Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030176

Authors: Ana Balda Álvaro Pérez Álvarez

This article presents and analyses an interview with Cristóbal Balenciaga published in ¡Hola! in 1954, previously absent from the academic corpus on the Spanish couturier. The interview constitutes a significant discovery that substantially expands the documentation available on the designer, who has traditionally been described as reluctant to engage with the media. The study situates the interview within a dual context: first, the business and geopolitical environment of postwar haute couture, shaped by tensions between Paris, Spain, and the American market; and second, the editorial context of ¡Hola! during the 1950s, marked by its rapid expansion and transnational circulation. Through a qualitative analysis combining historically grounded approaches based on primary sources, studies on the journalistic interview genre, and close textual reading, the article examines the narrative strategies employed by journalist José A. Irurozqui, the strategic choice of publication, and the content of Balenciaga’s statements. The findings demonstrate that the prominence given to the designer’s first-person voice, the journalist’s narrative framing, and ¡Hola!’s editorial positioning all contributed to consolidating a public image of the couturier and of his brands in Paris and Spain.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030175

Authors: Muhammad Usman Saeed

The news media in Gulf countries are among the most important institutions shaping the public’s understanding of climate action. This study aims to explore the longitudinal developments, thematic framing, and sentiment tones of Omani English-language newspapers’ sustainability discourse during the period 2015–2025. The study applied a multi-stage computational method to analyze a deduplicated corpus of 709 news articles from two English-language dailies of Oman: Times of Oman and Oman Daily Observer for a time period from 2015 to 2025. Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling was used to group topics into five types of macro frames. Results show that the focus of the Omani media is very localized, and the dominant frames are “Corporate ESG, Business & Green Investment” and “Clean Energy Policy, Research & Institutional Governance”. Furthermore, a sentiment analysis of headlines using VADER showed clearly defined sentiment polarity; domestic economic transition headlines were characterized by high positive polarity, while global climate crisis headlines had a higher negative polarity. The study concludes that the press in Oman is in a strategic process of “nationalizing” the climate change issue, moving from the conventional disaster discourse to making sustainability a local opportunity for economic diversification, technological modernization, and national resilience.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030174

Authors: Sibel Karaduman Nusret Demir Murad Karaduman Çiler Çilingiroğlu

After major disasters, news media selectively construct the public record of what has been lost. This study examines that pattern by comparing an independently derived satellite-based inventory of damaged cultural heritage in Hatay, Türkiye, with a corpus of 79 Turkish-language online news reports published between February 2023 and February 2024. Under the primary retrieval protocol, only 16 of the 86 ARIA-export assets appeared directly in the coverage; with six further off-export or proximity-based cases, 22 reported assets entered the news in total. A targeted asset-name search then located 15 further reports, containing 17 additional direct references to damaged assets. Even on the most inclusive reading, in which every one of these references is treated as a previously uncounted and non-overlapping asset, at least 53 of the 86 assets (61.6%) remained outside the news record. The analysis also covers attribute salience, temporal patterns, and outlet concentration in the coverage. Drawing on first- and second-level agenda-setting theory, and treating gatekeeping and media-system conditions as contextual mechanisms, it defines visibility deficit as the measurable gap between independently documented damage and the damage that enters a defined news corpus. This gap need not imply deliberate suppression. It may follow from editorial priorities, limited access to sites, the availability of visual material, or the limited capacity of newsrooms to work with geospatial data. By attending to what stays outside the news agenda rather than only to differences in salience among covered items, the study identifies a structural boundary of agenda setting and extends agenda-setting research into measurable non-coverage after disaster.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030173

Authors: Jessy de Cooker

To better understand how journalists represent sources, it is necessary to systematically study the use of reported speech in news coverage. This paper presents a method for LLM-assisted content analysis to identify and classify reported speech in Dutch newspapers automatically. The study evaluates a three-step procedure utilising role-based instructions to prompt the model as a professional journalist. First, a codebook for identifying citation structures and source types was developed with LLM support and then manually verified. Second, inter-coder reliability between human coders and the LLM was assessed on a representative sample of Dutch news articles using a human-in-the-loop validation approach. Third, the prompt-engineered LLM was used to code a large corpus spanning seven decades (1950–2024). Manual verification of 16,689 citations shows a weighted F1-score of 0.75, which aligns with recent benchmarks for high-capacity models performing complex journalistic coding. While human oversight remains the benchmark for reliability, due to issues such as repeated citations that were given as examples in the used prompts and representational bias, LLM-based systems perform sufficiently well for large-scale analyses of journalistic source use. The paper concludes that hybrid human–AI workflows provide a practical bridge between traditional rule-based approaches and new generative models, offering scalable and cost-effective methods for studying source representation in journalism.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030172

Authors: Amaia Perez-de-Arriluzea-Madariaga Jordi Morales-i-Gras

Recent journalism and media research increasingly uses embeddings, transformer-based models, and large language models, yet the methodological functions remain unevenly conceptualized. This article examines how vector-based and semantically oriented methods are incorporated into journalism and media studies and proposes a theory-informed framework of four recurrent methodological functions: semantic mapping, interpretive assistance, cross-scale articulation, and reflexive auditing. We conducted a structured review of English-language journal articles and review articles indexed in Scopus and Web of Science between 2022 and April 2026. The review combined database retrieval, conservative LLM-assisted metadata screening, full-text analytical extraction, expert manual validation, descriptive analysis, exploratory association tests, and an embedding-based map built from article-level analytical profiles. The final corpus comprised 43 articles. Empirical studies of news texts predominated, and semantic mapping was the most frequent primary methodological function. The profile-based map identified four moderately differentiated and overlapping communities centered on reception and circulation, semantic mapping of news content, affective and evaluative discourse analysis, and methodological infrastructure-building. Community membership aligned more strongly with media domain than with study type or primary methodological function, although these patterns are interpreted heuristically given the small corpus and low expected cell counts. The findings show that these methods are best understood as components of hybrid research designs combining semantic formalization, interpretation, validation, and scale-sensitive analysis.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030171

Authors: Samuel Ajala

This article examines how Nigerian newspapers frame Shell’s sustainability claims and asks whether that framing enables or challenges greenwashing by proxy: a pattern in which a corporation’s environmental claims gain the credibility of independent journalism through a news outlet’s editorial choices rather than paid advertising. Using critical discourse analysis, I analyze 96 news reports, investigations, and opinion columns published between 2020 and 2024 in five Nigerian dailies, Premium Times, The Guardian Nigeria, ThisDay, Vanguard, and Punch, selected for addressing Shell’s environmental or sustainability claims. I identify three recurring mechanisms: uncritical reproduction of corporate press releases, reliance on corporate and government sources with little independent verification, and framing that foregrounds favorable claims while omitting the contrary environmental record. These mechanisms are more pronounced in ThisDay, Vanguard, and Punch, while Premium Times and The Guardian Nigeria more often contextualize or contest Shell’s claims.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030170

Authors: María Ruiz Carreras

Non-human animals are systematically excluded from public narratives, rarely recognized as sentient subjects, and instead framed within anthropocentric narratives of production and consumption; efforts to challenge this pattern and make the more-than-human world visible often encounter editorial resistance and structural constraints. This study examines how anti-speciesist journalists in Spanish written media navigate such resistance to make non-human animals legitimate subjects of news. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with nine self-identified anti-speciesist journalists, analysed through reflexive thematic analysis, the study identifies strategies organized across four non-mutually exclusive categories, namely, discursive, relational, framing, and structural, ranging from self-censorship and strategic language use to coalition-building and the creation of independent platforms. Findings reveal a key distinction between visibility strategies, which succeed in securing publication, and root-level strategies, which challenge the carnist and anthropocentric assumptions structuring newsworthiness itself. These practices reveal the pragmatism, creativity, and resilience of journalists working under structural, ideological, and normative constraints, while also highlighting the limits of anti-speciesist reporting within mainstream media. The study contributes to Critical Animal Media Studies, environmental communication, and journalism research by illuminating the intersection of ethical advocacy, professional strategy, and counter-hegemonic practice and offers recommendations for expanding coverage of the more-than-human world across ideological, editorial, and structural divides.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030169

Authors: Casey R. Schmitt

This essay applies close textual analysis to news reports covering the 20 November 2025 fire at the United Nations COP30 meeting in Belém, Brazil, to demonstrate how allegory can manifest in journalistic reporting of real-world events. It argues that allegory can, intentionally or unintentionally, occur in reports given specific circumstances, existing themes in the journalistic record, and other contexts. Analysis identifies and demonstrates the recurrence of two prominent allegorical themes across reports of the COP30 fire: one attending to victims, harm, and panic and another attending to disruption and failure. Discussion highlights how such incidental allegory—different from deliberately crafted or fully accidental allegory—guides audiences to conceptualize literal events within a web of literary and conceptual contexts and, thus, holds the capacity to frame understandings and future discourse related to climate action.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030168

Authors: Miao Guo Carolyn A. Lin Brett Andrew Williams

Recent concerns about disinformation have increasingly centered on AI-generated synthetic media like deepfakes. This study uses online experiments to examine how individuals process and evaluate political deepfake news, which characteristics predict their susceptibility, and the potential cognitive, attitudinal, and behavioral effects after exposure. The findings reveal that embedding political deepfake videos in social media newsfeeds can easily deceive or cause uncertainty among news audiences. Political orientation, confirmation bias, and news literacy significantly affect audiences’ skepticism toward social media information, their perceived credibility of deepfake news, and their intention to engage with it. Moreover, familiarity with news issues fully mediates the relationship between news literacy and engagement with deepfake news. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed to highlight the critical issues posed by AI-generated disinformation, which has increasingly affected the creation, distribution, and consumption of media content.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030167

Authors: Carmen Beatriz Fernández Jenifer Campos

Across Latin America, digital technologies helped cushion some of the pandemic’s worst effects, creating new opportunities that were not equally distributed between men and women. This study analyzed three waves of Latinobarometer data across 17 countries before, during, and after the pandemic to examine gender differences in labor perceptions and digital skills. The findings indicate that women consistently reported higher levels of perceived poverty and greater concern about unemployment than men. To assess the digital labor divide, the study developed a Digital Dexterity Index (DDI) based on social media use and educational attainment. Results indicate that the pandemic accelerated digital skill development for both genders, with statistically significant changes over time. Although women generally scored slightly higher than men on the DDI, patterns varied across countries. The study highlights a paradox: higher digital dexterity among women did not translate into greater confidence or security in the future of work. Despite their stronger digital skills, women expressed greater anxiety about their future labor-market prospects than men.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030166

Authors: Vera Katzenberger Jonas Schützeneder Michael Grassl

Taking a closer look at the development of podcasts and their current role in global media use invites an analogy with a well-known concept from economics: the hidden champion [...]

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030165

Authors: Abdullateef Mohammed Chisom Achinivu Adeola Abdulateef Elega

Over the last few years, TikTok has become one of the most notable social networking apps, allowing users to upload videos with the possibility of gaining popularity. This has given rise to the emergence of influencers native to the platform. While Global North–focused TikTok studies have empirically examined the media economics of this platform in various capacities, emerging markets have experienced a research dearth in this regard. To understand the strategies they employ to monetize, as well as the challenges they face in generating revenue, this study interviewed 23 Nigerian TikTok influencers between the ages of 19 and 26. We find that Nigerian TikTok influencers rely on a mixture of brand partnerships, sponsored promotions, referral systems, cross-platform visibility, collaborative growth strategies, and account-region bypass to generate income within a platform environment that offers limited direct monetization opportunities to creators. The findings further show that influencer labour in the Nigerian context is shaped by unstable payment systems, algorithmic dependence, brand distrust, and the constant pressure to remain visible and relevant. Beyond economic concerns, the study reveals that creators experience emotional strain arising from online harassment, body shaming, and the psychological demands of continuous self-presentation.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030164

Authors: Gui Jun Nasrullah Dharejo Mumtaz Aini Alivi

This systematic review investigates the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in journalism and media practice from 2020 to 2026. Following PRISMA guidelines, we analysed 121 peer-reviewed articles from Scopus and Web of Science using a multi-method approach that combined qualitative thematic analysis, structural topic modelling (STM), and bibliometric network analysis. Four primary research domains emerged: news production and automation (38.0%), audience perception and content analysis (24.8%), ethical and legal considerations (19.8%), and meta-research and implementation studies (17.4%). Publication output accelerated sharply from 2023 onward, driven by the emergence of large language models and generative AI. The STM analysis confirmed the four-domain structure and revealed that legal-regulatory vocabulary pervades the literature across all categories, indicating a field-wide preoccupation with the institutional implications of AI. Key findings demonstrate that successful AI adoption depends on workflow redesign and human–machine collaboration rather than full automation; that audience evaluations of AI-generated content vary significantly across cultural contexts, with the machine heuristic—originating from Sundar’s MAIN model—playing a central mediating role; and that copyright frameworks for AI-generated news remain contested across jurisdictions. This study develops an integrated theoretical framework that maps directional relationships among the four research domains, identifies cultural context and disclosure practices as key moderators, and generates testable propositions for future investigation.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030163

Authors: Alwazna Falah Hessa Khalid Abdulrahman Sh Mohd Noor Almuhairi Humaid Khalifa Sultan Jaber AlMutaiwei Vladimir Tomašević Jelena Raut Duško Tomić Nikola Živković

