Journalism, Media and Globalization

Globalization affects journalism in a number of ways. To an increasing degree, one may speak about a global public arena, shared methods in news-gathering, joint technologies, an international media industry, a global journalist fraternity, and so forth. However, there are also tendencies that seem to contradict the perception of increased global cohesion within journalistic theory and practice. For example, local media cultures reveal diverse journalistic norms, and new technology is sometimes at odds with the idea of a global professional ideology. Thus, understanding journalism in the global world requires both knowledge of media globalization as well as awareness of local media practice.

GJ 301 Journalism, Media and Globalization aims to explore both global and local developments in journalistic practice. The course has two main parts. Part 1 explores journalistic practices around the world, leading up to the discussion of whether one can speak of an emerging globalizing journalism practice that transcends local journalism practice. Part 2 deals with media systems, i.e. attempts to understand media practices in relation to their political and societal context.

Knowledge

The student:

• has knowledge of key issues within comparative journalism research
• has knowledge of the diversity of journalistic practices and ideologies around the world
• is familiar with recognized media system models both for the Western and the non-Western world

• is familiar with discussions in globalization with particular emphasis on the media perspective

Skills

The student:

• can compare journalistic ideologies in global perspective
• can explain and assess different positions pertaining to media globalization

General competence

The student:

• can reflect critically on issues of globalization in relation to journalism and the media
• is able to explain and make use of specialized nomenclature concerning journalism, media and globalization

GJ 301-1: Journalism across the world

This part of the course focuses on the various regions of the world and considers journalistic practices and challenges for each area, in addition to offering a discussion of whether a global journalism identity is emerging. One of the issues to be discussed is the impact that current transformations in the media industry have on journalistic identity and practice in different societies. For every region, one particular topic - with global significance - will receive particular attention. Examples of such topics are journalism and risk, media corruption, development journalism, populist journalism, citizen journalism and the challenge of post-professional media.

GJ 301-2: Media systems

The second main part of the course examines media systems in regional and global perspective. The starting-point is Hallin and Mancini's (2004) renowned three-tiered model of Western media systems (the polarized pluralist model, the democratic corporatist model and the liberal model), after which the course goes on to discuss alternative models elsewhere in the world. The course considers how journalism ideology and practice are interrelated with the overall media system of a given society.