS). world, the journal’s mission is to showcase the developments in communication sciences in these language areas. The platinum open access journal proposes a SComS aims to build bridges between different research cultures, and publishes multidisciplinary approach to communication sciences that is quite unique. SComS high-quality original articles in English, German, French, and Italian. As a general is becoming a home to different traditions, disciplines, contexts and methodolo- forum for communication scholarship, the journal is especially interested in gies, all dealing with communication in its different facets. research that crosses disciplinary boundaries. Peer Review Process SComS uses double-blind review: Both reviewer and author identities are concealed from the other party throughout the review process. Manuscripts must not Editorial Board have been published elsewhere or be currently under consideration for any other Sara Greco, USI – Università della Svizzera italiana publication. Manuscripts that closely resemble previously published articles will be Thomas Häussler, Universität Bern rejected. Katharina Lobinger, USI – Università della Svizzera italiana Sébastien Salerno, Université de Genève Open Access Policy This journal provides immediate open access to its content without charging pub- Editors of the Thematic Section in this Issue lication fees (platinum open access). SComS is based on the principle that making Colin Porlezza, City, University of London research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of know- Philip Di Salvo, USI – Università della Svizzera italiana ledge. Articles are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncom- mercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.

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UG SComS 20-2 201123.indd 4-6 23.11.20 11:16 Contents

129 Editorial (by Sara Greco & Katharina Lobinger)

SComS 20.2

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ISSN 1424-4896

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