A world in flux : journalistic change in science journalism

Abstract

As modernity undergoes radical changes, a narrative of journalistic change has emerged in journalism research. One way that journalistic change has been conceptualized is in terms of a shift from a high modern to a liquid ethos (Deuze, 2005, 2017; Hallin, 1992). But this narrative does not always take into account that journalism is a multifaceted institution with many interfaces (Koljonen, 2013). The narrative also tends to be simplistic because it exaggerates the scope of change and does not take the various elements of the journalistic ethos into account. This research seeks to challenge the prevailing narrative of journalistic change by homing in on a niche area of journalism. It uses a qualitative textual analysis to explore journalistic change in science journalism, focusing on news reports (n=186) of Crispr, a revolutionary development in biology. News reports were analyzed through the lens of a multidimensional model of journalistic change that features five core journalistic elements: knowledge, audience, power, time, and ethics (Deuze, 2005; Carpentier, 2005; Hanitzsch, 2007; Koljonen, 2013). By exploring the nature of journalistic change in science journalism from 2013-2017, it is possible to further understand the current state of journalism. This study's suggestion that a high modern ethos prevails in science journalism contributes to scholarship concerning journalistic change and scholarship devoted to understanding the core elements of the journalistic ethos.