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10 Years of Evaluation Practice in Media Assistance
(Nordicom, 2015-04) Noske-Turner, Jessica; Thomas, Pradip Ninan
Evaluating the impact of media assistance is challenging for several reasons. Primary among them is that these kinds of initiatives operate in a complex political, social, and cultural environment. Although there has been increased attention to evaluation of media assistance, with a series of international conferences, funded research projects, and publications ad - dressing this topic, it remains a problematic area of practice. This paper provides a survey of recent media assistance evaluation practices through an analysis of 47 evaluation documents of programs and projects from 2002-2012, identifying trends in methodology choices, and critiquing the quality of the evidence enabled through different evaluation approaches. It finds clear patterns in how, when and by whom evaluations are undertaken, but finds that these practices rarely generate useful, insightful evaluations.
125 Nordicom Review 35Talking Green in the Public Sphere Press Releases, Corporate Voices and the Environment
(Nordic Council of Ministers, Nordicom, 2014-08) Lischinsky, Alon; Sjölander, Annika Egan; Hornmoen, Harald; Orgeret, Kristin Skare
In a climate of growing public concern and monitoring of business’s impact on the environ - ment, corporations and industry groups have developed increasingly sophisticated strategies to manage their environmental reputation and to influence the outcome of environmental debates in the public sphere. In this article, we provide an exploratory overview of how the largest Swedish corporations selectively subsidise environmental news-making by supply -ing it with promotional materials disguised as journalistic copy. We analyse a year’s worth of public relations output from the largest 15 companies traded in the Stockholm exchange or owned by the Swedish state, in order to shed light on the environmental themes they cover, the techniques they adopt to maximise the likelihood of media coverage and the evidence they provide to support their claims. Our analysis shows that corporate voices make substantial use of environmental and ecological arguments in their strategic com -munication, but they provide little useful information about the company’s impact and do not usually foster forms of dialogic stakeholder engagement
40 years of Nordic media research: Introduction
(Nordic Council of Ministers, Nordicom, 2014-08) Hornmoen, Harald; Orgeret, Kristin Skare; Hornmoen, Harald; Orgeret, Kristin Skare
53 Nordicom Review 35 (2014) Special Issue, pp. 53-63 Cosmopolitan Narratives Documentary and the Global ‘Other’
(Nordic Council of Ministers, Nordicom, 2014-08) Bondebjerg, Ib; Hornmoen, Harald; Orgeret, Kristin Skare
A few parting words
(Nordic Council of Ministers, Nordicom, 2015-05) Carlsson, Ulla; Carlsson, Ulla; Nordicom
A Golden Decade. Exploring Internationalization in Nordic Communication Research
(Nordic Council of Ministers, Nordicom, 2014-06) Fernández-Quijada, David; Carlsson, Ulla; Media Intelligence Service, European Broadcasting Union (EBU)
The five countries of the Nordic region have a common cultural and historical background. In the field of communication, they share institutions, conferences, publications and net works. In order to reveal how this shared tradition is manifested in scientific communication, the present text analyses the evolution of publication patterns of Nordic communica - tion scholars by applying bibliometric techniques to over five hundred articles published in international scientific journals from 2001 to 2010. Different parameters were analysed: institution and country of origin, number of authors, typology of collaborations, topics studied and the level of specialization. During the decade under study, the presence of Nordic scholars in international journals doubled, manifesting the growing internationalization of Nordic communication research. Co-authorship patterns predominantly involve collaboration with Anglo-Saxon scholars, particularly North American. A high level of specialization was found in areas such as technologies and new media, which was reflected in the journals chosen as vehicles for publication.
A Hidden Theory
(Nordic Council of Ministers, Nordicom, 2015-10-21) Bjerke, Paul; Kjos Fonn, Birgitte; Nordicom
The present article analyses press coverage of the dramatic finance crisis and the ensuing European debt crisis in Europe, in three decisive periods. The authors conduct quantitative and qualitative content analyses of two major mainstream Norwegian newspapers, Aftenposten and Dagbladet, employing concepts and methods from framing theory, to analyse coverage in the framework of two contesting schools in economics. The study finds traces of discussions of finance brokers’ ethics and some discussions of governmental regulations that made the 2008 crisis possible, but few indications of a basic discussion of the system as such. The authors conclude that the crisis was framed more as a superficial, short-term problem (as per a mainstream, neoliberal theory of economics) than as a deeper and long-term system problem (as a more critical ‘political economics’ theory would have held).