The rapid proliferation of social media has transformed political communication, public diplomacy, and citizens’ digital attitudes across the MENA region—a context marked by hybrid political systems, intensive disinformation, and accelerating digital transformation. This study examines how social media use and media literacy are associated with five key constructs—institutional trust, trust in media and digital sources, attitudes toward political narratives, attitudes toward digital diplomacy, and security and disinformation perceptions—among 250 citizens of Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, and Kuwait, alongside generational and educational differences across all constructs. Using a quantitative cross-sectional design, data were collected via an online questionnaire between January and March 2025 and analyzed through simple linear regression (H1–H10) and Kruskal–Wallis tests (H11–H24). Twenty-one of twenty-four hypotheses were confirmed. Social media use was a strong negative predictor of institutional trust (β = −0.750, R2 = 0.562) and a strong positive predictor of political narrative awareness, digital diplomacy attitudes, and security perceptions; media literacy showed a parallel pattern. Educational level was the strongest differentiating factor in media literacy competencies (χ2 = 175.874), far exceeding generational effects. Notably, trust in media and digital sources showed no significant association with either predictor or demographic variable across four independent tests, suggesting that—unlike the other constructs examined—media trust in the MENA region is shaped less by individual competencies or behaviors and more by structural and political factors. These findings support extending formal, curriculum-based media literacy education and point to the need for media trust research grounded in non-Western political contexts.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030162

Authors: Rahima Aissani Haneen Mohammad Shabaneh Haneen Bahij Kanaan Ibrahim Ibrahim Elshenawy

This study aims to analyze digital transformation in institutions as a structural shift that reshapes the logic of communication, patterns of power, and mechanisms of trust building within organizations. This study is grounded in the assumption that digitalization is no longer limited to the adoption of technical tools but has evolved into an organizational and governance framework driven by algorithms and recommendation platforms, with direct implications for communication practices, levels of transparency, and organizational culture. This study adopts a descriptive–analytical approach based on a critical review of peer-reviewed academic research published from 2019 until the beginning of 2026. To ensure methodological rigor and transparency, the review process follows the PRISMA guidelines. Relevant studies were identified through comprehensive searches of major academic databases (Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar), and the final sample contained all scholarly publications that address digital transformation in institutional communication within the specified timeframe. The number of studies that met the conditions amounted to 92 studies and reports. The sample draws on several theoretical frameworks, including technological determinism, communication visibility, diffusion of innovations, and uses and gratifications, thereby enabling a comprehensive examination of the relationship between digital transformation and institutional communication from a closed hierarchical model into an interactive networked system increasingly shaped by algorithmic logics and governance mechanisms that redistribute visibility and influence within institutions. The results suggest that the success of digital transformation is more closely associated with organizational culture and transformational digital leadership than with technical infrastructure alone. Moreover, audiences have become active co-producers of meaning and trust through interaction and user-generated content. In conclusion, digital transparency and organizational communication visibility constitute key foundations of institutional trust, highlighting the need for clear frameworks of digital transformation, particularly in the Arab context.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030161

Authors: Aly Hill Avery E. Holton Valérie Bélair-Gagnon

As violence and professional precarity intensify for journalists, resilience has become a central framework for understanding how journalists continue working under sustained risk. However, journalism studies research has largely conceptualized resilience through hierarchical models that distribute responsibility across bounded levels of authority. This conceptual article offers a critical synthesis of journalism studies research, resilience scholarship, ecological approaches, and public health prevention frameworks to examine how existing models align with contemporary threats toward journalists. We first map prevailing orientations to resilience (e.g., individual, organizational, and institutional) and show how these models can privilege episodic or reactive responses to journalistic harms and obscure gaps in coordinated interventions to mitigate violence. We then advance an ecological reorientation of journalistic resilience grounded in networked ecologies. We propose a three-part framework (individual-in-relation, collective, and networked) that conceptualizes resilience as a relational and cross-institutional capacity. Finally, we introduce public health prevention models as a translational lens for operationalizing ecological resilience as coordinated infrastructure spanning prevention, intervention, and recovery. This framework offers a conceptual foundation for studying and strengthening resilience across contemporary media environments.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030160

Authors: Foteini Gioltzidou Georgia Gioltzidou Theodoros Chrysafis

The ontological status of journalism in Greece has long been marked by a profound tension between the perception of the field as an innate craft and its institutionalization as an academic discipline. This paper investigates the perceived utility of university-level journalism education and its impact on professional identity within the Greek media landscape. Utilizing a quantitative methodological approach, the study involved the distribution of structured questionnaires to professional journalists in Greece to capture their attitudes toward academic training, press freedom, and contemporary journalistic practices. The findings suggest differentiated perceptions within the professional community, reflecting an ongoing negotiation between practical experience and academic approaches to journalism. Notably, despite the fact that only a small fraction of the surveyed journalists hold academic degrees in journalism, a large proportion of respondents acknowledges the utility of specialized higher education for aspiring professionals entering the field. Furthermore, the study explores how these perceptions correlate with views on press autonomy and ethical challenges, emphasizing consensus on the positive contribution of university education to journalistic practices related to press freedom and editorial independence. However, a persistent “theory-practice gap” remains evident, as respondents identified deficiencies in journalism curricula regarding preparation for practical demands and real-time reporting. Ultimately, the findings reveal strong criticism of the current state of press freedom in Greece, highlighting the need to re-evaluate the role of higher education in strengthening the professional legitimacy and democratic mandate of Greek journalism.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030159

Authors: Murad Karaduman Mehmet Arif Arık Sibel Karaduman

Digital capitalism is often described either as a clean break with the past or as a continuation of older markets. This article takes a third position: digital capitalism is a reorganisation of capitalist accumulation around platforms, data, attention and digital labour, not a departure from capitalism’s basic logic. The study uses a critical narrative review approach, drawing on Marxian value theory and recent work on platforms, datafication and surveillance. It is anchored by a curated set of publicly reported indicators from institutional and market sources, used as context rather than as a causal test. These show a platform environment that reaches most of humanity, highly concentrated advertising and cloud markets, platform labour as a global phenomenon, and a supposedly weightless economy resting on dense physical infrastructure. The article traces four contradictions: the commodification of unpaid user activity, the material basis of immaterial production, the concentration of market power, and the gap between participation and algorithmic control. The contribution is conceptual. It shows that media business models usually treated as separate, including advertising, subscriptions, creator monetisation, in-game spending and platform commissions, share one logic: user activity is captured as attention, measured as data and converted into revenue. New media therefore function as economic infrastructures for value extraction.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030158

Authors: Dag Øivind Madsen

This article uses Clavicular, a controversial livestreamer who became a prominent public face of looksmaxxing in early 2026, as a trace-supported case study of fringe diffusion under platform conditions. Using public media traces, platform snapshots, and public visibility indicators, it examines how a niche masculine self-optimization culture becomes broadly legible. The article introduces diagnostic masculinity—a platformed style of masculine authority built on naming, ranking, and promising correction of bodily lack—as a working concept to explain why looksmaxxing resonates with boys and men beyond platform affordances alone. Drawing on scholarship on digital masculinity, platformization, and meme circulation, it argues that Clavicular’s rise depended on the alignment of coded vernacular, high-volume livestreaming, clipping infrastructure, controversy, monetization, and mainstream media translation. The article proposes a five-stage model of containment failure—vernacular incubation, infrastructural assembly, controversy acceleration, mainstream translation, and parodic consolidation—through which fringe masculine self-optimization becomes culturally portable without becoming fully normalized. The case shows how platform systems do not merely amplify fringe masculinities but package them into forms that can circulate across media environments that would otherwise remain separate.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030157

Authors: Victoria Fielding Stewart Sutherland Susilo Wibisono Emily A. Haines Janquel D. Acevedo Winnifred Louis

This study of media consumption in relation to voting decisions during the Australian 2023 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament referendum contributes to a complex field of research interested in how media shapes and influences voting behaviour. Through a two-wave panel survey of 1525 voters a month before and directly after the referendum, this study found clear differences between voters who were stable—those who had made up their mind a month before they voted, and voters who were unstable—those who had uncertain views. Stable voters were found to selectively expose themselves to media that aligned with their voting intentions and to consume more types of media overall. Conversely, unstable voters did not selectively expose themselves to media and consumed fewer types of media than stable voters. These findings demonstrate that the relationship between media consumption and democratic processes is complex. Media can have a positive influence on engagement and can present a range of views to help voters make informed decisions. But media can also contribute to disengagement from democratic processes, which has concerning implications for the health of democracy.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030156

Authors: Mikail Batu Esra Büdün Aydın Ali Yarar Esra Çokdilli

TikTok is a short-form video-sharing platform launched in 2016 by the China-based ByteDance under the name Douyin. Following its merger with Musical.ly in 2018, it rapidly gained global popularity. The platform has influenced individuals’ digital communication habits through its short video format and user-centric content creation capabilities. TikTok’s rapid access to its young user base presents significant opportunities for organizations and brands, but also brings risks such as data privacy and content security. TikTok’s dynamic algorithm prioritizes content based on users’ interests, enabling rapid access to a wide audience. A qualitative phenomenological research design was employed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 influencers collaborating with brands on TikTok. The content was analyzed using MAXQDA Analytics Pro 24 (Release 24.1.1). TikTok provides significant advantages such as visibility, viral content, and engagement with young audiences. However, challenges include content moderation, algorithmic uncertainty, and payment and trust issues. TikTok should be considered a priority channel, especially for campaigns targeting young audiences. Influencer collaborations have a positive impact on brand awareness, consumer trust, and engagement. The platform’s user-friendly tools, trending structure, and short video format allow brands to run creative campaigns on a low budget. However, some structural challenges, such as content control and trust issues, necessitate a professional and transparent collaboration model.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030155

Authors: LJ. Filotrani

This article examines how journalism is practised beyond institutional frameworks in the United Kingdom, using esports journalism as a case through which to explore professional identity, labour conditions, and journalistic authority. Drawing on a mixed-methods design, the study combines content analysis of UK mainstream media coverage, surveys of journalists, and eight semi-structured interviews with esports journalists. The findings reveal a substantial divergence between journalistic practice and professional recognition: participants routinely performed core journalistic functions while often rejecting the identity of ‘journalist’ and entering the field through informal pathways. Labour conditions were characterised by precarity, freelance work, and the blurring of editorial and commercial roles, while access to information was frequently mediated by industry stakeholders. Mainstream media engagement with esports remained limited, indicating the existence of a specialist journalism ecosystem operating largely outside established institutional structures. Esports journalism therefore provides a useful analytical case through which to understand processes of de-professionalisation, in which institutional boundaries weaken while journalistic work extends beyond established professional frameworks. The study argues that the growing separation between journalistic practice and professional recognition invites a reconsideration of how journalism is defined, organised, and legitimised within platform-based media environments.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030154

Authors: Alper Çolak Yağmur Çolak Asiye Ata

Eye-tracking technology, which offers the potential to objectively measure user behavior in digital news environments, has drawn growing interest in journalism studies. This study aims to systematically review studies examining news consumption through the eye-tracking method and evaluate the thematic orientations, methodological characteristics, and findings from a holistic perspective. As a result of a search conducted in the Web of Science database and the subsequent multi-stage screening process, 69 studies were included in the analysis. The findings reveal that, since 2008, the field has undergone a thematic evolution extending from news interface design to platform comparisons, and from there to disinformation and media literacy. Most studies rely on experimental quantitative methods; overcoming the limitations of self-report measures through objective behavioral metrics constitutes the primary methodological contribution of this body of research. Nevertheless, homogeneous student samples, the artificiality of laboratory settings, and dependence on momentary measurements stand out as the major limitations of the field. This study demonstrates that the eye-tracking method in journalism studies evolved from a tool for measuring isolated variables into an interdisciplinary perspective that holistically reveals the relationships among attention, cognitive processing, and media literacy.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030153

Authors: Marta Perlado Lamo de Espinosa Carlos Jiménez Narros Mercedes Herrero de la Fuente

The Spanish audiovisual industry has experienced unprecedented growth, offering new employment opportunities. In this context, the aim of the present work is to analyse the perceptions of experts on the motivations and barriers that affect the employment of disabled people in this industry. This research adopts a sequential mixed-method design, combining a focus group with a two-round Delphi technique, and involved participants working in audiovisual companies, specialised job portals, disabled people associations, and research. The results indicate that despite the prior limited experience with people with disabilities, audiovisual companies show a positive attitude towards their employment. Nevertheless, barriers persist related to a lack of confidence in their work performance and their ability to adapt to the demands of the position. Likewise, remote work, digital technologies, and artificial intelligence are perceived as facilitators of inclusion, although their effectiveness depends on provision of adequate training and accessibility. These findings suggest that from an expert’s perspective, the inclusion of disabled people in the audiovisual sector depends on organisational factors, accessibility conditions, and adequate training.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030152

Authors: Paulo Couraceiro Pedro Caldeira Pais

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is rapidly reshaping the audience’s relationship with journalism, particularly through AI-generated summaries. Building on the observed patterns of limited visibility of sources, condensed summary presentation, and reduced contextual depth, we introduce the idea of news sufficiency, in which people encounter summarised content that feels enough to satisfy their immediate informational needs, thereby reducing the incentive to access full news articles. Empirically, this study examines differences between ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google Search when queried in European Portuguese, using three prompts: (a) asking for the main news of the day, (b) the latest on a specific news event, and (c) using only a basic keyword for that event. Drawing on a content analysis, we analysed 72 queries submitted by eight independent users. The results showed that platforms differ markedly in source attribution, summary structure, and contextual awareness. ChatGPT consistently provided hyperlinks and often clickable news images, while Gemini offered summaries only in text without citations. Both chatbots generated diverse and coherent news headlines capable of satisfying curiosity yet frequently failed to infer news intent from the basic keyword prompt, providing outdated or irrelevant information. The absence of Google’s AI Overview results during the observation window produced a contrast with a classic Google Search, which preserves user agency by requiring clicks on links. These findings have significant implications for journalistic authorship, editorial gatekeeping, and the economic sustainability of media, highlighting the need for AI literacy and platform governance that safeguards information pluralism.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030151

