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20. Advocacy Journalism

  • Ryan J. Thomas
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Journalism
This chapter is in the book Journalism

Abstract

This chapter reviews the under-studied genre of advocacy journalism. I begin by locating advocacy journalism spatially. To do this, I distinguish between what I call segmented and woven advocacy, a distinction born of the distinct role advocacy plays within different journalism systems. I then examine the producers of advocacy journalism, with a particular focus on the distinction between voices within journalism and voices outside of it. Simply put, who are the people doing the advocating? I then turn to an examination of what advocacy journalism does, working on the assumption that discourse is always in service of meaning (Richardson 2007). I identify four threads in the existing literature that situate advocacy journalism as: 1. Analysis and interpretation, something I refer to as “news plus”; 2. Critique and change agent; 3. Political intervention; and 4. Emblem of journalistic decline. I then briefly discuss the argument that the separation between fact and value is arbitrary before offering some concluding remarks and suggestions for future research.

Abstract

This chapter reviews the under-studied genre of advocacy journalism. I begin by locating advocacy journalism spatially. To do this, I distinguish between what I call segmented and woven advocacy, a distinction born of the distinct role advocacy plays within different journalism systems. I then examine the producers of advocacy journalism, with a particular focus on the distinction between voices within journalism and voices outside of it. Simply put, who are the people doing the advocating? I then turn to an examination of what advocacy journalism does, working on the assumption that discourse is always in service of meaning (Richardson 2007). I identify four threads in the existing literature that situate advocacy journalism as: 1. Analysis and interpretation, something I refer to as “news plus”; 2. Critique and change agent; 3. Political intervention; and 4. Emblem of journalistic decline. I then briefly discuss the argument that the separation between fact and value is arbitrary before offering some concluding remarks and suggestions for future research.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Preface to Handbooks of Communication Science series v
  3. Acknowledgements ix
  4. Contents xi
  5. 1. Journalism 1
  6. 2. Journalism history 19
  7. I Foundations of the Field
  8. 3. Roles of Journalists 43
  9. 4. Epistemologies of Journalism 63
  10. 5. Journalism Ethics 83
  11. II. Conceptualizing the Field
  12. 6. Journalism as Practice 105
  13. 7. Journalism as Institution 125
  14. 8. Journalism as Public Sphere 149
  15. 9. Journalism as Memory 169
  16. III. Theorizing the Field
  17. 10. Journalism as Agenda Setting 189
  18. 11. Journalism as Framing 205
  19. 12. Journalism as Gatekeeping 235
  20. IV. Journalism via the Disciplines
  21. 13. The Sociology of Journalism 257
  22. 14. The Economics of Journalism and News Provision 281
  23. 15 Politics and Policies of Journalism and Free Press 297
  24. 16. The Technology of Journalism 321
  25. 17. Journalism and Geography 335
  26. V. The Journalism Ecology
  27. 18. Entrepreneurial Journalism 355
  28. 19. Mapping the Citizen News Landscape: Blurring Boundaries, Promises, Perils, and Beyond 373
  29. 20. Advocacy Journalism 391
  30. 21. Documentary Journalism 415
  31. 22. Lifestyle Journalism 433
  32. VI. The Issues of Journalism
  33. 23. Journalism, War, and Peace 453
  34. 24. Journalism, Censorship, and Press Freedom 473
  35. 25. Journalism, Pluralism, and Diversity 493
  36. 26. Journalism, Gender, and Race 511
  37. 27. Journalism, Audiences and Community Engagement 531
  38. VII. Conclusion
  39. 28. Journalism and Change 555
  40. 29. The Future of Journalism Scholarship 575
  41. Biographical sketches 587
  42. Index 591
https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501500084-020

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Preface to Handbooks of Communication Science series v
  3. Acknowledgements ix
  4. Contents xi
  5. 1. Journalism 1
  6. 2. Journalism history 19
  7. I Foundations of the Field
  8. 3. Roles of Journalists 43
  9. 4. Epistemologies of Journalism 63
  10. 5. Journalism Ethics 83
  11. II. Conceptualizing the Field
  12. 6. Journalism as Practice 105
  13. 7. Journalism as Institution 125
  14. 8. Journalism as Public Sphere 149
  15. 9. Journalism as Memory 169
  16. III. Theorizing the Field
  17. 10. Journalism as Agenda Setting 189
  18. 11. Journalism as Framing 205
  19. 12. Journalism as Gatekeeping 235
  20. IV. Journalism via the Disciplines
  21. 13. The Sociology of Journalism 257
  22. 14. The Economics of Journalism and News Provision 281
  23. 15 Politics and Policies of Journalism and Free Press 297
  24. 16. The Technology of Journalism 321
  25. 17. Journalism and Geography 335
  26. V. The Journalism Ecology
  27. 18. Entrepreneurial Journalism 355
  28. 19. Mapping the Citizen News Landscape: Blurring Boundaries, Promises, Perils, and Beyond 373
  29. 20. Advocacy Journalism 391
  30. 21. Documentary Journalism 415
  31. 22. Lifestyle Journalism 433
  32. VI. The Issues of Journalism
  33. 23. Journalism, War, and Peace 453
  34. 24. Journalism, Censorship, and Press Freedom 473
  35. 25. Journalism, Pluralism, and Diversity 493
  36. 26. Journalism, Gender, and Race 511
  37. 27. Journalism, Audiences and Community Engagement 531
  38. VII. Conclusion
  39. 28. Journalism and Change 555
  40. 29. The Future of Journalism Scholarship 575
  41. Biographical sketches 587
  42. Index 591
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