Journalism Studies

Journalism Studies is an interdisciplinary field examining the production, content and reception of news and the role of journalistic institutions in society. It investigates core professional values—such as objectivity, independence and public service—and how these ideals are shaped by technological change, commercial pressures and political contexts. Research spans the traditional newsroom and extends to digital platforms, exploring topics from source relations and editorial routines to audience engagement, media effects and trust dynamics. Central concerns include the transformation of journalistic roles in an era of social media, the emergence of user-generated content, and the implications of algorithmic curation for information diversity and democratic discourse. The field combines quantitative surveys, qualitative interviews and computational methods to map variations in practice across different national systems, offering insights into the interconnections between media structures, professional cultures and public expectations.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Deepfakes and scientific knowledge dissemination: A nationally representative survey of scientists, educators and the general public finds that 27–50 percent of respondents cannot distinguish authentic scientific videos from deepfakes. Vulnerability increases with age, general trust in information sources and exposure to manipulated content, with educators exhibiting higher misclassification rates than students. The findings underscore the need for context-sensitive media-literacy interventions to bolster resilience against audiovisual misinformation.

“That’s just, like, your opinion” – European citizens’ ability to distinguish factual information from opinion: An original survey of ten European Union countries probed respondents’ capacity to categorise six statements about the EU as fact or opinion. Results reveal widespread difficulty in accurately identifying both types of statements. Accuracy varies with pre-existing beliefs, news-consumption patterns and sociodemographic factors, highlighting the importance of clarifying the distinction between reporting and commentary in both traditional and online outlets.

Research from all publishers

Audience views on professional norms of journalism: A study in Flanders applies a news-repertoire approach to explore how distinct patterns of source usage—spanning social, broadcast and digital media—shape evaluations of journalistic adherence to established norms such as neutrality, fairness and transparency. Findings show significant differences in normative assessments across repertoire typologies, suggesting that habitual consumption strategies influence perceptions of media credibility and integrity.

Great expectations? A taxonomy for expectancy research in journalism studies: This conceptual contribution develops seven criteria—dimension, dimensionality, perspective, object, order of expectation, level of analysis and mode—to classify audience expectations of journalistic performance. By distinguishing between prescriptive, probabilistic and valuative modes at micro, meso and macro analytical levels, the framework offers a systematic tool for future empirical research into what citizens expect from news media.

The link between changing news use and trust: Longitudinal survey data from 2015 to 2023 across 46 countries reveal a modest overall decline in trust in news. Sharper falls occur in media systems where television-centred consumption has given way to social media feeds. The study underscores how shifts in habitual news use can erode established credibility norms, suggesting new avenues for strategies to rebuild audience confidence.

Journalism Studies publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in journalism studies across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Deepfake: Synthetic audio-visual content generated by machine-learning models that convincingly impersonates real individuals or events.

Professional norm: A standard or guideline endorsed by the journalistic community to ensure accuracy, impartiality and accountability in reporting.

Media repertoire: The set of media sources and platforms an individual routinely consults for news and information.

Expectation taxonomy: A structured classification of audience anticipations of journalism, organised by content dimension, stakeholder perspective, analytical level and normative mode.

Factual statement: An assertion that can be verified by evidence, contrasted with an opinion that reflects personal beliefs or judgements.

References

1. Deepfakes and scientific knowledge dissemination. Scientific Reports (2023).
2. “That’s just, like, your opinion” – European citizens’ ability to distinguish factual information from opinion. Communications (2024).
3. Audience Views on Professional Norms of Journalism. A Media Repertoire Approach. Journalism and Media (2021).
4. Great expectations? A taxonomy for expectancy research in journalism studies. Journalism (2023).
5. The link between changing news use and trust: longitudinal analysis of 46 countries. Journal of Communication (2024).