Covering Regional Blind Spots: Commentary journalism in the regional public sphere
Pubblicato online: 19 feb 2019
Pagine: 75 - 90
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2019-0004
Parole chiave
© 2019 Birgit Røe Mathisen et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Traditionally, local and regional journalism has seen little scholarly attention, as journalism research tends to focus on large and national media (Wahl-Jorgensen & Hanitsch, 2009). However, Waschková Císařová (2017: 15) sees this as “no longer the case” in a newly published book about local journalism. In recent years, scholars have shown an expanding interest in local journalism both in Europe and in the United States (see also Nielsen, 2015). A vital part of this research focuses on small hyperlocals (Nygren et al., 2018; van Kerkhoven & Bakker, 2014; Williams et al., 2015), whereas the regional level has not received the same scholarly attention. However, placed between the defined local coverage of small local media on the one side, and the national and global perspectives of national media on the other, regional media is an important level for research; it addresses questions about the geographical scope of coverage.
In a Norwegian context, media researchers have studied the trend that regional media have narrowed their news scope (Engan, 2016; Holand, 2013; Omdal, 2013), becoming more like local patriots for their publishing towns (Mathisen, 2014) than addressing matters concerning a wider region. Within the perspective of media ecology (Anderson, 2016), this raises questions about media shadows or blind spots in the coverage of important political and geographical levels (Høst, 2016; Nord & Nygren, 2002), with a consequent democratic deficit (Nygren, 2016; Howells, 2015; Omdal, 2013).
At the same time, scholars have paid attention to another significant trend within journalism: a distinct expansion of opinion-based and interpretive journalism in several countries, where public debate and opinion-based journalism are growing on behalf of news journalism (Esser & Umbricht, 2014). This implies an increase of public debate being considered to have democratic value (Nord & Stür, 2009).
This article examines the role of commentary or opinion-based journalism in regional media within the perspective of institutional theory and media ecology. More specifically, it explores the role of the expanding regional Translated into English. The name means The High North Debate.
The article is organised as follows: first, we present the theoretical ground for this discussion. This is followed by a brief presentation of the expansion of opinion-based journalism, before presenting the context of the Norwegian media landscape in general and the regional newspaper
Theoretically, this study is rooted in institutional theory (Allern & Blach-Ørsten, 2011; Cook, 1998), a theoretical perspective underlining news media as societal institutions fulfilling a public role within democracy (Nielsen, 2015). The public discourse, managed by the news media, implies that a common space of political and cultural conversations and experiences are available for citizens (Gripsrud, 2017a). This common space constitutes the public sphere: a communal communicative space where a society organises discussion and information. The public sphere is a virtual structure that is imagined, but with real consequences for, and connections with, the political and material realities within which society exists (McNair, 2018). Journalism plays a vital role within the public sphere, related to functions such as information, interpretation, interrogation, representation and advocacy (McNair, 2018). An important institutional feature of journalism and news media is their role as channel and arenas for communication (Allern & Blach-Ørsten, 2011).
Journalism is committed to a societal contract (Peters & Broersma, 2017) that requires a link between journalistic professionalism and democracy. Democracy, publishing technology and journalism are closely intertwined (McNair, 2008). Democracy presupposes a public discourse where ideas and perceptions may be freely debated, in which news media is an important arena (Aalberg et al., 2015). Journalism’s role within the public sphere is to fuel, encourage, facilitate and act as a platform (Graham, 2013). Knapskog and colleagues (2016: 165) argue that opinion-based journalism might be the genre that renews this societal contract with the “increasingly demanding and fragmented audiences for professional journalism”. Nord and Stür (2009: 40) claim that audiences need guidance and analysis in an increasingly complex and fragmented world, and that opinion-based journalism can help audiences to better understand society.
However, the rise of social media and the internet has affected the media environment, the public sphere and the working methods of journalists (Westlund & Lewis, 2014). Digital communication has gradually changed the public sphere (Enjolras et al., 2013). On the one hand, citizens gain a variety of avenues to participate (Gripsrud, 2017b; Nielsen, 2017). On the other hand, the public sphere is becoming more fragmented (Gripsrud, 2017b; Owen, 2016). This tension between democratisation and fragmentation leads to the concept of news ecology, defined by Anderson (2016: 412) as:
… the entire ensemble of individuals, organizations and technologies in a particular geographic community or around a particular issue, engaged in journalistic production and, indeed, in journalistic consumption.