Authors: Sana Saeed Alblooshi Jairo Alfonso Lugo-Ocando

Over the last century, two highly influential organizations have impacted politics and resistance in the Arab world: the Ba’ath Party and the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood advanced the political dimension of Islam in the sense of a single community (Umma) that revolves around religion. This basic distinction has caused decades of ideological disputes and even, on some occasions, military confrontation. In this study, the media’s construction of the public image of the Muslim Brotherhood is analyzed. Two large outlets, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Al Arabiya, are contrasted. Using a qualitative approach, news stories from 2023 to 2025 are examined to determine how strategic narratives can influence the population’s perception of these groups. The study results reveal a considerable gap in reporting between the two. Al Arabiya presents the Muslim Brotherhood as a collapsed, radical terrorist group manipulating religion to gain power, while the BBC’s reporting is more neutral and subtler, demonstrating how media organizations manipulate certain terms and themes to shape narratives.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030150

Authors: Santiago Tejedor Laura Cervi Beatriz Villarejo-Carballido José Juan Verón

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is redefining journalism, transforming news production, distribution, and consumption. Despite the growing adoption of AI in newsrooms, academic research remains fragmented and lacks a comprehensive overview of global trends, particularly regarding its implications for media literacy and disinformation. This article addresses this gap through a systematic literature review of publications on AI in journalism between 2020 and 2024, based on Scopus and Web of Science. The analysis shows a significant increase in research output since 2023, alongside a strong geographical concentration in Europe and North America, with limited representation from the Global South. The results identify six key thematic areas: automation of news production, algorithmic personalization, newsroom integration, ethical and regulatory challenges, disinformation, and journalism education. Across these themes, the findings reveal a shift from a predominantly technocentric perspective toward a competency-based approach, with increasing attention to media literacy. While AI is associated with efficiency and innovation, the literature consistently highlights concerns related to transparency, bias, editorial accountability, and the transformation of professional roles, as well as risks linked to misinformation and declining public trust. Importantly, the review shows that media literacy—particularly AI literacy—emerges as a transversal dimension, emphasizing the need for competencies that enable journalists and audiences to critically understand, evaluate, and engage with algorithmic systems. The study also identifies key gaps, including limited longitudinal research, scarce audience-centered approaches, insufficient interdisciplinary collaboration, and persistent deficiencies in AI-related training. By foregrounding literacy as a central analytical dimension, this article advances a more holistic understanding of AI in journalism and contributes to the development of a globally inclusive and competency-oriented research agenda.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030149

Authors: Mathias-Felipe de-Lima-Santos Adeola Abdulateef Elega

The relationship between media and technology has never been static [...]

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030148

Authors: Albert Chibuwe Allen Munoriyarwa Lyton Ncube Refilwe Whitney Mofokeng Antonette Kakujaha-Murangi

This article explores perceptions of educators on challenges of integrating AI in journalism education. It draws on Bourdieu’s field theory, especially the idea of external shocks, social shaping of technology theory and technological domestication theory. Data were gathered through interviews with selected lecturers from universities and colleges in Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa and Botswana. The findings show that educators in Zimbabwe and Botswana viewed AI as compromising the integrity of journalism education and as having a psychological toll on them. Contrastingly, educators in Namibia and South Africa, while admitting AI’s shortcomings, emphasised its potential to enhance journalism training in Africa.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030147

Authors: Nazra Izhar Christopher E. Etheridge Moses U. Okocha

This study investigates the dynamics between media use, online activity, media literacy, and institutional trust among Indian citizens through a survey of adults distributed in six languages. Drawing on social capital theory, this study investigates how various media behaviors relate to perceptions of institutional actors such as governments, non-profits, and corporations as those actors increasingly seek digital avenues to reach constituencies. Findings underscore the significant relationships between media use, media literacy and positive views of democratic institutions, while online activities themselves did not appear to be significant. Notably, media literacy emerges as having a key positive tie to trust in political and state institutions as well as private, media, technology, and non-profit institutions. These results shed light on the nuanced relationship between digital engagement and perceptions of institutional credibility within the Indian context.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030146

Authors: Murad Karaduman Dilan Acar Sibel Karaduman

Türkiye’s ratification of the Paris Agreement and the subsequent enactment of Climate Law No. 7552 mark a critical phase in the institutionalization of national climate policy. The law’s reliance on market-based mechanisms, particularly the Emissions Trading System, has generated substantial public and media debate. This study examines how three ideologically distinct news outlets, Yeni Şafak, Evrensel, and Deutsche Welle Turkish, represented the legislative process between June and July 2025. Drawing on Teun A. van Dijk’s critical discourse analysis, this study analyses 14 news texts at the microstructural level, focusing on headlines, word choice, actor representation, and legitimization strategies. The findings reveal three distinct discursive roles articulated around a shared market-based logic of climate governance: pro-government coverage legitimizes the law as an economic opportunity and a national achievement, oppositional coverage contests it as ecological exploitation and neoliberal environmental governance, and international coverage audits it against international commitments and standards of technical adequacy. The analysis shows that climate legislation becomes a site of ideological struggle in news discourse, even when debate remains largely organized around a shared market-based understanding of climate policy. Journalism may support, challenge, or scrutinize this framework in different ways.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030145

Authors: Robinson Bernardino Almanza Cabe Angela Aurora Mamani Calizaya Luis Dante Zubia Cortéz Jorge Erick Fernandez Corrales Alberto Limache Flores Antonio Víctor Morales Gonzales Adolfo Erick Donayre Sarolli José Luis Chavez Cuarite Miluska Odely Rodriguez Saavedra

The rise in political deepfakes threatens news credibility and media literacy in polarized higher education contexts; yet, Latin American students remain understudied. This study examined the digital media literacy of Peruvian university students (n = 5854) in assessing the credibility of political news and identifying AI-generated content. Using a quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional design, PROCESS Models 4 and 5 were applied to analyze the relationship between AI literacy and news credibility assessment ability. Awareness of political deepfakes and political news verification strategies were examined as parallel mediators, while the type of university was evaluated as a moderator. Previous exposure to AI, digital media consumption, and sociodemographic characteristics were included as control variables. AI literacy was positively associated with news credibility assessment ability, with awareness of political deepfakes and verification strategies contributing to this relationship. The analysis also examined institutional differences between public and private universities. These findings support the implementation of systematic AI literacy programs across disciplines and institutions to strengthen news credibility and democratic resilience in politically polarized contexts.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030144

Authors: Sergio A. Berumen Karen Arriaza Ibarra

This study examines whether viewers’ relative affinity toward Spain’s two leading late-night hosts—Pablo Motos (El Hormiguero) and David Broncano (La Revuelta)—varies systematically by ideology. Using an anonymous non-probability online survey fielded in Segiuptember 2024 among adults in the primary analytic frame (N = 806), we construct two parallel six-item affinity indices: IM for Motos and IB for Broncano. Our primary outcome is the respondent-level Affective Gap (BA = IB − IM), where positive values indicate greater relative affinity toward Broncano. In the adult analytic frame, IM averages 2.517 and IB 2.710 on a 1–5 scale, yielding a mean BA of 0.192 (95% CI [0.094, 0.289]). BA is clearly positive among left-leaning respondents and lower, often negative, among right-leaning respondents. In OLS models with HC3 standard errors, ideology remains a strong negative predictor of BA after adjustment for age, gender, education, and socioeconomic status, and the association is robust to bootstrap intervals and sensitivity checks. Open-ended responses are used descriptively to contextualize the quantitative gradient. The study contributes to research on selective exposure, affective sorting, and media-personality evaluation by showing that, within this non-probability analytic sample, relative evaluations of two prominent Spanish late-night hosts are strongly associated with respondents’ ideological self-placement.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030143

Authors: Ashok Poudel Yonghong Dai Dipak Devkota Lok Bahadur B.K.

In recent years, social media platform has been proven to be an effective medium for China to conduct its public digital diplomacy. After China’s President Xi Jinping encouraged his diplomats to tell China’s story well for promoting China’s global influence, they are increasingly using social media as a tool of public digital diplomacy. In this regard, Chinese diplomats in Nepal are no exception and are actively using social media to disseminate information and interact with local people to advance China’s interests. However, there is a research gap regarding the pattern, content, popularity, and effectiveness of their social media practices in Nepal. This study aims to fulfil this research gap by examining Chinese diplomats’ public digital diplomacy practice in Nepal through the content analysis of their posts in X from the lens of Grunig’s four models of global PR theory. Through the explanatory sequential mixed content analysis method, this study provides practical insights into the effective digital engagement of China’s public diplomacy efforts in Nepal. This study finds that China’s digital diplomacy could be strengthened by localizing content to better align with Nepal’s socioeconomic context, thereby improving audience relevance and engagement. Nepali publics engage more with Nepal-related content.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030142

Authors: Teodora Trifonova Joy Jenkins

The study explores the trauma experiences and gendered labor of Ukrainian women working as local fixers for international major media outlets covering the Russian war. Using semi-structured interviews (N = 15) with Ukrainian women fixers and drawing on feminist standpoint epistemology and embodied journalism, this research investigates how they perceive and perform their roles in a male-dominated professional environment. Women fixers’ work is shaped by lived, embodied experiences and an alternative knowledge of conflict. The fixers have an unofficial leadership role in international news teams, describing themselves as producers who shape editorial decisions, ensure safety, and influence coverage. From a feminist standpoint, their experiences show how lived experiences afford them authority in war reporting, even when it is not formally recognized. However, they face gender inequalities, primarily from male foreign correspondents who question their competency, as well as from Ukrainian military personnel who undermine their expertise and authority. Women fixers have also received unwanted sexual propositions from other freelancers in the media teams. Participants acknowledged that they have been traumatized by the war coverage, and they do not receive sufficient institutional support, but they invest in self-funded coping strategies.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030141

Authors: Ronald B. Brown

This qualitative media-archaeology study examines how digital video compression can reshape viewer perception of a legacy television image. A low-resolution online image from the 1976 The Mary Tyler Moore Show is compared with the corresponding image from a commercial DVD. In the compressed 360p online version, Moore’s upper torso appears briefly overexposed during a bubble-bath scene—an interpretation often described as a wardrobe malfunction. However, the higher-resolution DVD clearly shows that Moore maintained broadcast standards by wearing a protective undergarment that became visually erased in the compressed media. This divergence serves as a result of a natural experiment, demonstrating how low-resolution encoding of an image produces edge smoothing, tonal blending, and dissolution of material boundaries. These transformations support an inductive interpretation of materiality collapse, a compression artifact in which garments, skin, and shadows lose visual distinctiveness—creating an image of Mary Tyler Moore perceptually similar to a classical nude sculpture such as the Venus de Milo. Contextual evidence from Moore’s autobiography further clarifies production norms that shaped the bubble-bath scene and contributed to insufficient foam coverage. The findings show how compressed digital video can generate culturally consequential misperceptions, underscoring the need to scrutinize online compressed images posted as material evidence.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030140

Authors: Emmi Verleyen Laura Jacobs Kathleen Beckers

The current immigration debate is frequently characterized by a negative tone in news, which can fuel public disapproval. Previous research demonstrates that news framing regarding immigration can arouse, for example, negative attitudes among the public. However, these studies often take the three protagonists of this debate (asylum seekers, refugees, immigrants) together. This study aims to fill the gap by exploring the extent to which the strength of the news framing effect on anti-immigration attitudes is assisted by the explicit categorization of these actor terms. A survey experiment with fictional news stories was conducted among Flemish citizens (n = 1591). The framing (negative, victim, positive) and the type of actors (asylum seekers, refugees, immigrants) were manipulated. The results indicate that the effect of framing on anti-immigration attitudes seems conditional on the actor term used in the news article, even though the found effect was small. Anti-immigration attitudes were highest when a negative frame was combined with the term immigrant and lowest when a positive frame was combined with the term asylum seeker. Combining the actor term with victim framing does not yield a significant effect. However, overall, framing exerted significantly stronger effects than actor terminology. The findings indicate that words in terms of framing and actor type matter in the immigration debate.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030139

Authors: German A. Duarte

This article examines the persistence of television in a media environment increasingly defined by digital computation. It argues that television cannot be understood simply as a visual medium in continuity with cinema but must be situated within a specific video-electronic regime grounded in real-time transmission. Through a genealogical comparison of photochemical, video-electronic, and digital image regimes, the article analyzes how different technical configurations organize the relation between image, time, signal, and experience. It then considers historical and theoretical moments in which these regimes enter into tension, from early reconstructed actualities to live television, videotape, transmedia storytelling, and contemporary digital interfaces. Drawing on media archaeology and media theory, the article suggests that what persists under the name of television today is not necessarily the medium in its strict technical sense but a residual mode of engagement shaped by inherited perceptual and cultural habits. The article concludes that the apparent continuity of television in the digital mediascape should be read less as simple adaptation than as a symptom of a deeper rupture between technical regimes and lived experience.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030138

Authors: Brock Mays

Guided by the ideational theory of populism and Jowett and O’Donnell’s framework for propaganda analysis, this study examines Donald Trump’s usage of propagandistic language and emotional appeals. The study classifies his posts on Truth Social during the 2024 American presidential election into the seven categories of propaganda tactics outlined by the Institute of Propaganda Analysis. These techniques include name calling, glittering generalities, transfer methods, testimonials, plain folk appeals, card stacking and bandwagoning. A deductive content analysis was performed on a corpus of the text of 1319 Truth Social posts (“truths”) posted by Donald Trump during the election, excluding image- and video-based posts. This study found a vast majority contain at least one classic propaganda technique. A contribution of this study is that it determines not only which tactics he uses as a case study of a populist communicator but who he targets and with which tactics. The study found five main targets: political opponents, political allies, immigrants, institutions, and foreign leaders. Findings demonstrate Donald Trump does not use propaganda techniques monolithically but rather as dependent on his target and with distinct patterns, to produce and reinforce narratives about in- and out-group messaging.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030137