A Journalistic Cosmology A Sketch of Some Social and Mental Structures of the Norwegian Journalistic Field
(Nordic Council of Ministers, Nordicom, 2012-12) Hovden, Jan Fredrik; Carlsson, Ulla
Can Norwegian journalism be meaningfully understood as constituting a social field in Pierre Bourdieu ́s sense? And if so, how did this field emerge historically, and what is its fundamental structure? Following a structural history of the rise of journalism in Norway, a model of this field in 2005 is sketched through correspondence analysis using survey data on Norwegian journalists and editors. The analysis suggest a bipolar structure: a first dimension of capital volume that is closely linked to age, gender and medium type, and a second dimension that opposes agents with different degrees of internal recognition (sym - bolic capital), which in particular separates specialized news journalists in national and larger regional journalistic publications from journalists in the local press and magazines. Special attention is given to the link between this social cosmos and a specific cosmology of journalistic beliefs and position-takings, the relation between journalistic power and social class, and the intertwinedness of symbolic and economic dominance in this field.
A Quest for Communitas Rethinking Mediated Memory Existentially
(Nordic Council of Ministers, Nordicom, 2014-08) Lagerqvist, Amanda; Hornmoen, Harald; Orgeret, Kristin Skare
Despite the fragmentation of audience behaviour and the pluralization of platforms within the media cultures of the digital age, cultural memory practices retain an important feature: They echo a basic existential quest for communitas . The present article compares two seemingly incomparable regimes of memory of our time: the anniversaries of 9.11 on Swedish television and web communities of commemoration of lost loved ones. It suggests through these contrasting examples that existential themes are pursued in the face of three challenges: the temporality of instantaneity, the all-pervasive networked individualism that makes memory into a matter of elective affinities, and the technological capacities that subject memory to endless revision. The article explores the existential dimension of these memory practices in line with research within the culturalist emphasis on the study of media and religion. This debate recognizes the need for a broader understanding of the mediated qualities of religion and the religious qualities of the media. The article argues that both televisual anniversaries of trauma that invite audiences to an annual return, and our new multiple and fragmented media memories compel us to conceive of our hyper-contingent, late-modern digital age as a quest for meaning, transcendence and cohesion – for what Victor Turner (1969) called existential communitas
A Small Exclusive Circle. An Institutional Approach to Business News
(Nordic Council of Ministers, Nordicom, 2013-12) Lindén, Carl-Gustav; Allern, Sigurd; Bødker, Henrik; Eide, Martin; Lauk, Epp; Pollack, Ester
This article features a comparative study of the making of business news based upon interviews (2005 to 2010) with senior business journalists in Finland and Sweden as well as communication managers at two global telecom companies, Nokia and Ericsson. The article shows the complex and fluid dynamics of social construction. There are spans when corporate power over editorial practices is strong and other periods when business reporters and their supervisors effectively exert their control over these news processes and the construction of meaning. Communicative outcomes are not determined or predictable; rather, they are influenced by a socially grounded understanding of what is “appropriate”. This case study shows that formal rules can be of limited value when assessing social processes.
