Open Access

Indigenous journalism, media innovation, and social change: A review of previous research and call for more critical approaches

Niamh Ní Bhroin
Niamh Ní Bhroin
, 
Stine Sand
Stine Sand
 and 
Torkel Rasmussen
Torkel Rasmussen
   | Oct 09, 2021
Nordicom Review's Cover Image
About this article
Previous Article
Next Article
Cite
Published Online: Oct 09, 2021
Page range: 185 - 206
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2021-0050
Keywords
© 2021 Niamh Ní Bhroin et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Figure 1

Overview of search protocolComments: Search conducted according to the same protocol in two iterations. The second iteration took account of the increasing number of studies referring to this topic.
Overview of search protocolComments: Search conducted according to the same protocol in two iterations. The second iteration took account of the increasing number of studies referring to this topic.

Overview of empirical material

Method Reference Focus/Continent
case study Couldry, N., & Dreher, T. (2007). Globalization and the public sphere: Exploring the space of community media in Sydney. Global Media and Communication, 3(1), 79–100. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742766507074360 Community media/Australia and Oceania
Hachten, W. A. (1968). The training of African Journalists. Gazette (Leiden, Netherlands), 14(2), 101–108. https://doi.org/10.1177/001654926801400205 Journalism/Africa
Jenks, J. (2016). The scramble for African media: The British government, Reuters, and Thomson in the 1960s. American Journalism, 33(1), 2–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/08821127.2015.1134972 African media
Latimore, J., Nolan, D., Simons, M., & Khan, E. (2017). Reassembling the Indigenous public sphere. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 21, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v21i0.1529 Indigenous app/Australia and Oceania
Lefkowich, M., Dennison, B., & Klein, P. (2019). Empowerment journalism – Commentary for special issue of Journalism Studies. Journalism Studies, 20(12), 1803–1809. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2019.1638294 Empowerment journalism/Global
Mann, M., & Daly, A. (2019). (Big) data and the north-in-south: Australia's informational imperialism and digital colonialism. Television & New Media, 20(4), 379–395. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527476418806091 Digital colonialism/Australia and Oceania
Martin, J. (2018). Writing Aboriginality: The portrayal of Indigenous people in Australia's Walkley-Award-winning features. Literary Journalism Studies, 10(1), 8–19. https://ialjs.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Indigenous-LJ-8-69.pdf Indigenous journalism/Australia and Oceania
Skjerdal, T. S. (2011). Teaching journalism or teaching African journalism? Experiences from foreign involvement in a journalism programme in Ethiopia. Global Media Journal African Edition, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.5789/5-1-56 African journalism
Tallent, R. J., & Dingman, R. S. (2011). Cherokee independent press act of 2000. Journal of Communication Inquiry, 35(3), 252–274. https://doi.org/10.1177/0196859911413468 Indigenous journalism/North America
interviews Burrows, E. (2018). Indigenous media producers’ perspectives on objectivity, balancing community responsibilities and journalistic obligations. Media, Culture & Society, 40(8), 1117–1134. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443718764807 Indigenous media/Global
Chibuwe, A., & Salawu, A. (2020). Training for English language or Indigenous language media journalism: A decolonial critique of Zimbabwean journalism and media training institutions’ training practices. Journal of African Media Studies, 12(2), 137–156. https://doi.org/10.1386/jams_00016_1 Indigenous journalism/Africa
Cohen, M. S., & McIntyre, K. (2019). Local-language radio stations in Kenya: Helpful or harmful? African Journalism Studies, 40(3), 73–88. https://doi.org/10.1080/23743670.2020.1729830 African journalism
Goyanes, M., López-López, P. C., & Demeter, M. (2020). Social media in Ecuador: Impact on journalism practice and citizens’ understanding of public politics. Journalism Practice, 15(3), 366–382. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2020.1724180 Indigenous journalism/South America
Hanusch, F. (2015). Cultural forces in journalism: The impact of cultural values on Māori journalists’ professional views. Journalism Studies, 16(2), 191–206. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2013.859864 Indigenous journalism/Australia and Oceania
Hanusch, F. (2014b). Dimensions of Indigenous journalism culture: Exploring Māori news-making in Aotearoa New Zealand. Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism, 15(8), 951–967. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884913495757 Indigenous journalism/Australia and Oceania
Hanusch, F., & Uppal, C. (2015). Combining detached watchdog journalism with development ideals: An exploration of Fijian journalism culture. International Communication Gazette, 77(6), 557–576. https://doi.org/10.1177/1748048515597873 Indigenous journalism/Australia and Oceania
Plaut, S. (2014). Nation-building, not “resistance radio”. Nordicom Review, 35(1), 81–97. https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2014-0006 Indigenous journalism/Europe