Authors: Ana Raquel Azevedo Fátima Gonçalves Joaquim Brigas

Contemporary information environments have transformed how information is produced, circulated, and evaluated, especially in social media and platform-mediated communication contexts. Although Information Quality (IQ) and misinformation research has provided important criteria for assessing accuracy, completeness, relevance, credibility, and timeliness, existing approaches offer limited insight into how information preserves meaning, credibility, and contextual integrity under decontextualization, emotional amplification, algorithmic visibility, and strategic manipulation. Addressing this gap, this study introduces Resilient Information Quality (RIQ) as a conceptual and analytical framework for evaluating information resilience in digital communication. An exploratory framework-development design is adopted. The framework integrates six dimensions: Manipulability Resilience, Contextual Transparency, Interpretability, Emotional Framing, Audience Resilience, and Platform Suitability. These dimensions are operationalized through a structured scoring rubric and applied to fourteen analytically constructed communication samples derived from recurring real-world information patterns. The findings classify samples into critical, vulnerable, and robust configurations. Emotionally charged and low-transparency messages show high engagement potential but weak resistance to distortion, while institutional and evidence-based communication shows stronger resilience through contextual grounding, source transparency, and structural coherence. The study concludes that IQ should be assessed not only through correctness, but also through manipulation resistance, contextual credibility, and safe platform adaptation.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030136

Authors: Su Yu Wonkyung Kim

Confederate monuments have long stood at the center of public memory controversies in the United States, and social media platforms increasingly shape how these controversies circulate and receive responses. This study examines Confederate monument controversies across five Reddit communities—r/politics, r/news, r/PoliticalDiscussion, r/AskAnAmerican, and r/AskHistorians—using 2379 posts and 117,556 comments. Combining BERTopic modeling, zero-shot classification, and event-based statistical analysis, it investigates temporal patterns, topic structures, post categories, and responses. Discussion rose most sharply around the Charlottesville rally and the George Floyd event window, with peaks in r/politics and r/news. Topic modeling identified nine stable topics across national political debate, local removal actions, legal disputes, legislative processes, and historical interpretation. Among non-news posts, Seeking Information/Opinion was most common (41.9%), followed by Removal/Implementation Update (20.5%), Resource Sharing/Mobilization (18.9%), and Complaint/Normative Condemnation (18.7%). Protest, removal, and legal-conflict topics generated higher comment volumes and scores, whereas historically oriented topics showed lower interaction intensity. Comment sections were dominated by Explanation or Interpretation, indicating that Reddit discussions extended monument controversies mainly through explanation, comparison, and historical analogy rather than interpersonal conflict. The findings show that Reddit reorganizes public memory controversy through platform rules, community norms, and interactional mechanisms. By connecting event peaks, topic structures, post categories, and comment pathways, the study also interprets Reddit-based monument controversy as a platformed media ritual of attention, classification, and public memory negotiation.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030135

Authors: Takunda Maodza Yoliswa Mgedezi

South Africa has been receiving a high number of undocumented immigrants for years. As Africa’s second largest economy and the biggest in the South African Development Community region, it has witnessed a surge in illegal migration. Some undocumented immigrants marry local women, establishing spousal and familial relations. The government has taken a legal stand against undocumented immigrants. It deports thousands annually. A grassroots movement, Operation Dudula, has initiated efforts to locate undocumented immigrants. Its modus operandi has been condemned for lacking ubuntu. A void is left when undocumented immigrants are deported, leaving their families in South Africa. Some South African women have turned to TikTok to express their views on migration and familyhood. This study attempts to answer these questions: What are the TikTok discursive practices of South African women in spousal relations with African immigrants? In what ways do the women legitimise the relationships? How does TikTok function as a subaltern counter-public formation? Data were gathered through digital archival research and subjected to a multimodal critical discourse analysis. The findings show that the women celebrate the relations as an achievement. They construct them as pathways to prosperity. The women also invoked racial discourses to legitimise the relations. Through TikTok, they recontextualised discourses on migration by deconstructing dominant narratives that project African immigrants through lenses of criminality.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030134

Authors: Sawsan Taha Amer Ahmad

The study explores Emirati university students’ perceptions of how media and information literacy enhance their understanding of media ethics. It specifically investigates students’ perceptions of the role of media and information literacy in shaping their understanding of professional media standards, enhancing their respect for individuals’ privacy, promoting their social responsibility, regulating their ethical digital interactions, and the challenges they face in distinguishing reliable from misleading media content. The study administered a survey to a quota sample of 300 students from Al Ain University. The results indicated that students perceive media and information literacy as playing a significant role in shaping their understanding of professional media standards, enhancing their respect for individuals’ privacy, and promoting their social responsibility. The results also showed that students perceive considerable challenges in distinguishing reliable from misleading media content. Furthermore, no statistically significant differences emerged in students’ perceptions of the role of media and information literacy in enhancing their understanding of media ethics by gender. However, statistically significant differences appeared by academic year and the college in which students study, favoring the College of Communication and Media. Finally, there is a strong positive correlation between students’ perceptions of the role of media and information literacy in shaping their understanding of professional media standards and both their perceptions of respect for individuals’ privacy and the regulation of their ethical digital interaction with others.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030133

Authors: Manuel João Cruz Daniela Fonseca

This article examines how Portuguese Members of Parliament have incorporated journalistic media into plenary speech as external discursive resources from 1976 to 2025. While research on the mediatization of politics has shown that political actors operate in increasingly media-shaped environments, less attention has been paid to how journalism enters political discourse itself through explicit references in institutional parliamentary settings. This gap matters because such references provide a concrete way of tracing how parliamentary speech appropriates news as a source of authority, evidence, agenda importation, and rhetorical support. Methodologically, the article analyses the full corpus of Portuguese parliamentary plenary interventions (n = 726,153) using a three-layer rule-based detection strategy that distinguishes between broad media references, named outlet references, and strict journalistic invocations, complemented by manual functional coding of strict cases. The findings show that explicit journalistic references are rare overall and have declined over time, qualifying strong readings of mediatization as simple media saturation. When journalism is invoked, however, it is mobilised selectively, drawing mainly on a small set of established legacy outlets and functioning primarily in evidentiary, agenda-introducing, and meta-media ways rather than adversarial ones. The article argues that journalism remains a residual source of discursive authority in parliament, but that its visible parliamentary relevance may be weaker and more contested than normative democratic accounts often assume.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030132

Authors: Gabriela Perdomo Mia Lindgren

This paper examines how conversational daily deep dive news podcasts build journalistic authority and legitimacy through what we call the “journalist-as-guest” (JAG) format. Applying a deep analytical listening methodology that honors the aurality of the medium and positions listening as a core analytical method, we analyzed eight daily deep dive news podcasts from Canada and Australia, attending to how sonic elements interact with conversational performance to produce podcasting’s characteristic intimacy and parasocial listener bonds that support authority and legitimacy claims for journalism. Our findings expand on our previous identification of the JAG format as a key element of explanatory-type daily deep dive podcasts. Here, we reveal how it operates through three key mechanisms: recurring self-referential speech that reinforces journalistic cultural belonging; intentional unpacking of the reporting process to reveal behind-the-scenes work; and the careful construction of journalists as subject-matter experts. Together, these mechanisms transform performative conversation into metajournalism, creating a space in which journalistic expertise is displayed and validated through colleague-to-colleague dialogue. We term this dynamic “intimate authority.” We argue that the JAG format capitalizes on podcasting’s affordances for intimacy, parasociality, and extended metajournalistic conversation to invite audiences into the news-making process while positioning journalists as credible experts and sense-makers. In doing so, it functions as a mechanism for establishing authority and legitimacy claims in digital media environments. As daily news podcasting becomes increasingly central to remediation efforts aimed at restoring trust in journalism, both legacy and independent news podcasters appear to be counting on the JAG format as a strategic response to concurrent crises of news avoidance and relevance.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7030131

Authors: Susana Herrera-Damas Susana Asenjo-McCabe

Spanish journalists do not suffer from work-related anxiety because they lack resilience; they suffer from it because they work in environments structurally designed to produce it. Based on this premise, this study develops the first empirically grounded multilevel governance model to reduce work-related anxiety among journalists, drawing on 23 in-depth interviews with Spanish professionals who have experienced it through either a diagnosis or self-report, analyzed using reflective thematic analysis. The findings are organized into three interconnected levels—micro, meso, and macro—and identify, respectively, pre-existing protective factors, reactive coping strategies, and advice and recommendations aimed at structural change. Anchored in Job Anxiety Theory and evidence from equivalent complex interventions, the model demonstrates that individual resources only produce sustainable effects when the organizational and sectoral levels actively support them. The asymmetry between the density of the micro level and the precariousness of the meso and macro levels constitutes the study’s central finding. Our model redefines anxiety in journalism as an institutional design challenge and offers a scalable, modular, and contextualized architecture for the Spanish media ecosystem.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020130

Authors: László Balázs

This paper aims to develop a conceptual framework of digital resilience rituals in order to illuminate the ways in which media practices can be seen as adaptive responses to information stress in the context of the current digital communication environment. By incorporating the theoretical perspectives of the concept of ritual communication and the theories of resilience and salutogenesis, the current study aims to reconceptualize the use of digital media as routinized and meaning-making practices. Algorithmically curated, information-rich environments generate continuous cognitive and affective demands, experienced as information stress. In response, users engage in ritualized media practices that structure attention, regulate emotional responses, and maintain a sense of control. The model identifies three types of digital resilience rituals: orientation rituals, emotional regulation rituals, and boundary-setting rituals. Conceptually, the framework links structural characteristics of the media environment with psychological resources, positioning ritualized practices as mediating mechanisms between environmental stressors and adaptive outcomes. By doing so, the study extends ritual communication theory toward adaptive regulation in digital contexts and offers a theoretically grounded basis for future empirical research on media practices, information stress, and resilience.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020129

Authors: Tineke Prins Nadia Swijtink Liesbeth Hermans Niek Hietbrink

This study examined how exposure to constructive audiovisual news shapes people’s perception of societal issues in the Netherlands. An online experiment was conducted among 575 participants aged 18 to 90 years old. Participants were randomly assigned to watch an audiovisual news item, either constructive or nonconstructive news, about plastic waste in the ocean or the Dutch housing market. The study investigated how these different reporting styles affected participants’ perceptions of the main message, their awareness of the seriousness of the societal issue, and their evaluation of the journalistic quality of the news report. Results showed that, contrary to critics’ concerns, constructive news did not reduce perceived problem awareness: participants across conditions reported similarly high levels of awareness regarding the seriousness of the issues presented. Perceived journalistic quality also remained high in both constructive and nonconstructive conditions, indicating that incorporating constructive elements did not compromise credibility. Furthermore, constructive news appeared to encourage a broader, more solution-oriented perspective, prompting participants to consider opportunities and future prospects. Importantly, this broader perspective did not come at the expense of perceived problem awareness or journalistic quality. Overall, the findings provide empirical support for the value of constructive journalism in the Dutch media context.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020128

Authors: Sangeetha Unnithan

This study examines front-page environmental news coverage in two prominent national newspapers against the backdrop of India’s G20 presidency. The study integrates agenda setting and framing theories with public sphere theory, to understand the implications of front-page coverage of environmental issues for the public sphere. Following a mixed methodology, content analysis and frame analysis were conducted on a continuous six-month sample of the two newspapers, covering 180 days and 360 issues. A total of 435 front-page environmental stories were identified and analyzed. The findings reveal that front-page environmental reporting in the sampled newspapers spotlighted the severe environmental crises impacting the country, rather than the government’s sustainability-oriented and eco-centric discourse during the G20 presidency. Weather emerged as the most salient topic, followed by pollution. Foregrounding extreme weather and unusual weather patterns on the front page helped problematize weather events as a public concern. However, the disproportionate dominance of weather and pollution, along with an overreliance on routine sources, poor representation of source categories such as scientists/experts, and underutilization of data journalism reveal limitations in inclusive and rational deliberation on environmental issues. Problem-centric framing dominated the coverage, followed by adversarial narratives. Framing also overwhelmingly emphasized environment-related risks to humans while risks to nonhuman entities were marginalized, indicating anthropocentric tendencies in environmental coverage.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020127

Authors: Ádám Guld

Sports-based television formats combining competition, cooperation, and physical confrontation have long attracted large audiences. Since the 2000s reality television has increasingly adapted these elements, particularly through wrestling- and boxing-themed programs. This study examines the genre of celebrity boxing within the broader context of contemporary media culture, with the aim of interpreting its popularity through perspectives from communication and media theory. The analysis applies a qualitative approach drawing on concepts such as the media violence and Carey’s and Couldry’s ritual model of communication and includes an empirical case study of the Hungarian television program Sztárbox. The findings suggest that celebrity boxing operates as a pseudo-sporting spectacle that combines media violence with celebrity culture to maintain audience attention, while its dramaturgy—following Barthes’ and Jenkins’ interpretations—relies heavily on simplified moral oppositions and dramatized role-playing. These elements function as micro-rituals that structure viewer engagement and contribute to collective meaning-making beyond mere entertainment. The study concludes that the appeal of celebrity boxing lies not only in the display of physical confrontation but in its ritualized narrative framework, which reinforces social and cultural interpretations of conflict, identity, and spectacle within the logic of contemporary media environments.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020126