Academic AI Literacy: Artificial Intelligence in Scholarly Writing, Editing, and Publishing
(NordMedia Network, 2024-04-24) Jaakkola, Maarit; Nordicom
Access to Information in the Nordic Countries. A comparison of the laws of Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Iceland and international rules
(Nordic Council of Ministers, Nordicom, 2014-11) Jørgensen, Oluf; Danish School of Media and Journalism
Freedom of information, openness and transparency are words that are freely used in public discourse. Public bodies and politicians are referred to as ‘open’ if they give information and are willing to enter into dialogue with the outside world. Politicians demonstrate openness when they make themselves available for interviews, attend public meetings and take part in discussions. There is typically a high degree of openness in the Nordic countries. The word ‘transparency’ is much used in an international context, with varying meanings. The word can have a broad meaning, in line with ‘openness’, or it can indicate a more specific requirement for authorities. ‘Transparency’ can also refer to clear and easily understood information. In ‘Access to information in the Nordic countries’ the term ‘access’ has a more specific meaning than ‘openness’ and ‘transparency’. ‘Access’ refers to the right to have access to authentic information about the activities of public bodies, their researches and bases for decisions etc., without the information being mediated or controlled by some authority or by politicians.
AD WARS Digital Challenges for Ad-Financed News Media in the Nordic Countries
(Nordicom, 2017-05) Ohlsson, Jonas; Facht, Ulrika; Nordicom
Digitalisation has changed how we communicate with one another, how we search for information, how we use media and, not least, how media are financed. This report focuses on media financing, specifically the portion of financing that comes from advertisers. Global companies such as Google and Facebook are increasingly chal¬lenging domestic media companies’ position in their national advertising markets. The growing influence of foreign advertising platforms is an expression of a more far-reaching transformation that encompasses both audience and advertisers and is being propelled by technological developments in the media area. This book presents an analysis of how the digitalisation of the advertising market has impacted the business model of Nordic news media companies. As the competition for the advertising investments has been increasing, many media companies have been forced to see their ad revenues decline, in some cases dramatically. Is the financing model that has supported Nordic commercial news jour¬nalism for at least 150 years breaking up? Or are there differences between the Nordic countries that mean the situation is different in different places and in different media?
Advertising for Europe TV Ads During the 2009 European Election Campaign in Four Countries
(Nordic Council of Ministers, Nordicom, 2012-12) Holtz-Bacha, Christina; Johansson, Bengt; Leidenberger, Jacob; Maarek, Philippe J; Merkle, Susanne; Carlsson, Ulla
This study analyzes and compares party ads that were broadcast on television during the 2009 European Election campaign in France, Germany, Sweden and the UK. Even though electoral TV ads have never reached the same importance in European countries as in the US, such ads are to be regarded as an expression of the specific political culture of a coun - try and therefore have relevance beyond election campaigns. An international comparison of ads produced for the same event is particularly suited to revealing similarities across cultures as well as national idiosyncrasies. Additionally, the present study demonstrates a methodological approach that defines a ‘sequence’ as the unit of analysis instead of the whole spot, and thus it is different from previous research on electoral advertising.
After the Performance
(Nordic Council of Ministers, Nordicom, 2015-10-21) Valtysson, Bjarki; Wadbring, ingela; Nordicom
In May 2010, the Best Party won the municipal elections in Reykjavik, and the party’s leading figure, comedian Jón Gnarr, was appointed Mayor of Reykjavik. During the election campaign, the party ‘performed democracy’ by playing with irrational, satirical discourses that challenged traditional discourses within political public spheres. Soon after his inauguration, Gnarr began a Facebook page called ‘The Mayor’s Diary’ on which he wrote openly about the challenges faced by a newcomer to politics. Approximately 10% of the Icelandic population follows his profile. This article presents an analysis of the communication conducted on the Mayor’s Diary, particularly of how Facebook as a media environment conditions the Mayor’s performative manoeuvres and, correspondingly, how the subversive discourses galvanised in the election campaign can begin ricocheting back when discussions move from cultural public spheres to political public spheres.
Analyzing Presidential Debates Functional Theory and Finnish Political Communication Culture
(Nordic Council of Ministers, Nordicom, 2011-06) Isotalus, Pekka; Carlsson, Ulla; School of Communication, Media and Theatre, University of Tampere
One of the most used theories in the research of political debates is the functional theory of campaign discourse. However, the theory has been criticized for being too culturally limited. In the present article, a Finnish presidential debate is analyzed from the perspective of functional theory. The goal is to critically evaluate the applicability of functional theory to the analysis of Finnish political campaigning. The results show that a Finnish presidential debate differs in many ways from an American presidential debate. The study shows how strongly the culture is reflected in political television debates and how important it is to take account of the cultural perspective in the development of a theory.