Ross, T. (2017). Rethinking journalism and culture: An examination of how Pacific audiences evaluate ethnic media. Journalism Studies, 18(12), 1559–1575. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2016.1146626 Pacific journalism/Australia and Oceania
comparative interviews Skogerbø, E., Josefsen, E., & Fjellström, A.-M. (2019). Indigenous political journalism in the Norwegian and Swedish public service broadcasters. Journalism Studies, 20(7), 991–1008. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2018.1477550 Indigenous journalism/Europe
focus groups Meadows, M. (2009). Electronic dreaming tracks: Indigenous community broadcasting in Australia. Development in Practice, 19(4–5), 514–524. https://doi.org/10.1080/09614520902866363 Indigenous community broadcasting/Australia and Oceania
Ross, T. (2019). Pulled two ways: Norms of ‘Pacificness’ and journalism in New Zealand's Pacific news media. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 40(6), 649–664. https://doi.org/10.1080/07256868.2019.1675616 News media/Australia and Oceania
observation/interview/survey Adeduntan, A. (2018). Truth, nothing but the performative truth. Journalism Studies, 19(12), 1712–1729. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2017.1299587 Indigenous journalism/Africa
archival/participant observation/interviews M’Balla-Ndi, M. (2017). Division in the land of ‘the unspoken’: Examining journalistic practice in contemporary New Caledonia. MedieKultur: Journal of media and communication research, 33(62), 52–71. https://doi.org/10.7146/mediekultur.v33i62.24431. Indigenous journalism/North America
interviews/primary source documents Plaut, S. (2017). Reshaping the borders of journalism: Lessons learned from transnational peoples’ journalism. Journalism Practice, 11(1), 1–32. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2015.1092391 Indigenous journalism/Europe
observation Stewart, H., Meadows, M., Bowman, L., van Vuuren, K., & Mulligan, P. (2010). Indigenous voice: A work-integrated learning case study in journalism education. Australian Journalism Review, 32(2), 59–72. Indigenous journalism/Australia and Oceania
multi-sited ethnography Brooten, L. (2006). Political violence and journalism in a multiethnic state: A case study of Burma (Myanmar). Journal of Communication Inquiry, 30(4), 354–373. https://doi.org/10.1177/0196859906290841 Political journalism/Asia
content analysis Calvi, P. (2018). Reporting on Indigenous issues: The extractive matrix of journalism vis-á-vis native Latin Americans. Literary Journalism Studies, 10(1), 46–69. Indigenous journalism/South America
Gift, G., Last, A., & Deity, C. N. (2019). The Tonga people of Northern Zimbabwe: An encounter with digital media. African Journalism Studies, 39(4), 91–108. https://doi.org/10.1080/23743670.2018.1533487 Digital media/Africa
Kilgo, D. K., & Harlow, S. (2019). Protests, media coverage, and a hierarchy of social struggle. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 24(4), 508–530. https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161219853517 US Journalism/North America
Lang, M. J. (2015). Written out of their own story: The rhetorical colonialism of journalistic practice. Communication Studies, 66(1), 85–102. https://doi.org/10.1080/10510974.2013.867408 Indigenous journalism/North America
Todorova, M. S. (2016). Co-created learning: Decolonizing journalism education in Canada. Canadian Journal of Communication, 41(4), 673–692. https://doi.org/10.22230/cjc.2016v41n4a2970 Indigenous journalism/North America
Waller, L., Mesikämmen, E., & Burkett, B. (2020). Rural radio and the everyday politics of settlement on Indigenous land. Media, Culture & Society, 42(6), 805–822. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443719876620 Indigenous journalism/Australia and Oceania
content and framing analysis Browne, J., Gleeson, D., Adams, K., Atkinson, P., & Hayes, R. (2018). Coverage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nutrition in major Australian newspapers, 1996–2015. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 42(3), 277–283. https://doi.org/10.1111/1753-6405.12790 Indigenous journalism/Australia and Oceania
Vargas, C., Browne, J., Hardy, T., Moore, E., Vally, H., & Gleeson, D. (2020). Coverage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nutrition in the Koori Mail. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 44(3), 180–185. https://doi.org/10.1111/1753-6405.12980 Indigenous journalism/Australia and Oceania
historical/content analysis Hanusch, F. (2014a). Dimensions of Indigenous journalism culture: Exploring Māori news-making in Aotearoa New Zealand. Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism, 15(8), 951–967. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884913495757 Indigenous journalism/Australia and Oceania
content analysis/survey Nwagbara, G. U. (2013). Indigenous language news and the marginalization of some ethnic groups in the Nigerian broadcast media. Studies of Tribes and Tribals, 11(2), 153–160. https://doi.org/10.1080/0972639X.2013.11886677 Indigenous journalism/Africa
content/production analysis Su, C. (2019). An alternative chronicle of natural disaster: Social justice journalism in Taiwan. International Journal of Communication, 13, 3321–3340. Social justice journalism/Asia

