International Encyclopedia of Communication Online

Extract

Several factors shape journalists' everyday news decisions, their general concepts of what is newsworthy (→  News Factors ; News Values ), and their understanding of quality (→  Quality of the News ), as well as long-term changes in reporting. One of the most important factors is the close interaction and frequent communication among journalists, or co-orientation . Co-orientation comprises several kinds of dynamic processes within journalism. In the era of 24-hour news channels, the Internet, and shortening production cycles (→  News Cycles ), the dynamic processes within journalism are not only occurring faster but are also becoming more important. The basis of journalist group dynamics is their close interaction and communication in professional and private contexts, their ingroup orientation ( Reinemann 2004 ). Across different contexts, causes, functions, and effects, the types of interaction among journalists fall along two dimensions: the modes of interaction (interpersonal vs via mass media vs virtual or cognitive) and the constellations of interaction (journalists of the same organization vs those of different organizations). First, among the modes of interaction, journalists can interact directly. Reporters have interpersonal interaction on their news beats, at → press conferences, in reporter pools for foreign and war correspondents , or during election campaigns ... log in or subscribe to read full text