Authors: Izabela Korbiel

According to the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP), over one in every 100 deaths (1.3%) in 2019 was the result of suicide, yet suicide is a highly sensitive issue in the media and often a taboo. The field of communication research has very early recognized the relevance of coverage of suicide. One of the first manuals on journalistic work in 1925 elaborated on newsworthiness of suicide reporting. This paper draws on experiences of journalists who covered suicide cases during multiple crises. There is evidence that an interview is the most appropriate practice to research sensitive topics; thus, expert interviews and episodically ethnographic interviews inform this study. Additional data was collected for analysis during (participatory) observations. The presented article is an outcome of 29 interviews with journalists and mental health professionals in Greece, Spain and Bulgaria. In total, 36 h of interviews and 20 observation protocols were collected during 8 field trips and 5 weeks in total in the field. Most of the data refers to the financial crisis of 2015 and 2016—a period when suicide rates significantly increased. However, selected interviewees were interviewed again after 7–8 years during the post-pandemic time, brutal wars and the substantial cost of living crisis. Journalists who usually give a voice and platform to suicide survivors speak their own perspective and evaluate the impact it had on their mental health and well-being.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020125

Authors: Elira Canga

Journalism in Albania unfolds in a fragile media environment where political pressure, economic insecurity and intimidation are part of everyday professional life. This study examines how Albanian journalists experience job-related stress and how they cope with it. Using a qualitative design, the study draws on 14 semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis to identify the main stressors and response strategies described by participants. Findings show that occupational stress is not episodic, but normalized within journalistic practice. Journalists reported three major stressors: political interference, financial precarity, and direct threats linked to reporting on crime and corruption. To manage these pressures, they relied on both problem-focused strategies, such as careful verification, legal consultation, and strategic reporting practices, and emotion-focused strategies, including peer support, emotional compartmentalization, and maintaining boundaries between work and family life.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020124

Authors: Leslie-Jean Thornton

The experiences of 48 U.S. journalists covering Donald Trump’s inaugural year as president in 2017 provide a contemporaneous account of being “enemies of the people” in a highly charged partisan environment. Using snowball sampling, participants were asked to respond via email during a period bookended by a Phoenix, Arizona, rally in which Trump berated news reporters for their coverage of demonstrations in Charlottesville, Virginia, and then, weeks later, posted disparaging “fake news” tweets. The social media barrage followed challenging news coverage of a devastating hurricane in the eastern United States. Responses came from journalists representing 41 news organizations (including broadcast, radio, cable, online, and print) in regions throughout the country. Qualitative reflexive thematic analysis surfaced deeply intertwined personal and professional concerns, suggesting a need to heighten awareness of the influence sustained trauma has on both personal and professional relationships. Their being labeled “fake” and “enemies of the people” might affect content and routine in ways that include self-censorship, sourcing, transparency, and degrees to which one would risk harm or emotional distress to cover a story. Toughing it out in the face of sustained and wounding attacks might create hidden psychological and professional time-bombs, putting journalists, journalism, and ultimately democracy, at risk.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020123

Authors: Henrique Marques-Martins José Sixto-García

In ecosystems of algorithmic visibility, Instagram bios operate as high salience microdiscourses of self-presentation and signaling. We examine whether observable bio attributes are associated with visibility and interaction among Brazilian sports journalists. We analyzed 151 public Instagram profiles (≥100,000 followers) and extracted bios and profile metadata via automated collection. Bio attributes (length, emojis, @mentions, hashtags, location, informational cues, and external links) were related to followers, average likes and comments, and engagement rate (primary outcome) using Spearman rank correlations under conservative interpretation. Emojis and mentions were near universal; links were common; hashtags and locations were rare. Associations were small and exploratory: personal information correlated negatively with followers; hashtags correlated positively with likes and comments but relied on five cases; and references to other platforms correlated negatively with engagement. Overall, bios appear to function mainly as signaling infrastructures, with any performance effects likely indirect and mediated by content practices and platform exposure within this ecosystem.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020122

Authors: Kefa Hamidi Ramin Kamangar Abumoslem Khorasani

Research on migration and digital media has expanded, yet empirical knowledge about how digital network communication structures public interaction in post-migration contexts remains limited. In particular, little is known about the communicative arenas in which interaction becomes visible, the actors who gain interpretive authority, and the recurring issues and narratives that stabilize meaning. This article addresses these gaps by examining Afghanistan-linked digital publics in Germany. Eight semi-structured interviews with key informants and a qualitative content analysis of selected TikTok accounts revealed that short-video platforms can function as central arenas of attention, where repeatedly recognized communicators become orientation points for audiences through sustained interaction. Communication stabilizes around recurring issues and narratives such as migration procedures, institutional encounters, Afghanistan-related political developments, and community conflicts, which connect everyday experiences in the country of residence to political, social, and cultural debates about Afghanistan—thereby bridging local and transnational references within shared communication networks. These environments function simultaneously as spaces of practical guidance, social orientation, and public dispute. Building on these insights, the article proposes a multidimensional model of digital diaspora communication that links communicative arenas, actors, and issues and narratives.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020121

Authors: Alexei Anisin

This study investigates the function of hashtags as performative political communication on Instagram during the 2024–2025 U.S. presidential electoral cycle. Through computational web-scraping processes, a dataset of over 300,000 posts (N = 17,750) yielded hashtags that were categorized according to (1) pro-Trump terms and (2) conspiracy-theory terms. Eight hashtags include #blacksfortrump, #donaldtrump, #freemasonic, #illuminatis, #impeachbiden, #latinosfortrump, #MAGA, and #secretsocieties. They are analyzed through negative binomial regression on comment engagement. Results reveal that identity-affirming and partisan condemnation hashtags (#blacksfortrump, #MAGA, #impeachbiden) were associated with higher levels of digital interactions, whereas conspiracy hashtags were associated with lower levels of engagement. Specifically, the hashtags #freemasonic and #illuminatis show negative associations with engagement, while #secretsocieties slightly elevated engagement with pro-Trump anti-elite narratives. These results indicate that not all forms of political communication are equally effective in mobilizing interactions on Instagram. Comment engagement was driven more heavily by identity performance and moralized partisan signaling than by conspiratorial narratives. These findings add to our knowledge on political communication in contemporary digital media environments.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020120

Authors: Elena Becerra José Borja Arjona Juan Salvador Victoria

While digital communication is critical for business growth, there is a notable lack of research concerning the specific digital and corporate strategies of bio-health start-ups in regional ecosystems like Andalusia. This article addresses this gap by analysing the corporate and digital strategies of the leading bio-health start-ups at the Andalusian Health Technology Park. The research focuses on innovation in the health sector and builds on the broader discourse surrounding science communication as applied to Andalusian companies. Health innovation companies are implementing their digital corporate strategies to raise their profile and reach their target audience. For Andalusian bio-health start-ups, the main focus is on their websites; this is why they are analysed here from different perspectives, with the aim of evaluating the information they share and its effectiveness. To this end, a mixed approach combining quantitative and qualitative content analysis is proposed, and data analysis tools are applied to web traffic and performance factors, as well as to the analysis of corporate culture and brand identity. The results indicate that these companies are consistent with digital communication strategies typical of B2B models, that is, emerging and highly specialised companies. In the corporate sphere, there is generally a strong focus on positioning within a framework that fosters organisational culture, employee recognition and the key elements of effective brand architecture.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020119

Authors: Maria Rae Dylan Bird Dominic Knight

The 2024 US presidential campaign was dubbed the ‘podcast election’, with Donald Trump’s appearances on shows targeting young male audiences hailed for securing victory with this demographic. However, limited attention has been paid to how the specific affordances of audio media are leveraged to engage voters with appeals to hegemonic masculinity. Drawing on the theoretical framework of counterpublics, this study applies an innovative close analytical listening method and critical discourse analysis to five long-form podcast interviews with Trump. It finds that intimacy, authenticity, and convivial, free-wheeling conversation were key elements of Trump’s political communication—reaching mass audiences while bypassing the scrutiny of professional journalism. Furthermore, these shows celebrated men’s superiority while largely excluding women from public discourse. These findings are important for understanding the implications of an increasingly masculine, right-wing podcast scene, which we theorize as the brosphere. Ultimately, we argue that the brosphere is distinct from—but related to—the overtly misogynistic manosphere.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020118

Authors: Ádám Horváth Balázs Gyenge

This research examines the transformation of film and TV series consumption within the contemporary media landscape, characterized by digital plenitude and Over-the-Top (OTT) dominance. The study investigates how users navigate the transition from linear broadcasting toward on-demand, platform-centric environments. Through an exploratory qualitative approach as the initial phase of a broader study, 18 semi-structured interviews were conducted with a demographically diverse group of Hungarian participants whose primary commonality is active film and TV series consumption. The findings highlight a rejection of traditional linear television, driven by an aversion to intrusive advertising and a demand for temporal autonomy. While mobile devices, particularly smartphones, are central to this shift, consumption remains predominantly stationary; users prioritize the flexibility of cross-device access within the domestic environment over mobile viewing during transit. Furthermore, the study identifies a growing friction caused by content fragmentation between different OTT platforms and rising subscription costs, while digital piracy persists as a marginal alternative. Ultimately, the study concludes that the modern audience acts as a strategic user navigating a complex ecosystem of excess. This underscores a fundamental shift where the cultural value of content is increasingly defined by the tension between individual agency and the systemic constraints of competing services.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020117

Authors: Abiodun Salawu Bukola Christiana Ajala

This paper examines the unresolved case of a Nigerian singer/rapper, Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba (Mohbad), aged 27, whose tragic death occurred on 12 September 2023. His death sparked public outcry and calls for justice, resulting in massive protest movements in Nigeria and the Diaspora. Alaroye, a foremost indigenous language newspaper, has consistently deployed its platform to advocate for justice for the deceased rapper. Using the Agenda-setting Theory, this study examines, through key informant interviews, the external events that caused public opinion on the clamour for justice for Mohbad to wane, which impeded the newspaper’s agenda-setting capacity. This paper explores Alaroye’s coverage of the circumstances surrounding the death of Mohbad and the need to galvanise justice for him. Through a content analysis of the Alaroye online newspaper, 62 newspaper stories were purposively sampled within the time frame of the incident (September 2023 to August 2024). Although Alaroye’s reports on the happenings surrounding Mohbad’s death created public awareness and debate, key informants explain that public opinion on the issue could not stimulate justice for the deceased due to political, economic, and other associated factors.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020116

Authors: Vered Elishar Yaron Ariel

Traditional agenda-setting theory, which is centered on legacy news outlets, now operates in a fragmented ecosystem shaped by platforms, algorithms, and networked intermediaries. Existing agenda-setting models only partially integrate algorithmic gatekeeping and audience agency, thus limiting their capacity to explain contemporary patterns of issue salience. This study revisits classic, second-level, and network agenda-setting research. It synthesizes recent work on big data, social media, and AI-driven curation to propose an agenda-setting ecosystem conceptual model for hybrid liberal-democratic media systems that links macro-level institutions and infrastructure, meso-level networked intermediaries, and micro-level cognitive and behavioral processes. Two analytical concepts have been advanced: flash agendas, defined as rapid and short-lived spikes in public attention, and agenda leadership, defined as the capacity of specific actors to trigger, steer, and sustain such spikes across platforms. This article outlines the methodological and ethical challenges of studying these dynamics, including data access, measurement validity, and transparency of algorithmic systems. It identifies directions for empirical research and policy, with particular attention to cross-platform diffusion and feedback loops. The framework aims to support more robust theory building and measurement in hybrid, algorithmically mediated media environments.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020115

Authors: Chang Sup Park Mohammad Al Masum Molla

Grounded in the MAIN model and multidimensional information-quality frameworks, this research conceptualizes news evaluation through three distinct lenses: credibility, newsworthiness, and readability. Through a 2 (authorship: AI vs. human) × 3 (news domain: finance, weather, sports) mixed experiment (N = 301), participants evaluated identical articles attributed to either an AI system or a human journalist. The results reveal a consistent “credibility penalty” for AI-labeled news across all domains, suggesting that authorship serves as a domain-general source heuristic. However, the effects on newsworthiness and readability were domain-contingent, shifting based on genre-specific expectations and the informational stakes of the topic. These findings demonstrate that audience responses to AI journalism are multidimensional and context-sensitive rather than uniform. This study offers significant implications for communication theory, transparency in disclosure practices, and the strategic adoption of AI in modern newsrooms.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020114

Authors: Bahareh Heravi

The contemporary information environment is marked by the increasing ease with which journalistic stories can be generated, reformatted, and adapted through generative AI systems. As a result, content becomes increasingly liquid, and the article no longer functions as the sole or stable unit of journalism. While writing remains central to journalistic practice, the primary site of value shifts toward the production and stewardship of reliable information from which multiple narratives can be formed. This paper argues that, in AI-mediated news and journalism, journalists increasingly operate not only as authors of finished stories but as producers and curators of reusable information artefacts that support both human and AI-assisted storytelling. Situated within discussions of AI-mediated news, liquid content, modular journalism, and data storytelling, the paper advances the need for a modular and compositional storytelling structure suited to dynamically generated narratives. Building on prior empirical work, it positions the Water Tower storytelling model as a structure capable of organising liquid journalistic content into coherent stories across formats and levels of detail, while remaining grounded in editorial judgement.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020113

