<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Journalists face plenty of challenges when covering innovation topics. Because innovation stories combine elements from several traditional beats, they are often left “homeless” in the media. The general lack of resources in the media affects specialty areas in particular. On top of that, innovation topics are often difficult to write because the issues are complicated and unpredictable. The risk of engaging in PR is particularly high when writing about innovation. Journalists can try to cope with these challenges, for instance by networking with experts, doing collaborative stories between desks, appreciating the fact that innovation stories take their time and finding a personal involvement in the topic to make it more appealing to the reader. The data in the present article consist of 69 thematic interviews with press journalists from the US, Japan and Finland.</p></abstract>

Journalists face plenty of challenges when covering innovation topics. Because innovation stories combine elements from several traditional beats, they are often left “homeless” in the media. The general lack of resources in the media affects specialty areas in particular. On top of that, innovation topics are often difficult to write because the issues are complicated and unpredictable. The risk of engaging in PR is particularly high when writing about innovation. Journalists can try to cope with these challenges, for instance by networking with experts, doing collaborative stories between desks, appreciating the fact that innovation stories take their time and finding a personal involvement in the topic to make it more appealing to the reader. The data in the present article consist of 69 thematic interviews with press journalists from the US, Japan and Finland.

Challenges in Covering Innovation Topics

Nordicom Review

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Experiences of Journalists in the US, Japan and Finland

Journalists face plenty of challenges when covering innovation topics. Because innovation stories combine elements from several traditional beats, they are...

Challenges in Covering Innovation Topics

Published Online: Jan 30, 2017

Page range: 63 - 74

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/nor-2017-0113

Keywords
innovation journalism, thematic interviews, comparative analysis, USA, Japan, Finland

© 2011 Maria Lassila-Merisalo, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Challenges in Covering Innovation Topics

Published Online: Jan 30, 2017

Page range: 63 - 74

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/nor-2017-0113

Keywordsinnovation journalism, thematic interviews, comparative analysis, USA, Japan, Finland

© 2011 Maria Lassila-Merisalo, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
innovation journalism, thematic interviews, comparative analysis, USA, Japan, Finland