Approaches to political commentary in Scandinavia
(Nordic Council of Ministers, Nordicom, 2015-05) Bengtsson, Mette; Carlsson, Ulla; Nordicom
Political commentary is a contested genre that has attracted a great deal of attention in the Scandinavian public debate, whereas the scholarly literature on it is still in an initial phase. In order to strengthen future research, the present paper suggests a two-dimensional matrix indexing the research on Scandinavian political commentary along the dimensions text/context and descriptive/evaluative. The matrix enables us to see more clearly what we already know and where we lack knowledge. It enables us to see how each category can be developed, the interplay among them, and the obvious lack of textual, evaluative approaches. The author argues that a joint, cross-disciplinary engagement is necessary if we are to adequately understand the potentials and problems of political commentary.
As it Happens How Live News Blogs Work and their Future
(Nordic Counil of Ministers, Nordicom, 2014-12-15) O´Mahony, Karin; Carlsson, Ulla; Nordicom
The live blog is a relatively new, web-native format that has special possibilities for creating journalism. It is an example of networked journalism that puts an emphasis on aggregated material from different sources such as social media and user-generated content. • Live blogs are usually heavily dependent on other mainstream media as well as social media to function. • News consumers appreciate the format of the live blog. They sometimes prefer it over other formats such as a conventional news articles and sometimes consume types of content they would not normally have chosen because it is presented in a live blog. • The use of live blogs has sparked conflict and debate, mainly because of the speed at which they are written and how this leads to publishing unconfirmed information which has occasionally put people at risk of harm. • Live blogs change the way journalists work: they have more (or less) to do, they use a different tone of voice and they might not always be able to verify the information that they share. Reporters take on a new role, that sometimes might resemble that of an editor, curator or moderator. • Verifying facts in real time is one of the biggest journalistic challenges when working with live blogs. Other challenges include the live blog taking up a lot of resources and keeping the narrative structure clear. • Live blogs can be used as a way of engaging with readers, making it easier for the news - paper to receive useful user generated content. • Live blogs might change how media companies act towards news consumers and increase the level of engagement with readers. • Live blogs open up the journalistic process to readers, so transferring some of the jour - nalistic responsibility towards them. Live blogs change the way the reader consumes the news – the reader has to act like an editor. • The live blog is an evolving format that we will see more of in the future.
Audience Participation in the Production of Online News. Towards a Typology
(Nordic Council of Ministers, Nordicom, 2013-12) Kammer, Aske; Allern, Sigurd; Bødker, Henrik; Eide, Martin; Lauk, Epp; Pollack, Ester
The potential of audience participation constitutes a most important characteristic of digital journalism. This article presents an inductive study of audience participation in the production of online news in a Danish context, analysing how audiences participate, and what relationships between journalists and audiences accompany this participation. The article discusses the concept of participation, arguing on the basis of sociological theory that it should be understood as those instances where the audience influences the content of the news through their intentional actions. Applying this definition, it proposes four ideal types of audience participation in the production of online news, namely sharing of information, collaboration, conversation and meta-communication.
Battling Mainstream Media, Commentators and Organized Debaters Experiences from Citizens’ Online Opinion Writing in Sweden
(Nordic Council of Ministers, Nordicom, 2014-11-25) Larsson, Sofia; Carlsson, Ulla; Nordicom
This article presents the results of a qualitative interview study on citizen opinion writers who are active on a citizen media website in Sweden. The study explores the writers’ experi - ences of participating in the alternative and citizen media landscape online, their purposes, the benefits and finally what impedes their participation. The results paint a picture of a sole grass-roots writer who aims to reach the broad political sphere using a mix of strategies to participate, oppose the mainstream media or use the Web as a writing gym. The restrictive powers they encounter are associated with mainstream media, commentators and organized debaters. This is discussed as causing a narrower public debate, less participation and less counter-hegemonic content

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