Authors: Montse Mera-Fernández Victoria Moreno-Gil Montse Morata-Santos

In this paper, we describe and analyse the characteristics of news articles published in Spanish media which were written with assistance, of different types and to varying extents, from generative AI. We pursue three objectives: to identify how AI is being used, to examine the formal and textual characteristics of articles produced in this way, and to determine the degree of transparency with which the use of generative AI is communicated to readers. Using content analysis techniques, 120 articles published in different newspapers were studied, including articles written entirely by AI, written with the help of AI, and resulting from other uses of AI. Our analysis shows different results depending on the use of AI. The first group exhibits standardised writing, repetitive structures, and fewer sources. The second group shows less standardisation, more contextual information, and more journalistic errors. Despite relying on a repetitive structure, the third group does not display standardised writing. Regarding transparency, this study reveals that not all texts disclose AI use, and when they do, it appears separately from the byline or within the text. This study is pioneering due to the breadth of the analysed sample and our examination of different uses of AI in the Spanish news media.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020112

Authors: Nimmagadda Bhargav Jagadish Thaker

Media primarily frames climate change as a threat or disaster, which may dampen public interest and engagement. Does shifting communication strategies to emphasize people’s ability to enact change increase political engagement with climate change? This study examines whether exposure to a news story containing efficacy information is associated with changes in self-efficacy, collective efficacy, and intentions to engage in political activism. Using a quasi-experimental classroom-based design, a single exposure to a news story embedded with efficacy information was not associated with higher levels of any of the three dimensions of political self-efficacy—internal, external, and response—as well as perceived collective efficacy among undergraduate students (N = 731) in a large city in India. Exposure to efficacy information was not associated with intentions to engage in individual or political activism indirectly either. However, internal efficacy, response efficacy, and collective efficacy were positively associated with intentions to engage in individual and collective political action. In addition, perceived collective efficacy mediated the association between internal and response efficacies with collective political action intentions, highlighting the critical role of collective efficacy in collective political action. The findings suggest that while perceived self- and collective efficacies are important for increasing public engagement, they may not be readily amenable to change through single or infrequent exposure to efficacy-oriented messages.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020111

Authors: Alberto E. López-Carrión Germán Llorca-Abad

This study examines how ideological polarisation in Spanish society is reflected and amplified in press coverage of the competition between El Hormiguero (Antena3) and La Revuelta (TVE) in the access prime time television slot. Situated within debates on audience fragmentation, the attention economy, and the politicisation of entertainment, the research seeks to determine whether media ideology shapes journalistic narratives surrounding this television rivalry. The study adopts a mixed-methods approach, combining descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis. A total of 385 news articles published between April 2024 and March 2025 in five leading Spanish digital newspapers with different ideological orientations (20 Minutos, ABC, El HuffPost, El Mundo and El País) were analysed. The results reveal clear ideological patterns in coverage, affecting the intensity of attention, the selection of sources, and the framing of both programmes. El Hormiguero is predominantly associated with leadership and competitive strength, while La Revuelta is framed around innovation, youth appeal, and politicisation linked to public broadcasting. Overall, the findings indicate that Spanish newspapers do not merely report on a television competition but actively contribute to its symbolic and ideological polarisation, reinforcing entertainment as a central arena of contemporary cultural conflict.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020110

Authors: Gonzalo López-Barranco María Amapola Povedano-Díaz María Belén Morales-Cevallos Jose A. Rodas David Alarcón Rubio María Muñiz Rivas Daniel Oleas

(1) Background: Problematic social media use has increasingly been conceptualized as a non-clinical addictive-like behavior characterized by impaired control and negative functional consequences. Despite the rapid growth of TikTok and its algorithm-driven content delivery, the contribution of individual psychological factors and users’ awareness of algorithmic processes to addictive symptoms remains insufficiently understood, particularly in Latin American contexts. This study examined the associations between personality traits, algorithmic awareness, and addictive symptoms of TikTok use among university students. (2) Methods: A quantitative, cross-sectional design was conducted with a convenience sample of 238 university students from Ecuador. Participants completed self-report measures of social media addiction, algorithmic media content awareness, and Big Five personality traits. Spearman correlations and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed, controlling for age and sex. (3) Results: Algorithmic awareness dimensions were not significant predictors of addictive symptoms. Demographic variables explained minimal variance, whereas personality traits accounted for the largest increase in explained variance in the final model. Neuroticism and Extraversion were positively associated with addictive symptoms, while Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience were negatively associated. (4) Conclusions: Personality traits were more informative than algorithmic awareness in explaining addictive-like TikTok use among university students, underscoring the relevance of self-regulatory and affective dispositions for prevention and intervention strategies.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020109

Authors: William Ko-Wai Tang Chammy Yan-Lam Lau Ao Zhang

Social media has become a primary news source for post-secondary students in Hong Kong; however, there is substantial disinformation and misinformation on these platforms. This study offers an initial qualitative window into how Hong Kong post-secondary students identify and respond to online disinformation and misinformation on social media. The qualitative interviews were conducted based on the traditional “Content–Appearance–Motivation” (CAM) framework. The findings show that students actively draw on common-sense reasoning and CAM-related cues. The study proposes a provisional Contextualized Dual-Loop Verification Model in which traditional CAM assessment is embedded within a broader loop of platform literacy, technical authenticity awareness, perceived risk and efficacy, and metacognitive regulation, highlighting the need for journalism and media education to move beyond conventional information literacy toward AI-era verification competencies. Future large-scale and cross-cultural studies are needed to test and refine this model.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020108

Authors: Andaleep Sadi Ades

The advent of social media has transformed brand communication to put storytelling at the center of building engagement and awareness. But the role of long-term brand value in virality is an essential challenge. This paper conducts a bibliometric and thematic analysis from the fields of marketing, psychology, and media studies published between 2015 and 2025, examining the correlation between narrative design and audience response, separating short-term popularity and long-term consumer appeal. The analysis was based on a structured literature review and qualitative methodological framework, using the literature sourced through Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar published between 2015 and 2025. Thematic coding searched for emotional tones, devices used in the narration, types of metrics, and contextual factors in inclusion and exclusion criteria. The findings indicate a divide in quantitative measures, such as likes and shares, and qualitative measures, such as sentiment and resonance stories. Story elements such as authenticity, the depth of the characters, and video-based content had a major effect on the two types of engagement. Storytelling effectiveness was also mediated by influencer participation, algorithmic interactions, and audience demographics. The results confirm that meaningful storytelling with hybrid metrics contributes to stronger brand–consumer relationships. Future studies ought to shift to predictive modeling and focus on the ability of AI to dictate personalized brand stories in diverse cultures.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020107

Authors: Ehsan Jozaghi

Periods of major technological transformation have historically coincided with the emergence of political movements. The current Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution, alongside the expansion of platform-based media, has reshaped how political dissent is produced, circulated, and normalized. This study examines contemporary anti-monarchist discourse associated with the UK-based Republic movement, focusing on how opposition to constitutional monarchy is articulated on YouTube within an environment shaped by profit-driven goals. Using NVivo 14, this qualitative study analyzes 62 publicly available YouTube videos published over a twelve-month period from January 2025 to January 2026, employing a hybrid inductive–deductive thematic analysis supported by Large Language Models. Findings identify three interrelated discursive themes: monarchy framed as legalized theft and extraction of public wealth; monarchical authority depicted as undemocratic and constitutionally manipulative; and the reproduction of colonial, elite, and mythic power through mediated narratives of tradition and national identity. Rather than evaluating the factual accuracy of anti-monarchist claims, the analysis treats this content as a mediated cultural practice through which broader socio-economic anxieties—such as inequality, democratic distrust, and fears of technological displacement—are symbolically organized. Digital platforms, such as the Republic Campaign YouTube channel, thus enable political discourse to gain visibility and resonance.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020106

Authors: Muhammad Noor Al Adwan Shaimaa Ezzat Basha Asmaa Hegazy Asmaa Moustafa Ahmed Hossam Fayez

This study examines the relationship between Sudanese audiences’ exposure to digital media coverage of the civil war and their psychological immunity and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms while also investigating the mediating role of psychological immunity. Data were collected through an online survey from a sample of 774 Sudanese respondents residing both inside and outside Sudan. The findings indicate a relatively high level of exposure to digital news coverage, particularly through social media platforms such as Facebook, reflecting the growing centrality of digitally mediated news environments in conflict reporting. The results also reveal moderate levels of psychological immunity and relatively high levels of PTSD symptoms, especially in the hyperarousal dimension. Statistical analysis shows a negative association between media exposure and psychological immunity, and a positive association between exposure and PTSD symptoms, with psychological immunity partially mediating this relationship. Beyond these findings, this study highlights important implications for journalism practice and media responsibility. The intensity and emotional nature of digital war coverage raise critical concerns regarding ethical news production, the circulation of distressing content, and the potential psychological impact on audiences. These findings underscore the need for more responsible digital journalism practices, including content moderation, trauma-sensitive reporting, and the promotion of media literacy, in order to mitigate the potential harm associated with repeated exposure to crisis-related news content.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020105

Authors: Fangni Li Lei Zhang Sanjoy Kumar Roy

As artificial intelligence reshapes professional workflows, understanding what drives effective AI use among employees has become a critical concern for organizations. Moving beyond traditional technology acceptance frameworks, this study develops an integrative multi-level model to examine the behavioral determinants of AI use performance (AUP) among journalists. Drawing on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Expectation Confirmation Model (ECM) and incorporating individual and organizational factors, a survey was conducted among 543 journalists in China. Hypotheses are tested via a hybrid PLS-SEM and artificial neural network (ANN) approach to capture both linear and non-linear relationships. The findings reveal that expectation confirmation significantly enhances AUP by driving perceived usefulness and satisfaction. Digital literacy, personal trust in AI, and organizational support positively influence AUP, whereas communication barriers exert the strongest negative effect. Demographic variables (gender, age, education) show no significant impact. Notably, the ANN sensitivity analysis identifies communication barriers as the most influential predictor overall, a finding not apparent from linear analysis alone. This study advances theoretical understanding of employee behavioral responses in AI-integrated professional contexts and offers practical insights into how organizations can foster effective employee–AI collaboration through targeted communication strategies and supportive infrastructure.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020104

Authors: Lorena Vegas García Gladys Arlette Corona León Francisco Javier Paniagua Rojano Rosalba Mancinas Chávez

Start-ups have established themselves as drivers of dynamism and economic growth. However, they face many and varied challenges, with one of them being managing their communication strategy. This study aims to analyse the digital communication strategy of start-ups in the Agrotech and Foodtech sectors. For that purpose, the annual rankings published by El Referente between 2023 and 2025 were reviewed, and 17 companies were selected, 11 from the Agrotech sector and six from the Foodtech sector. Based on this sample, a mixed methodology was used, combining content analysis with social media metrics analysis. The results show an uneven use of communication strategies by start-ups. Almost all of them have their own communication channels, such as websites or social media profiles, but their use is not uniform, and in many cases, the potential offered by these tools could be improved. The findings contribute to the literature on strategic communication in start-ups by evidencing the gap between declared identity and substantive legitimacy in sectors of high social scrutiny, such as the agri-food sector.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020103

Authors: Felix Schläpfer

Much research on misinformation has focused on claims that challenge mainstream views. This study instead examines misinformation that is aligned with dominant narratives in mainstream news media. It uses an epistemically grounded definition of misinformation and a measurement approach that accounts for the complexity of politically relevant misinformation. The analysis centers on 20 false or misleading claims about major international issues, evaluated by a sample of 1590 survey respondents in German-speaking Switzerland. Across these claims, the population-weighted share of “fully agree” responses ranged from 6% to 50%. The probability of acceptance of misinformation was significantly associated (p < 0.05) with several factors: male gender (+0.04); medium or higher education (−0.06 and −0.05, respectively); more than 30 min of daily news consumption, compared with less (+0.06); identification with Green (+0.09) and Liberal party (+0.07, relative to Center party); medium trust in government (−0.04), relative to high trust; and a non-mainstream primary news source (−0.28), relative to public television. A similar pattern emerges for the subset of the claims that had been publicly corrected. Notable differences from patterns reported for non-mainstream misinformation highlight the importance of the type of misinformation under study. Taken together—and in light of evidence that news consumers expect truthful and impartial information—these findings suggest that misinformation in mainstream news media warrants greater attention in both research and regulatory policy.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020102

Authors: Maksim Iavich Tsotne Ivanishvili

Digital news organizations increasingly adopt generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) under conditions of economic strain and platform dependency. While AI integration is often framed as a strategy for operational efficiency, its institutional implications extend beyond productivity gains. This study examines how different governance approaches to GenAI adoption—specifically variations in transparency, disclosure, and oversight practices—correspond to shifts in audience engagement and financial performance. Using a comparative mixed-methods design, we analyze three prominent cases between 2022 and 2025—CNET, Gizmodo, and The New York Times—representing, respectively, covert AI use with limited disclosure, transparent but poorly managed deployment, and proactive ethical and legally grounded positioning. To operationalize audience stability, we introduce two behavioral indicators: the Engagement Resilience Index (ERI), measuring depth and consistency of user engagement; and the Market Turbulence Ratio (MTR), capturing post-incident volatility in audience behavior. The findings indicate that AI deployment strategies associated with limited disclosure or weak governance correspond with increased engagement instability and revenue contraction, whereas approaches framed through institutional accountability and ethical positioning align with more stable or positive performance trajectories. The results suggest that AI integration functions not merely as a technological shift but as a governance-mediated signal interpreted by audiences in economic terms. These dynamics highlight the centrality of institutional trust in shaping the sustainability of digital journalism in the age of automation.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020101

Authors: Maximilian Klesl Darian Harff Desiree Schmuck

Most young people today consume news through social media, where diverse sources (e.g., influencers and journalists) curate news for them. However, we know little about which curating actors young people rely on for news, and which factors predict their use. Addressing these gaps, we draw on the curated flows framework and a quota-based survey of N = 569 young people aged 16 to 25 in Austria, conducted in December 2023 and January 2024. We found that ordinary people and influencers were young people’s most popular information sources on social media, favored by those who consume opinionated and soft news and encounter news incidentally. Traditional journalism and politicians were less relevant and primarily sought out intentionally, and for hard news.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020100

