Abstract
The Crisis of Journalism Reconsidered is a thoughtful volume arriving at an opportune time to address important developments in journalism studies and in its object of concern. First, it sits at the vanguard of a growing body of sophisticated work defining itself as media sociology (see, for example, Brienza and Revers, 2016; Shoemaker and Reese, 2014; Waisbord, 2014) and questions the estrangement of the disciplines of sociology and journalism studies. Second, it insists on a departure from deterministic techno-economic models that, it is argued, characterize much of the literature in journalism studies and calls for a corrective pivot toward a ‘cultural-sociological perspective’ grounded in the journalistic sphere’s democratic commitments (p. xiv). Third, as indicated in its provocative title, it argues against a prominent current in the discipline regarding the ‘crisis’ of journalism brought about by the erosion of its financial foundation (see, for example, McChesney and Pickard, 2011; Jones, 2009). All three areas – highlighted in Jeffrey C. Alexander’s lively and wide-ranging introductory chapter – represent an important theoretical advance.
The cast of contributing authors represents a veritable ‘who’s who’ of scholars in journalism studies, whose names will undoubtedly be familiar to regular readers of this journal. Authors hail from institutions in Germany, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and this scope is reflected in the contents of the chapters themselves, eschewing a solely US-centric approach in favor of an internationalist orientation. Topically, it draws in such concerns as public service broadcasting, the pace of the news cycle, and citizen journalism. It includes theoretical essays (that fortunately do not collapse into mundane literature reviews) and original empirical work (qualitative and quantitative). Its sheer breadth is matched only by its remarkable theoretical coherence.
The quality of contributions is excellent, but some chapters are particularly deserving of spotlight. Daniel Kreiss uses democratic theory to argue against the privileging of one particular conception of democracy (monitorial) and its attendant conception of journalism (information-based) in favor of a more rounded account of journalism’s civic and moral functions. María Luengo’s chapter is a refreshing account of how ‘core civil values of journalism’ (p. 132) are activated amid print-to-digital transition at the New Orleans Times-Picayune that may help sustain journalism as a democratic enterprise. Matt Carlson’s chapter addresses the metajournalistic discourse of the Page One documentary about the New York Times, arguing the film provides a sense of ‘normative reassurance’ amid change and uncertainty. Peter Dahlgren provides a critical but fair-minded assessment of citizen journalism that is shorn of the romanticism about ‘democratization’ that pervades much of the literature on the topic.
Overall, the volume seeks to replace pessimism about journalism’s future with optimism that changes in journalism recast the field in productive new ways. Ultimately, journalists’ adherence to professional codes is portrayed as an anchor that will help journalism steer through choppy waters. If one were to offer criticism, it would be that despite the editors’ call for a move away from economically and technologically deterministic models, overall the book seems to have enthusiastically heeded the former but paid somewhat less attention to the latter injunction. In other words, while contributors generally resist economic explanations, an appreciation for the possibilities of technological change and the logic of creative disruption runs through many chapters. This is crystallized in the concluding chapter by Elizabeth Butler Breese and María Luengo, which begins with a list of technologies that ‘structure the work of journalists in diverse media contexts’ and have changed ‘the character of entire media organizations’ (p. 282). It is in these technological changes, then, that the opportunity for a recasting of journalism emerges. Thankfully, the book’s underpinnings in democratic culture and journalistic professionalism prevent it from crashing on the rocks of what James Carey (1989) once described as ‘nostalgia for the future’.
An alternative reading of the book’s central thesis could be that it is the political economy tradition of communication research – with its (allegedly) reductive theoretical model and relentless pessimism about journalism’s outlook – that is the bogeyman here. A cheeky retort could be that ‘enduring symbolic codes of journalism’ (p. 289) are for naught if there is no financial model to sustain them and that discourses of journalistic commitment to democratic ideals matter little if there are fewer and fewer journalists in the workforce to exercise that commitment. Put another way, the crisis of journalism is indeed discursively constructed, but it is also quite obviously material. C. W. Anderson’s chapter on journalistic self-conceptions in particular is keen to avoid this dichotomous narrative and is a welcome addition.
Regardless of whether or not readers agree with its conclusions (or its starting premise), this is an enjoyable and thought-provoking work. It is exceedingly well-written and organized. Its theoretical richness and distinctive take on the landscapes of both journalism and journalism studies position it as a novel contribution that will fuel much reflection on the issues it raises. It reminds us, ultimately, that journalism is anchored by its normativity. In an age when hope for journalism seems to be in short supply, this book comes at the right time.