Ingela Wadbring, Dep. of Information, Technology and Media, Mid Sweden Unversity

2008

Aim of the study and changes in the objective during the project period

The application stated that the purpose of the study was to analyse whether a relationship exists between journalistic content and an increased commercialisation of media companies. The purpose has changed along the way, as I discovered that it was impossible to make a causal analysis of the kind outlined in the application.

The empirical aim of the study is instead to analyse if and how journalism has changed over time in a commercial way. Journalism refers here to the daily press, and the period covered is 1960-2010. However, in the main publication an extensive empirical description is also made of the other parts contained in the application, particularly market changes as well as a journalist's view on commercialisation. Additionally, discussion of causality is to be found, but causal results cannot be stated.

The title of the application was "Commercialisation - threat or opportunity for journalism?", while the final report is entitled "Journalism commercialisation - more myth than truth? Changes in newspaper content 1960-2010." The change of title well illustrates the change in aim of the study.

The three main findings in the project

The two main empirical results are, first, the professionalisation of journalism that occurred between 1960 and 1980 and, second, the relatively small change in journalism in a commercial direction since then. The main theoretical result is that the concept of commercialisation - with its synonyms - are problematic, and that an alternative interpretive framework other than commercialisation is necessary to use when analysing the results.

Professionalisation of journalism between 1960 and 1980:
The first main empirical finding is that journalism was professionalised between 1960 and 1980, in the sense that most indicators used to measure the commercialisation of the press was more apparent in 1960 than in 1980 and later on. In summary, the newspapers have become local in their coverage, but more importantly the degree of soft news from the private sphere has decreased, not increased.

Almost no change in journalism in a commercial direction after 1980:
The second main empirical result is that from 1980 there was almost no clear-cut change in journalism until 2010. The only obvious change is that the images have become numerous. However, this has probably more to do with changes in printing technology than an increased degree of commercialisation. Otherwise, the content development is either relatively stable or has developed differently for the various newspapers in the study. The local news dominates, the overall topics develop differently in the investigated papers, most articles are very neutral in tone and it is not possible to talk about an increased degree of personalisation/ privatisation.

Commercialisation as a concept
The literature review undertaken in this project is extensive. Alongside the debate in the media industry, it is relatively easy to use the literature review to develop a number of criteria about what commercialisation and similar concepts might look like in journalism (although this does not mean that all aspects of commercialisation are covered). As very few of these criteria can be verified, the point of departure can be criticised. The commercialisation of the daily press appears to be more myth than truth. This requires an alternative interpretative framework, and in the project institutional theory has been outlined as such a framework.

New research questions that have emerged in the project

Both new and reinvented research questions have appeared in the project. The first issue is the need to undertake empirical longitudinal studies in order not to assume that a commercialisation of the content occurred just because the world changed. Such an assumption is neither reasonable nor valid. The longitudinal studies need to focus on the media market as a whole.

Another research question concerns the importance of distinguishing between the commercialisation and professionalisation of media companies. Discussion about increasing profit demands and payouts in firms finds no support in available empirical research, and the question is whether we are seeing a professionalisation of the companies rather than a commercialisation. How these two phenomena, commercialisation and professionalisation, are connected is an interesting question.

A third research question is also about the two concepts of commercialisation and professionalisation. It is unreasonable to analyse commercial journalism in the negative sense that is actually done today. It needs to be discussed also in terms of professionalisation of journalism. Qualitatively, we have probably never had better journalism than today, but the debate both in research and media industry states the opposite.

The most important publications of the project

The two most important publications are a book in Swedish that summarises the entire project, and one chapter (peer review) in an English book, which discusses and problematises the theoretical perspectives.

The Swedish book was published by the Institute for Media Studies, Sim(o), in September 2012, and entitled "Journalism commercialisation - more myth than truth? Changes in newspaper content 1960-2010" (in Swedish). This book is a comprehensive problematisation and discussion of how commercialisation can be analysed at different levels: society as a whole, the media system, the media organisations, the journalists and the actual journalistic content - and the problem of causal linking these levels. The empirical results from the study of journalism content are of course also presented in detail (see above).

The book chapter is entitled "Levels of Commercialisation" and will be published in an anthology edited by Denis McQuail & Robin Mansell: "Media Structures and Media Performances". The book will be published during 2012. The chapter discusses and problematises three aspects: commercialisation and related concepts, research about commercialisation at various levels and the (lack of) causality between different levels.

Further presentation of the results

I have presented preliminary results from the study in both the research community and the media industry. Two book chapters in Swedish have also been published; one focuses on the journalists' views on commercialisation and the other explores public perception of commercialisation and other attitudes towards the media. I also intend to publish more material from the study later on.

Presentations at international research conferences:
o "What's New under the Sun? Commercialised News from 1960 to 2000" presented at the 9th Annual International Conference on Communication and Mass Media, 16-19 May 2011, in Athens, Greece.
o "The journalist's view on commercialisation" presented at the IAMCR Congress, July 18-22, 2010, in Braga, Portugal.

Swedish Research Seminars:
o Higher public seminar at Media and Communication Studies at Musikhögskolan in Piteå, May 2012.

Media Industry Conferences:
o Politikerveckan in Almedalen, juli 2012 in Visby. Organiser: Medieföretagen/Almega.
o Nordiska museet, May 2012 in Stockholm. Organizer: Institutet för mediestudier.
o Mediedagarna, March 2012 in Göteborg. Organiser: Framtidens medietider.
o Pressens Hus in Köpenhamn 2007. Organiser: Danske Dagblades Forening.

Book chapters in Swedish:

"Journalistkåren och kommersialiseringen" /The Journalist's View on Commercialisation/ in Asp, Kent (ed.) "Den svenska journalistkåren"/Swedish Journalists/ Gothenburg: Department of Journalism, Media and Communication, University of Gothenburg, 2007

"Nyheter i våra hjärtan" /News in Our Hearts/, in Holmberg, Sören; Weibull, Lennart & Oscarsson, Henrik (eds.) Lycksalighetens ö /Island of Happiness/ Gothenburg: the SOM Institute, 2011 (together with Annika Bergström).

Further planned publications:

• A paper to be presented at the ICA-conference 2013 (International Communication Association; deadline for full papers November 1, 2012), which later will be rewritten into an article, focusing on the empirical results and the different theoretical approaches that can be used as explanations.
• A Swedish book chapter for students, which discusses different theoretical perspectives to explain the longitudinal development of journalistic content.