Authors: Taisik Hwang

Given the lack of research on the intersection of media and religion outside the U.S. and in South Korea, this study analyzed how two mainstream daily newspapers have depicted Christianity and compared their tones and frames toward this religion and megachurches in Korea. News stories on three major religions—Protestantism, Buddhism, and Catholicism—were identified and collected from the newspapers’ online archives. Overall, 302 out of 895 articles were focused on Christianity. Quantitative content analysis was utilized with a manual holistic approach. One of the major findings is that Chosun Ilbo, a conservative-leaning publication, described Protestantism in a more positive manner than Kyunghyang Shinmun, a liberal-leaning newspaper. Another finding is that there has been a shift in religion news coverage between 2011 and 2022 in terms of frames applied. Frames such as political power and corrupt were used more often in 2011, whereas the social work frame was employed more frequently in 2022, when covering Protestantism. The findings offer critical implications for journalists, religious communities, and the public by identifying journalistic practices that potentially fuel audience polarization. This exploratory study serves as a foundational step in advancing scholarly discourse on the media–religion interface in South Korea.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020099

Authors: Almudena Barrientos-Báez Humberto Azpurua David Caldevilla-Domínguez

The present article employs a discursive and neurocommunicational lens to analyze Donald J. Trump’s discursive playbook. By means of a qualitative approach founded upon Critical Discourse Analysis and framing theory, the present study examines the manner in which the tactics of denial, deflection, and discrediting have structured the politician’s political communication since 2016, throughout his new presidential term. The corpus under scrutiny encompasses a range of sources, including official speeches, social media posts, media coverage, and academic literature. A particular emphasis is placed on the Epstein case, which serves to expose the structural limitations of his rhetorical strategy. The findings demonstrate the efficacy of these tactics in polarized contexts, characterized by the mobilization of emotions such as fear, anger, and victimhood, while reinforcing cognitive biases such as dissonance and confirmation bias. However, in situations involving crises that are characterized by strong social consensus—such as sexual abuse, corruption, or demands for transparency—discursive saturation has been shown to generate contradictions, cognitive fatigue, and psychological reactance, leading to a so-called ‘boomerang effect’. From a neurocommunicational perspective, this phenomenon elucidates the process by which emotional triggers, which initially serve to strengthen audience cohesion, can subsequently act as factors of disaffection and internal fragmentation. The study posits that Trump’s rhetorical populism is contingent on a delicate equilibrium between emotional mobilization and perceived credibility, whose disruption threatens to undermine the stability of his leadership and facilitate the emergence of alternative leadership figures within the MAGA movement.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020098

Authors: Emmanuel Fundisi Qinisile Pearl Dlamini

The student movement of 2015, dubbed “#FeesMustFall”, was a pivotal moment in South Africa, which saw students demonstrating against for tuition fees in institutions of higher education. It was the country’s most significant post-apartheid student movement, in which Twitter/X played an important role, serving as a space for information sharing. Although the #FeesMustFall movement has been widely studied, there is still limited testing of the emotional discourse and the perceived consequences. This study sought to fill that gap by computing sentiment analysis of Twitter/X from 2015–2016 and reveal how emotional stories influenced mobilisation and public opinion on higher education reform in South Africa. A Lexicon-based (Natural Language Processing) sentiment analysis approach was utilised to assess people’s sentimentsand thefindings unveiled the role of emotions in shaping and mobilising youths, leading to the protest. For instance, 51% of the analysed tweets expressed support for the movement’s goals. These tweets reflected a strong conviction that reducing student fees is essential for improving access to higher education and addressing social inequality, particularly access to higher education. In addition, 31% of the tweets exhibited criticism of the protest. This criticism or negativity may stem from concerns about the destruction of university property during the protests, as well as the feasibility of implementing proposed changes. Only 18% of the tweets presented neutral sentiments, i.e., neither a strongly positive nor a strongly negative outcome. These tweets expressed views that were not opinionated on the demonstrations. Overall, it can be noted that the emotional dimensions of social activism in the digital age highlight the significance of emotional discourse in shaping the impact of student dissatisfaction with the higher education system in South Africa.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020097

Authors: Ghulam Safdar Tarek Ismail Mohamed Nassereldin Abdel Qadir Osman Kareem Mohamed Abdelhafiz

In the digital era, social media has become a potent tool, shaping perceptions, opinions, and behaviors among young people. It has transformed young people’s experiences with fashion, trends, and consumer culture. This examining how attitudes toward social media influencers affect youth fashion interest through social comparison, addressing a gap in the cultural context of Pakistan. It was hypothesized that positive attitudes toward social media influencers would predict youth fashion interest trends through the mediator of social comparison. This research paper adopts a quantitative approach, using a survey to gather data from university students in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan. The results indicated a significant relationship among the variables. Mediation analysis supported the mediating role of social comparison in the relationship between attitudes towards social media influencers and youth fashion interest. For the mean comparison by gender, no significant differences were found between men and women regarding the study variables. The study extended Bandura’s social cognitive theory past mere observation of a model by explaining the mediating role of social comparison. Moreover, the study updated Festinger’s social comparison theory for the era of social media.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020096

Authors: Miguel Midões Joana Martins

Starting from the idea of proximity as a fundamental news value—which may assume geographical, cultural, emotional, and thematic dimensions—this article discusses how this concept influences journalists’ production routines, focusing on the progressive abandonment of the journalistic genre of reportage. This quantitative study aims to understand how Portuguese journalists conceptualize proximity journalism and the role reportage plays as a journalistic practice that involves direct contact with the field. The study collected responses from 111 Portuguese journalists working in television, radio, print, and online media, across different media outlets, regardless of their hierarchical position or contractual status. The research shows that although proximity is considered transversal across all levels of journalism (local, regional, or national), current production routines primarily favor news production. This trend is driven by a strong dependence on the political and institutional agenda, neglecting reportage, which requires going into the field and establishing direct contact with local communities and, consequently, with alternative and non-official or non-institutional sources. Among the main reasons identified by journalists are a lack of time, a scarcity of human and financial resources, an overload of tasks in newsrooms, and poor editorial decisions by newsroom leadership. The study concludes that this dependence on fast production routines and institutional sources may compromise journalism’s ability to maintain close relationships with communities and to produce more in-depth, contextualized narratives, thereby gradually losing proximity to local communities and citizens.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020095

Authors: Ekaterina Veselinovna Teneva

The 2021–2024 global energy crisis intensified the energy transition, with mainstream media coverage playing a pivotal role in shaping public perceptions. Guided by Burke’s and Lippmann’s theories, and supported by corpus-based critical and rhetorical discourse analyses, this interdisciplinary study aimed to analyze the role of lexical patterns and rhetorical strategies in framing the transition within a corpus of 1341 news articles retrieved from the websites of five English-language mainstream media outlets. Corpus-based analysis identified generic frames, including economic consequences, responsibility, conflict, technological, emotion, and moral duty frames. Rhetorical discourse analysis revealed specific frames, including economic opportunities, technological progress and challenges, energy security and independence, global leadership, energy partnerships, partisan divide, global disparities, corporate greenwashing, necessity, hope, and uncertainty frames, that indicated an ambivalence in the framing of the transition, thereby contributing to the polarization and manipulation of public opinion. The findings indicated a discrepancy: while British, American, and Brazilian media focused more on political divides, Indian and Chinese media emphasized energy partnerships and patriotism. Appeals to experts were less frequent, whereas appeals to emotions were often employed to shape public perceptions. The findings illustrate how lexical patterns and rhetorical strategies function as powerful framing tools within journalism, applied linguistics, and media rhetoric.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020094

Authors: Ehsan Jozaghi

The contemporary media landscape has sustained a substantial transformation with the rise of AI-driven algorithmic platforms that enable activist organizations to produce and disseminate their own forms of political communication and campaigns. This study examines the YouTube channel of Code Pink, a prominent U.S.-based anti-war and social justice organization, to explore how activist media practices intersect with contemporary forms of journalism. Over a one-month period, video transcripts from the organization’s YouTube channel were analyzed using NVivo 15, employing a hybrid qualitative approach that combined inductive and deductive coding. Deductive codes were informed by sustained observation of the channel over one year (short and long videos on YouTube, TikTok, and X), supplemented by engagement with relevant news coverage, while inductive coding followed grounded theory principles, allowing themes to emerge directly from the transcripts. Large Language Models (LLMs) were employed as exploratory analytic tools to support AI-assisted qualitative analysis, complementing manual coding processes. The analysis focuses on how Code Pink frames political events and U.S. foreign policy through confrontational interviews, protest documentation, and the dissemination of commentary to online audiences. Findings suggest that the organization’s video content operates simultaneously as political activism, protest performance, and quasi-journalistic reporting. Activists frequently adopt journalistic techniques—including interviewing political figures, providing on-the-ground commentary, and framing narratives around public accountability—while also advancing explicit ideological positions that challenge dominant media narratives. The study highlights how platform-based activist media blurs the boundaries between journalism, advocacy, and political performance, contributing to the construction of alternative public narratives in the digital age.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020093

Authors: Norbert Merkovity

Attention has become a central resource of contemporary political communication, yet existing accounts do not fully explain how visibility acquires social credibility and political force under platformised conditions. This article addresses that problem through the ritual model of communication and media rituals. It develops a theory-building framework linking attention, recognition, legitimacy, and participation within a platformised ritual circuit. Methodologically, it proceeds through conceptual synthesis and illustrative analytical reconstruction rather than causal testing. It reconstructs three public episode types centred on witnessing, conflict, and commemoration, using public artefacts, trace-based evidence, platform affordances, and reporting. The analysis argues that attention-based politics is a ritualised struggle over socially recognised salience. Visibility becomes politically consequential when publicly ratified through legible participation and when recognition traces are narrativised as claims to legitimacy. The article proposes a provisional comparative vocabulary for distinguishing dominant configurations of online political media rituals across concentrated witnessing, cyclical antagonism, and prolonged commemorative alignment. It concludes that platforms do not simply amplify visibility or host participation. They organise the recurring social forms through which visibility becomes usable in legitimacy claims.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020092

Authors: Rulli Nasrullah Amin Shabana Muh. Yahya Saraka Topikurohman Topikurohman Jamaluddin Djunaid Jumroni Sulaeman

This study explores how audience-persona-driven approaches enhance the understanding of humanitarian disaster reporting, using Narasi’s coverage of the Aceh floods as a focal case. By examining how humanitarian narratives are constructed and interpreted across digital platforms, the analysis highlights the ways audiences engage emotionally, critically, and civically with crisis reporting. Audience personas—such as helpers, skeptics, and critical citizens—offer a lens for identifying distinct patterns of empathy, solidarity, moral judgment, and demands for accountability. These personas reveal not only how viewers respond to journalistic framing but also how they co-construct meaning through comments, affective expressions, and collective critique. This study demonstrates that Narasi’s reporting activates humanitarian values and fosters participatory public engagement, showing the potential of persona-based analysis to illuminate the complex interplay between narrative framing, paratextual cues, and audience interpretation. Ultimately, this approach underscores the value of integrating audience-centered perspectives into contemporary humanitarian communication research.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020091

Authors: Lourdes Moreno Cazalla Luis Miguel Pedrero Esteban Mario Alcudia Borreguero Manuel de la Chica Duarte

This article analyses how Spanish newspapers and news agencies are embracing audio journalism and to what extent podcasts are establishing themselves as a tool for narrative, strategic, and commercial innovation. Based on the original production of 138 titles released by 15 news organizations, a mixed design (documentary collection, systematic listening and a 25-variable matrix on production, content, and distribution) is applied to describe formats, genres, themes and launch models, as well as the weight of co-productions and audio–video hybridisation. The results show, on the one hand, a clear expansion of informative podcasts, in the form of dailies, narrative series and conversational spaces, as well as a dominant focus on current affairs content; and, on the other hand, an asymmetrical development between groups, with Vocento’s audio division standing out in contrast to publications that barely exploit the expressive resources of the audio medium. It is concluded that podcasts are establishing themselves as vectors of transformation for the daily press by reinforcing editorial identity, diversifying offerings, and opening avenues for monetisation, but there is uneven experimentation with the potential of podcasts to deeply renew the ways of narrating and relating to audiences.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020090

Authors: Saskia Prinzler Sven Stollfuß Ann-Kathrin Böttke

This study examines how user-generated content (UGC) is incorporated and negotiated within platformized public service media (PSM) journalism, using the German content network funk as a case study. Based on a qualitative content analysis of selected formats and their social media posts, the study shows that participatory affordances offered by social media platforms (SMPs) are present but rarely foregrounded as central elements of storytelling. Instead, UGC is typically used as illustrative material or selectively embedded within editorial narratives. The analysis investigates how UGC is solicited, incorporated, and visually integrated into editorial storytelling across different formats. The findings identify three recurring patterns of UGC integration that illustrate how audience participation is negotiated within everyday editorial production: (1) illustrative UGC integration, (2) community-oriented UGC integration, and (3) minimalist UGC integration. Overall, the study highlights how platformized PSM journalism integrates UGC in ways that remain strongly editorially moderated rather than fully participatory, demonstrating how participation is enabled, constrained, and strategically applied within platform infrastructures.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020089