The concept of ecology might contribute to an understanding of how the different parts of the diverse media landscape relate to each other by describing two different aspects. One concerns how new media entering the scene changes the ecology, while the other illustrates how the different parts of the media system relate to each other. For example, how news is distributed by local or regional media and is then picked up by national media and spread to a wider audience (Anderson, 2016). The latter is the focus of Nielsen’s (2015: 51) concept of
Furthermore, the ecological perspective might also shed light on the role of the different levels in the media landscape, as well as the diversity or lack of diversity, and address concepts such as
From the discussion of ecology and media shadows, we now turn to an elaboration of the genre, being the issue of this article. Being one of the oldest genres of journalism, opinion has played an important role in the development of the news institution (Allern & Blach-Ørsten, 2011). Opinion-based journalism is a rapidly growing genre across the Western world (Esser & Umbricht, 2014; Knapskog et al., 2016; McNair, 2008; Nord & Stür, 2009; Salgadao & Strömbäck, 2012; Wahl-Jorgensen & Hanitsch, 2009). It is part of a critical tradition characterised by interpretation and analysis. Based on a study of the development of both American and European journalism over decades, Esser and Umbricht (2014) describe a change in journalism from observation to interpretation in both the news and the columns. This shift from “news” to “views” is explained by the level of education and the status of the profession of journalists (Umbricht: 245). Economy is another factor, as desktop opinion-based journalism is regarded as “cheap” compared to resource demanding investigative reporting and reportage (McNair, 2008: 118). In addition, profiled columnists become essential for the branding of the media company and drawing in digital readers (Allern & Blach-Ørsten, 2011; Mathisen & Morlandstø, 2016).
Moreover, due to an ever more complex and faster information flow in society, the need for interpretation and context is growing (Le Masurier, 2015; Neveu, 2016; Nord & Stür, 2009). However, the growth of opinion and interpretation is also subject to criticism and public debate (Enli, 2009; McNair, 2008; Patterson, 2000): the critique problematises whether opinion-based journalism is replacing fact-based and investigative journalism.
The rise of opinion-based journalism is a distinct trend in Norwegian journalism, which brings us to the specific context of Norway. An important feature of all the Nordic countries is the diverse press structure (Hallin & Mancini, 2009; Syvertsen et al., 2014): Nordic newspaper ecology includes local papers, regional papers and national papers. The local press remains of key importance, particularly in Norway and Finland (Syvertsen et al., 2014), and is described as the backbone of the Norwegian media structure (Høst, 2005). This diversity is vital in securing public debates in smaller communities. It also reinforces local identity and supplements the national news arena (Syvertsen et al., 2014), as local media are regarded as vital mediators of culture and identity (Skogerbø & Windsvold, 2011).
The number of newspapers is high in Norway compared to other countries, with 223 newspapers in 2017 distributed in 184 locations, and most of them being local (Høst, 2018: 5). However, both circulation and readership are decreasing in Norway alongside the rest of Europe. The digital shift implies that audiences prefer online news rather than print. During 2014, the readership of news in Norway was, for the first time, higher online than in print (Vaage, 2015: 58).
This digital transition has emerged alongside the aforementioned regional withdrawal within the Norwegian media landscape. Since the 1990s, several district offices throughout the country have shut down, raising concerns that the unifying function of the regional newspapers is disappearing (Engan, 2016; Omdal, 2013). Similarly, national media have also reduced their coverage of the regions (Lavik et al., 2017: 568). Paradoxically, this is contrasted by a general regionalisation, where several public tasks and political authorities have been transferred to larger regional units. Examples are the merging of universities, police districts, municipalities and counties. Waschková Císařová (2017) argues that changes in media and journalism connected with economic and technological trends produce possible disruptions for the geographically-specific content – in other words, it implies distinct ecological implications.
The issue discussed in this article is opinion-based journalism from a regional perspective. Regional media as well as national media prioritise this growing genre. With daily columns both in print and online, and with profiled commentators, they are fulfilling their societal roles: agenda-setting, enlightenment, critique and patriotism (Mathisen & Morlandstø, 2016).
Placed in this context, Tromsø is the largest town in the middle of this northern or Arctic region of Norway, with a population of 72,000. Opplag og trafikktall
Media landscape in the northern region
In 2014, however, Nordland, Troms and Finnmark Which is about 9 per cent of the entire Norwegian population
The story of
Before going into the empirical findings, the methodological approach for the study will be presented. To answer the research question – How does Nordlys facilitate the public sphere through its opinion-based journalism? – our methodological approach covers a content analysis of the website
We have coded the columns with respect to topic, geographical anchorage and argumentative style. We have used eleven categories of topics to analyse the data. The categories are politics, business and commerce, media and public debate, regionalisation, family and gender equality, welfare and education, immigration, climate and environment, work life, defence, and other.
A weakness of the study is in its limitation related to a single case study. Another weakness is that we only examine
On the other hand, the strength of this study is a thorough case study of the editorials and opinion-based articles over a period of three years, which also made it possible to study the development of
Further, we turn to a discussion of the findings and explore how
An important task for commentary journalism is to set the agenda and propound opinions. Do the columns in
Figure 1
Argumentative style in the columns of Nordnorsk debatt, 2015–2017 (per cent)
In total, the proportion of columns with an explicit argument has increased from 2015 to 2017;
In addition, digital distribution implies the possibility to reach a wider audience and to increase the visibility of the newspaper. Social media have become an important distribution channel where the columns are shared by a key stroke (Mathisen & Morlandstø, 2016; Nielsen, 2015). Within the perspective of media ecology, one could assume that provocative statements are more likely to be shared, spread and even discussed in larger media. This argumentative style is hence more likely to gain attention for
Knowing which topics the columnists at
Figure 2 illustrates that the largest category of topics in the columns of
Figure 2
Topics in Nordnorsk debatt, 2015–2017 (per cent)
Further, we have analysed the political columns (41%) more thoroughly to investigate which part of politics the columnists set on the agenda. This part of the analysis shows that the largest category is columns about
In addition, even if politics is the dominating topic, Figure 2 shows a variety of other topics on the agenda of
However, one could explore why topics such as the fishery and oil industries are not more prominent on the agenda in a region dependent upon income created from fishery, and where interests between the oil industry and fisheries sometimes collide. Moreover, one could object that climate change should be of vital interest for citizens in the Arctic region, while actually only being considered in two percent of the columns, therefore being seen as a blind spot. Politics dominates while other topics of great societal value and regional relevance remain in the shadow of media coverage. Still,
A clearly defined aim of the Columns where the geographical anchorage is general. Those not relevant or impossible to define are not included (4%).
