Seeing the Whole Picture. Towards a Multi-perspective Approach to News Content Diversity based on Liberal and Deliberative Models of Democracy

  • By providing diverse news content, news media are key for a well- functioning public sphere. However, agreement on how to measure news content diversity is lacking. Research often refers to democratic theory as normative reference point, but different models of democracy understand news content diversity differently. Our study makes a unique, innovative contribution to this field: (1) We develop a methodological framework for measuring news content diversity, that is a set of comprehensive measuring instruments that derive different operationalizations of topic and actor diversity each from liberal and deliberative democratic theories. (2) Considering that a good public discourse requires more than diversity, we analyze news content diversity in the context of four other journalistic standards: neutrality, rationality, discursivity, and civility. (3) We prove the applicability of our measuring instruments by means of a standardized content analysis of six German news media as a case study.By providing diverse news content, news media are key for a well- functioning public sphere. However, agreement on how to measure news content diversity is lacking. Research often refers to democratic theory as normative reference point, but different models of democracy understand news content diversity differently. Our study makes a unique, innovative contribution to this field: (1) We develop a methodological framework for measuring news content diversity, that is a set of comprehensive measuring instruments that derive different operationalizations of topic and actor diversity each from liberal and deliberative democratic theories. (2) Considering that a good public discourse requires more than diversity, we analyze news content diversity in the context of four other journalistic standards: neutrality, rationality, discursivity, and civility. (3) We prove the applicability of our measuring instruments by means of a standardized content analysis of six German news media as a case study. The different quality profiles of these outlets our analysis reveals are explained by their different functions in the media system. Our study shows how important a multi-perspectival normative approach to news content diversity is, both empirically and theoretically. Future studies on news content diversity should make their normative foundations transparent and derive their indicators purposefully therefrom.show moreshow less

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Author:Melanie MaginORCiD, Birgit StarkORCiD, Olaf JanduraORCiD, Linards UdrisORCiD, Andreas RiedlORCiD, Miriam KleinORCiD, Mark EiseneggerORCiD, Raphael Kösters, Brigitte Hofstetter FurrerORCiD
Qualitätssicherung:peer reviewed
open access:Hybrid - Subskriptionszeitschrift
Fachbereich/Einrichtung:Hochschule Düsseldorf / Fachbereich - Wirtschaftswissenschaften
Document Type:Article
Year of Completion:2023
Language of Publication:English
Publisher:Taylor & Francis
Parent Title (English):Journalism Studies
Volume:24
Issue:5
Page Number:28
First Page:669
Last Page:696
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2023.2178248
ISSN:1461-670X
Tag:democratic theory; journalistic quality; journalistic standards; media performance; news content diversity; standardized content analysis
GND Keyword:Demokratie; Massenmedien; Inhaltsanalyse; Journalismus
Licence (German):Creative Commons - CC BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International
Release Date:2024/10/23
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