TY - JOUR
T1 - Triggering the News Story: Reconstructing reporters' newsgathering practices in the light of newspaper type, newsroom centralization, reporters' autonomy, and specialization
AU - Boesman, J.L.J.
AU - d'Haenens, L.
AU - Van Gorp, B.
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - The start of the news production process has not been extensively researched. This study identifies the factors that influence journalists’ preferences for certain newsgathering channels to others at the genesis of news production: (a) the type of newspaper; (b) the centralization of the newsroom; (c) the story selection autonomy of the reporter; and (d) the specialization of the reporter in the topic of the story. During a six-week period, this study investigates the daily output of 20 domestic news reporters from the four main Flemish newspapers (n=578). A multi-method approach was adopted, combining content analysis, reconstruction interviews with the reporters, in-depth interviews with their superiors, and newsroom observations. The findings show that stories from centralized newsrooms and non-specialist reporters, and stories assigned by superiors, are more likely to be triggered by stories from other news media. For their part, stories from decentralized newsrooms and specialist reporters, as well as stories initiated by reporters themselves, are more likely to depart from classic routine channels such as press releases.
AB - The start of the news production process has not been extensively researched. This study identifies the factors that influence journalists’ preferences for certain newsgathering channels to others at the genesis of news production: (a) the type of newspaper; (b) the centralization of the newsroom; (c) the story selection autonomy of the reporter; and (d) the specialization of the reporter in the topic of the story. During a six-week period, this study investigates the daily output of 20 domestic news reporters from the four main Flemish newspapers (n=578). A multi-method approach was adopted, combining content analysis, reconstruction interviews with the reporters, in-depth interviews with their superiors, and newsroom observations. The findings show that stories from centralized newsrooms and non-specialist reporters, and stories assigned by superiors, are more likely to be triggered by stories from other news media. For their part, stories from decentralized newsrooms and specialist reporters, as well as stories initiated by reporters themselves, are more likely to depart from classic routine channels such as press releases.
U2 - 10.1080/1461670X.2014.953783
DO - 10.1080/1461670X.2014.953783
M3 - Article
SN - 1461-670X
VL - 16
SP - 904
EP - 922
JO - Journalism Studies
JF - Journalism Studies
IS - 6
ER -