Figure 3 shows that 35 per cent of the columns have a national anchorage, addressing national issues, whereas 29 and 28 have a regional and local anchorage, respectively. This means national issues are the largest category. On the one hand, this might raise questions over how
Figure 3
Geographical anchorage of the columns of Nordnorsk debatt, 2015–2017 (per cent)
It might also be of value to elaborate on the geographical anchorage of the columns that gain most attention. According to “Erna, vi må snakke om Sylvi” (Erna, we have to talk about Sylvi)
The immigration column mentioned above further exemplifies how explicit stances of the columnist can increase online traffic and stories being shared on social media. The internet and social media have created a new media reality in which digital communication is gradually changing the public sphere (Enjolras et al., 2013). Earlier studies show that regional columnists experienced difficulties reaching the national public; they criticised the national media for being too narrow and near-sighted thus losing vital perspectives from the regions (Mathisen & Morlandstø, 2016). However, the internet empowers regional newsrooms and provides possibilities to set the agenda on their own terms, helped by audience sharing and commenting on social media. As Eide and colleagues (2016: 223) state, “Technology, as a structural aspect, not only changes practical news work, but also contributes to alter how editorial organizations and their journalists relate to agents operating outside the institution.”
However, the ambition of
Figure 4 reveals that regional focus has increased from 11 per cent in 2015 to 41 per cent in 2017, which is a significant increase. The results also show a slight growth in the columns focusing on local issues, from 24 to 31 per cent, whereas the national scope is halved with a decline from 52 in 2015 to 24 per cent two years later.
Figure 4
Geographical anchorage in the columns of Nordnorsk debatt, 2015–2017 (per cent)
In other words, the geographical scope of
It is also interesting to investigate how argumentative style (Figure 1) and geographical focus (Figure 4) correlate.
Figure 5
Argumentative style in the columns of the Nordnorsk debatt, 2015–2017, and geographical anchorage (per cent)
As one can see, the columnists most often convey an explicit argument or viewpoint in regional issues. A total of 92 per cent of the columns with a regional anchorage express a clear view or argument, whereas only eight percent of them are formulated in a more reflective and open style. The columnists in
How can these changes in geographical focus be explained? During 2016 and 2017, a much-discussed political issue on the Norwegian political agenda was regional reform. The government decided to reorganise Norway into fewer and larger counties. This provoked both support and protest. A much-disputed part of this issue was whether the three northern counties should be united into one large county (see Table 1a). The issue involved scattering interests and internal conflicts, and conveying deep tensions and conflict lines within the northern region in which the columnists of
In several columns, the columnists argued with an explicit stance to unite the entire northern region into one county. “One united northern region might shape contrarian Arctic power against Oslo”, argued one of the columnists, “Skjebnetid for Nord-Norge” (2016, February 16) (Fateful times for the northern region)
However, this stance provoked citizens living both north and south of Tromsø (see Table 1a), as citizens in other parts of the northern region feared that one united region would imply a strong city of Tromsø grabbing all the power, and leave other communities weaker. In line with this stance, one could perceive
The research question asked in this article is: How can the Norwegian regional newspaper Nordlys facilitate the regional public sphere through its opinion-based journalism
Important premises, however, are new digital possibilities as well as a void created by the withdrawal of other news media. As Waschková Císařová (2017: 25) argues, changes in media produce disruptions for geographically-specific content. In other words, the establishment of the
According to the fact that regional media narrowed their news scope, our study indicates that regional opinion-based journalism is able to cover potential regional blind spots or media shadows; this helps with the flow of information, opinion and influence between the different levels of the public sphere (Howells, 2015). When vital societal tasks in Norway are transferred to larger regional units with an implied regionalisation of power, one might argue that covering the regional level is a vital part of journalism’s institutional role. Leaving the regional level in a blind spot might contribute to several kinds of democratic deficits. Firstly, a vital part of political decisions and the exercising of power will be carried out without citizens having had the chance to be informed or heard. Secondly, and from an ecological perspective, if regional issues are silenced then regional perspectives are less likely to be caught by the national media and transferred into the national public sphere, addressing central authorities.
Our study is limited to
The distinct regional focus in the columns of
Our study is limited to columns produced by the editorial staff of