Sweet nothings. Emotions behind journalism production and consumption
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| Year of publication | 2019 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | Emotions and journalism relation is still considered scholarly ambivalent – either is neglected because looks seemingly irrelevant, e.g. in the news production; or is rejected because journalism scholars are still unwilling to research emotions which are considered soft and subjective (Kitch, 2008; Peters, 2011). However, the wall between emotions and journalism is gradually crumbling (c.f. Nabi, 2016) – researchers focus e.g. on journalists’ emotionality (Pantti, 2010); or emotions in journalistic production (Wahl-Jorgensen, 2012). Nevertheless, there is a lack of research on emotions which lie behind relationship between journalists and their work on one hand and audience and their (un)popular medium on the other hand. The aim of this proposed presentation is to provide an empirical support for the assumptions about emotions as a mechanism of relationship with media and its consequence for journalism production and consumption. Drawing on the qualitative case study, the presentation focuses on specific manifestations of relationship among local media, local audience and local journalists. In local environments, this relationship is assumed as stronger, closer or more emotional than, for example, at the national media level. However, definitions of these characteristics are mostly fragmented and one-dimensional as they usually do not address explicitly the mutuality and variability of the relationships between the key actors involved, i.e. between producers and a medium and between consumers and a medium. Understanding these relationships in their complexity and variability is crucial for understanding (1) relationships among these key players on a more general level and (2) more particularly local media performance. My approach is based on the concept of closeness (Waschková Císařová (ed.), 2017) which encompass emotional dimension. The exploratory qualitative study focuses on Czech local audience and local journalists and provides evidence-based reconsideration of the emotions as a mechanism of relationship with media, based on (1) focus groups and in-depth interviews with local audiences and (2) in-depth interviews with local journalists. The findings suggest that there are whole set of emotions behind the audiences’ decision to consume and trust the particular medium; and that the journalists’ emotions reflect their job satisfaction and could be understood as part of the journalistic professional autonomy. Moreover, all these emotions lie behind the relationship with the local media (c.f. Ali, 2017). |
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