Authors: João Pedro Baptista Francisco Conrado Pedro Costa Rodrigues

Fact-checking appeared as one of the responses to disinformation, establishing itself inside the journalism profession as another of its ethos. However, its social relevance relies on public perception and engagement. Despite growing evidence of approval, low familiarity and limited active use of fact-checking news remain common patterns, particularly among younger audiences. This study examines familiarity, contact, and attitudes toward fact-checking in a convenience sample of Portuguese university students, exploring associations with news consumption habits, political interest, skepticism, and ideological orientation through an online survey, with 356 university students, across different scientific areas. Results indicate that students show favorable attitudes toward fact-checking (M = 3.70) and recognize its social value but report moderate-to-low familiarity with its practices (M = 2.85), infrequent access (M = 2.37), and minimal sharing behavior (M = 1.82). Interest in reading fact-checking content emerged as the strongest predictor of positive attitudes (β = 0.506), outperforming familiarity and access frequency. Lower skepticism was associated with more favorable attitudes and showed no significant relationship with political orientation. Those more conservative displayed slightly less favorable attitudes. Our findings suggest that the primary challenge for fact-checking is not normative acceptance, but motivational engagement since favorable dispositions do not automatically translate into active consumption or sharing within everyday routines.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020088

Authors: María del Mar Rodríguez-González Yazmina Vargas-Veleda Iñigo Marauri-Castillo

Fatphobia, or the stigmatization of fat bodies, is increasingly prevalent in our society and is manifested in many ways, leading to serious consequences for those who suffer its effects. This study aims to enhance the understanding of the extent of media coverage regarding this issue, as well as the approach taken in its coverage. To this end, all the information containing the term fatphobia, which was published in six leading Spanish-language newspapers, (n = 309) was analyzed to pinpoint the moment when fatphobia appeared on the media agenda, as well as the specific features of its coverage. Using a multidisciplinary methodology including content analysis, framing theory, and a gender perspective, the following digital media outlets were analyzed: eluniversal.com.mx (Mexico), eltiempo.com (Colombia), clarin.com.ar (Argentina), elcomercio.com.pe (Peru), elmercurio.com (Chile), and elpaís.com (Spain). The findings reflect an inconsistent media portrayal, and the coverage was generally found to be superficial, which indicates the need for a more committed approach to the social acceptance of all bodies and to the struggle against aesthetic discrimination suffered by women with non-normative bodies.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020087

Authors: Ernesto García-Ojeda Marta Saavedra

Disinformation has become one of the main contemporary social and political concerns. However, both public and academic debates continue to exhibit an epistemological confusion between disinformation—characterized by a deliberate intention to deceive—and the errors or deficiencies arising from journalistic practice. The aim of this study is to conceptually define these errors under the phenomenon of poor journalism and to propose a taxonomy that allows it to be examined as distinct from disinformation. To this end, a qualitative integrative systematic review was conducted, based on the inductive analysis of peer-reviewed academic publications in Spanish and English, indexed in Scopus, Web of Science, and EBSCO Host. The analysis identifies two main analytical dimensions: deficient practices and structural causes. The findings show that poor journalism does not stem from a deliberate intention to deceive, but rather from structural factors, commercial logics, and corporate interests within the media ecosystem. This phenomenon is intensified by a circular logic in which the same causes that generate it also reinforce it. This study helps to clarify a relevant conceptual gap by offering a definition and a taxonomy that may be used in future research and media literacy initiatives.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020086

Authors: Lilian Suter Hans Knobloch Pascal Streule Caroline Feder Svenja Deda-Bröchin Nico Lypitkas Gregor Waller

Systematic frameworks for describing podcast design remain scarce. Previous research on listening motives often treats podcasts as a monolithic category or focuses on specific genres, leaving open how motives vary across different design types. This dual-perspective investigation examines two questions: Which primary design types characterize German-language podcasts, and how are listening motives related to these design types? Using a multi-method qualitative approach, 30 podcasts were analyzed through iterative listening and 16 expert interviews to develop a typology of design. Additionally, 29 semi-structured listener interviews were examined via qualitative content analysis to identify usage motives and their associations with design types. The analysis identified three podcast design types—story, talk, and factual (STF)—each characterized by distinct structural and aesthetic features. The analysis further suggested that factual design types were primarily associated with cognitive motives, talk design types with social motives, and story design types with affective motives. The resulting STF model is a relevant framework for both academic research and practical applications in podcast production. The results further suggest that usage motives may be linked to these design types and thus indicates how podcast form and audience needs and gratifications may be interdependent.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020085

Authors: Uriel Oliveira

This study assesses the elasticity between integrated media performance and corporate reputation by examining the relationship between Media Output Score (MOS) and RepScore™ in the Portuguese telecommunications sector (Altice/MEO, NOS, and Vodafone) between 2021 and 2023. Adopting a longitudinal observational design, the analysis compares inter-annual variation in communication output with corresponding changes in stakeholder-based reputation. Media performance is operationalized through MOS as a composite indicator of visibility, favorability, readership, targeting, and social amplification, while corporate reputation is measured using third-party RepScore™ data. The findings indicate directional alignment between media output and corporate reputation; however, the magnitude of reputational adjustment appears substantially lower than the amplitude of media volatility. Across heterogeneous crisis contexts, including cybersecurity incidents and governance-related events, reputational scores exhibit incremental and comparatively stable evolution despite pronounced fluctuations in media performance. These results suggest that the relationship between media output and corporate reputation is characterized by constrained responsiveness at the annual level, consistent with a stock–flow interpretation in which communication signals operate as high-variance flows and reputation evolves as a path-dependent stock. By empirically illustrating this asymmetry, the study contributes to media influence research by identifying a structural boundary condition in the translation of media exposure into stakeholder evaluation. The findings further clarify the analytical distinction between output-level communication metrics and outcome-level reputational constructs in digital media environments.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020084

Authors: María Alcalá-Santaella Roberto Gelado Marcos Fernando Bonete Vizcaíno

This research focuses on the perception that Spanish investigative journalists have of disinformation, exploring its impact on their professional routines. It also assesses the methods deployed by these professionals to mitigate its spread. To this end, a quantitative methodology based on the survey technique was used, and a structured interview comprising 18 questions was designed. This interview combined 7 closed questions with a five-point Likert-type scale structure and 11 open-ended questions to ascertain the perceptions of respondents more accurately. The survey involved 28 journalists from the Association of Investigative Journalists (API, its Spanish acronym) and various relevant media outlets. The results underline the rigor and independence required in investigative journalism to combat disinformation while drawing attention to the need to train and adapt the practice of journalism through new formats. The tension between the potential of technology and uneasiness about its reliability—an ambivalence that is on the rise with the emergence of AI—is also emphasized alongside the importance of ethics and transparency to restore the credibility of the media.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020083

Authors: Gideon Uchechukwu Nwafor Nelson Obinna Omenugha Sandra Ekene Aghaebe Blessing Ajirioghene Omoevah

This study examined how perceived social media affordances, self-presentation, and online engagement collectively shape experiences of social validation among Nigerian youths within an integrated framework that combines Affordance theory, Goffman’s Dramaturgical perspectives, and Uses and Gratifications. Using a quantitative survey of 480 active social media users across platforms (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X), data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, regression, and regression-based sequential mediation modelling. Our findings indicate that perceived social media affordances significantly predict self-presentation behaviours (β = 0.79, p < 0.001), self-presentation significantly predicts online engagement (β = 0.43, p < 0.001); and online engagement predicts perceived social validation (β = 051, p < 0.001). Our findings also reveal that self-presentation and online engagement jointly and sequentially mediate the relationship between perceived affordances and perceived social media validation, with a significant indirect effect (β = 0.13, 95% CI [0.09, 0.19]) and a non-significant direct path from affordances to validation. Within a connectivity-constrained environment of Nigerian youths, our findings support a process-based understanding of digital interaction, showing how technological affordances are translated into social outcomes via structured, theoretically grounded user practices. Apart from validation emerging as a salient gratification, the study noted other motivational cues (sociability, identity expression, and information seeking) behind youth engagement with social media, suggesting that validation is just one of many reasons underlying youth social media use. The study contributes to Global Majority Media scholarship by providing a theoretically integrated process-based framework and a mechanism-oriented narrative of social media use in a non-Western setting.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020082

Authors: Hyeyun Jung

The integration of AI into journalism has intensified debates about the future of news production, yet existing scholarship has focused predominantly on AI’s capabilities rather than on irreplaceable human competencies. This study shifts analytical focus from replacement to complementarity, investigating the boundaries of AI through the perspectives of both journalists and AI developers. Ten participants—including field reporters, news anchors, broadcast journalists, and AI developers—were interviewed through in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis revealed three core dimensions of irreplaceable human competency: embodied presence and rapport-building, contextual judgment and meaning-making, and investigative initiative requiring moral agency. Practitioners and developers converged on AI’s persistent limitations in factual reliability, emotional authenticity, and ethical accountability. Based on these findings, a three-tier human–AI collaborative model is proposed, allocating computational tasks to AI while preserving human authority over editorial judgment, source relationships, and ethical decisions. These findings contribute to human–machine communication theory, extend algorithmic journalism literature beyond capability assessments, and offer practical implications for newsroom workflow design, journalism education, and AI governance. Findings are situated within the Korean media context and should be interpreted accordingly, with implications that may extend to other broadcasting-oriented journalism cultures.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020081

Authors: Najm A. Kh. Alhatimi Aleessawi Rahima Aissani Jumana Mohammad Ali Moh’d Rsheidat Mohammed Habes

This study examines the differences in communication preferences and media consumption among three major age groups: Generations X, Y, and Z. It focuses on how each generation receives and interacts with media content. The research aims to identify the most frequently used media for each generation, their content consumption patterns, and their preferred communication methods. It also explores the influence of social and technological factors on shaping these preferences. The study employed a qualitative approach, utilizing focus groups as the data collection tool. The sample comprised three groups representing the three generations, each consisting of eight participants. The results indicate clear generational differences in media preferences. Generation X prefers to rely more heavily on online news sites for information, while Generation Y tends to use social media alongside websites. Generation Z relies primarily on social media, followed by websites, and then traditional media. Regarding content, all three generations share an interest in political issues. However, their priorities in other topics differ. Generation X focuses on social and cultural issues, while Generation Y is interested in cultural and sports content, and Generation Z prefers sports and entertainment content. The results also reveal differences in preferred communication methods, with text messaging remaining a common medium across generations, while Generation Z increasingly relies on voice messages and video calls. These findings help to clarify generational differences in media consumption within the contemporary digital environment.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020080

Authors: António Cardoso Jorge Figueiredo Isabel Oliveira Amândio Silva Manuel Sousa Pereira

Digital media have reshaped electoral communication, yet official campaign websites, owned and strategically controlled media spaces, remain underexamined within hybrid media systems. This study investigates how these websites function in Portugal’s 2026 presidential election, focusing on the tension between participatory affordances and strategic control. A qualitative-dominant comparative content analysis of all eleven candidate websites is conducted using an integrated multi-model framework combining interactivity, web campaigning, functional analysis, digital sophistication, and political framing. The findings reveal a stratified digital landscape in which most websites operate as unidirectional communication hubs prioritizing narrative coherence and mobilization over deliberative interaction. Rather than functioning as democratic equalizers, campaign websites reproduce and amplify pre-existing strategic and organizational asymmetries. A key contribution of the study is the identification of a systematic association between the strength of campaign framing and the level of digital infrastructural investment. The study contributes by conceptualizing campaign websites as central media infrastructures and by reframing digital campaigning as a strategy-driven, rather than technology-driven, process.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020079

Authors: Tal Laor

Traditional journalists now utilize social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok to disseminate information. With the emergence of TikTok as a prominent social network for entertainment and information, many journalists worldwide, including in Israel, have begun leveraging it to create and share short video content. This study presents a qualitative case study of journalists operating within the Israeli media system, examining why and how journalists use TikTok, the professional challenges they face on the platform, and how they address these challenges. Specifically, it focuses on how journalists perceive TikTok as a journalistic space and their professional role within it. Focusing on the Israeli context, which is both digitally advanced and characterized by a democratic and pluralistic media environment, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 15 prominent journalists from traditional Israeli media outlets who are extensively active and considered at least micro-influencers on TikTok. The findings reveal several key themes regarding journalists’ use of TikTok. These include the platform’s role as a tool for reaching younger audiences and maintaining relevance; and the journalists’ self-perception as gatekeepers combating fake news. However it was found that they face ethical dilemmas and an absence of the structural and ethical foundations necessary for serious investigative journalism. This is the result of adapting their work to the platform’s light, fast-paced, and visually engaging format, favoring content that is entertaining and often sensational, to meet the expectations of TikTok audiences. While grounded in the Israeli case, the findings contribute to broader discussions on the platformization of journalism and the transformation of professional norms in media environments.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020078

Authors: Gifty Appiah-Adjei

Negativity as a news value in journalism often implies direct or indirect exposure of journalists to traumatic events in the course of their duties. Hence, the need for resiliency and protection of journalists through organisational support has been advanced in the literature, especially by Global North scholars. However, there seems to be a dearth of such studies within the African context, especially in Ghana. Therefore, this study employs a qualitative approach and case study design to gather data through a focus group discussion with purposively selected officials and interviews with two former journalists with traumatic experience from Multimedia Group Limited to investigate how institutional response to traumatic experience enhances or undermines the psychological well-being of journalists. Data gathered were thematically analysed through the lens of the organisational support theory. Findings reveal that the company is yet to have an institutionalised mental well-being policy. However, it depends on discretion and the severity of traumatic experience to offer support to the journalists before, during and after coverage of traumatic events in an ad hoc manner. The discretionary basis for the support gives room for unhealthy comparisons and subjective interpretations of support given to journalists with traumatic experiences by the company.

Journalism and Media doi: 10.3390/journalmedia7020077

Authors: Anthea Garman Nonhlanhla Ndlovu

The articles gathered in this Special Issue emerge from a collaborative inquiry over a period of seven years into one of the defining questions of our time: what does it mean to be social, to belong, and to seek recognition in an age of pervasive digital connectivity [...]