Overview of theoretical material

Reference Focus/Continent
Berger G. (2002). Theorizing the media—Democracy relationship in Southern Africa. Gazette (Leiden, Netherlands), 64(1), 21–45. https://doi.org/10.1177/17480485020640010201 Media and democracy/Africa
Hanusch, F. (2014b). Indigenous cultural values and journalism in the Asia-Pacific region: a brief history of Māori journalism, Asian Journal of Communication, 24(4), 390–403. https://doi.org/10.1080/01292986.2014.885538 Indigenous journalism/Australia and Oceania
Hanusch F. (2013). Charting a theoretical framework for examining Indigenous journalism culture. Media International Australia, 149(1), 82–91. https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878X1314900110 Indigenous journalism/Australia and Oceania
Hess, K., & Waller, L. (2015). Community journalism in Australia: A media power perspective, Community Journalism, 4(1), 2–9. https://dro.deakin.edu.au/view/DU:30075759 Community journalism/Australia and Oceania
James, S. L. (1990). Development of Indigenous journalism and broadcast formats: Curricular implications for communication studies in Africa. African Media Review, 4(1), 1–14. https://n2t.net/ark:/85335/m59p2xh7n Indigenous journalism/Africa
Nwagbara, G. U. (2013). Indigenous language news and the marginalization of some ethnic groups in the Nigerian broadcast media. Studies of Tribes and Tribals, 11(2), 153–160. https://doi.org/10.1080/0972639X.2013.11886677 Indigenous language news/Africa
Reynolds, B. (2018). Indigenous literary journalism, saturation reporting, and the aesthetics of experience. Literary Journalism Studies, 10(1),37–46. Indigenous literary journalism/Global
Shaw I. S. (2009). Towards an African journalism model: A critical historical perspective. International Communication Gazette, 71(6), 491–510. https://doi.org/10.1177/1748048509339792 African journalism/Africa
Skjerdal T. S. (2012). The three alternative journalisms of Africa. International Communication Gazette, 74(7), 636–654. https://doi.org/10.1177/1748048512458559 African journalism/Africa
Waller, L. (2010). Indigenous research ethics: New modes of information gathering and storytelling in journalism. Australian Journalism Review, 32(2), 19–31. Indigenous journalism/Australia and Oceania

Search results by publication category

Publication Category 2017 2020 Cumulative
Research articles 59 51 110
Books 32 10 42
Book chapters 7 4 11
Book review 1 1 2
Conference papers 5 5 10
Theses 4 8 12
Encyclopaedia entries 0 3 3
Research indices 8 0 8
Citations 3 0 3
Websites 3 3 6
Newspaper or non-research-based periodical articles 0 3 3
Reports 3 4 7
Total 125 92 217
eISSN:
2001-5119
Language:
English
Publication timeframe:
2 times per year
Journal Subjects:
Social Sciences, Communication Science, Mass Communication, Public and Political Communication
Journal RSS Feed