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TESTING A CONDITIONAL PROCESS MODEL FOR THE DIFFUSION OF USE OF "NONPROFESSIONAL" JOURNALISM by David Alma Harris A dissertation submitted to the faculty of The University of Utah in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Communication The University of Utah December 2014 Copyright © David Alma Harris 2014 All Rights Reserved The University of Utah Graduate School STATEMENT OF DISSERTATION APPROVAL The dissertation of David Alma Harris _ has been approved by the following supervisory committee members: Jakob D. Jensen , Chair 6/10/14 _ Date Approved Kevin Coe , Member 6/10/14 _ Date Approved Glen M. Feighery , Member 6/10/14 _ Date Approved Avery E. Holton , Member 6/10/14 _ Date Approved L. Paul Husselbee , Member 6/10/14 _ Date Approved and by Kent A. Ono , Chair of the Department of Communication _ and by David B. Kieda, Dean of The Graduate School ABSTRACT Using a survey of 167 professional journalists, this study examined the motivations to adopting what is defined in the study as “nonprofessional” journalism. Previous research was used to provide for a definition of “nonprofessional” journalism as being related to professional journalism ethics. Diffusion of Innovations Theory provided a framework for determining the factors that may or may not be motivating the decision. The sample used in the study was journalists who held a management-level title at a newspaper in the United Stated. The data were analyzed using conditional process analysis, which allowed for the development of a model that tested for moderated mediation over various paths of thinking involved in the decision. Results show that professional journalists are willing to publish content produced by nonprofessionals when there is either a social need or an economic need in doing so. Furthermore, they are not as concerned about professional journalism ethics where they perceive a social need, but they are when there is an economic need, under certain conditions. Dedicated to my wife. Without her patience and love this great accomplishment could not have happened. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................vii Chapters I INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................1 Rationale ................................................................................................................9 II REVIEW OF LITERATURE .......................................................................................12 Nonprofessional Journalism .................................................................................12 Journalism Ethics .................................................................................................30 Theoretical Perspective ........................................................................................50 Hypotheses and Research Questions ....................................................................55 III METHOD ...................................................................................................................58 Design ..................................................................................................................58 Measure ................................................................................................................69 Analysis ................................................................................................................70 IV RESULTS ...................................................................................................................77 Scale Construction and Correlation Matrix .........................................................77 Conditional Process Modeling .............................................................................81 V DISCUSSION ..............................................................................................................85 Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research ...............................................94 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................97 Appendices A MEASURE OF JOURNALISTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARD NONPROFESSIONAL JOURNALISM .................................................................99 B mPLUS CODE USED IN POWER ANALYSIS .......................................................102 C NEWSPAPERS INCLUDED IN THE SURVEY ......................................................105 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................176 vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Special thanks is given to Jakob Jensen, whose keen intellect in the ways of advanced statistical techniques provided for very informative and entertaining evenings over a long-distance Skype connection. Thanks also to the other members of my committee, Avery Holton, Glen Feighery, Kevin Coe, and Paul Husselbee. Without their direction and support, this project would not be what it is today. Thanks also to my family: Shelly, Jaycee, Luke, Ashlee, and Jeffrey. It is a monumental task to complete this level of research. Without their support, it could not happen. I feel I can now step back out into the sunshine of the day, rub my eyes, and try to remember what it was like to enjoy life. Playing with the children is what life is all about. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The institution of journalism has overcome numerous threats over the past 2 centuries (Schudson, 1973). At the dawn of the 21st century, journalism is threatened once again, this time with concerns about declining readership, loss of advertising revenue, and increasing utilization and competition from nonprofessional journalists (Scott, 2005). Of these concerns, it has been argued that the latter poses the greatest threat as nonprofessional journalists challenge professional journalism’s role as gatekeeper. “The venerable profession of journalism finds itself at a rare moment in history where, for the first time, its hegemony as gatekeeper of the news is threatened by not just new technology and competitors but, potentially, by the audience it serves” (Bowman & Willis, 2003, p. 9). Thus, journalism is under the “normalizing gaze” (Foucault, 1995, p. 184) of the “professionals” who are seeking to fit the standards of a participatory system into the hierarchical structure of gatekeeping (Singer, 2008). This process of normalization has occurred with the internet in general. What once was free and open to all has now become a commercialized, megascale shopping mall and 24/7 commercial break, which has encompassed all forms of media before it (Margolis & Resnick, 2000). Margolis and Resnick call it their “normalization thesis” where political pressure comes !2 from, not only what Lessig (2006) calls East Coast and West Coast Code, the laws that govern the internet from a policy point-of-view and from a programmer’s point-of-view, but also from commercial and political actors who wish to use the web to suit their will and pleasure. The normalization thesis emphasizes “the fact that cyberspace is taking on the characteristics of ordinary life” (p. 2), meaning that it is subject to the corruption, hegemony, and hierarchical structure found in the noncyber world. The normalization thesis is not without its detractors (Wright, 2012). However, it is beneficial to the study of journalism because it notes “that those who have been powerful in the past—the established organizations, the wealthy, and the privileged—are moving into cyberspace and taking their advantages with them” (p. 208). Before the 20th century, journalism flourished as a means for every day citizens to “get the word out” regarding events that happened in their local community. Indeed, it was difficult for news to spread more than a few miles because of the lack of electronic communication. News generally travelled in a word-of-mouth fashion with neighbors telling others what they saw. News was essentially a form of gossip. Journalists received no formal training in news production and distribution. McChesney (2003) states, The notion that journalism should be politically neutral, nonpartisan, professional, even “objective,” did not emerge until the 20th century. During the first two or three generations of the republic such notions for the press would have been nonsensical, even unthinkable. The point of journalism was to persuade as well as inform, and the press tended to be highly partisan. The free press clause in the First Amendment to the constitution was seen as a means to protect dissident political viewpoints, as most newspapers were closely linked to political parties. It was understood that if the government could outlaw or circumscribe newspapers, it could effectively eliminate the ability of opposition parties or movements to mobilize popular support. It would kill democracy. (p. 300) !3 This changed in the early 20th century when the penny press and the first school of journalism, the Missouri School of Journalism, were introduced in the United States (Muhlmann, 2008). This ushered in the idea of professional journalism (Winfield, 2008). Journalists were taught in schools of journalism that journalism needed to be free from bias (Schudson, 2001). The precursor to the Society of Professional Journalists adopted a