Conference probes media trends like PJ, constructive journalism
(THESSALONIKI, GREECE)--Worldwide, the challenges faced by media are similar. The latest research on these challenges, and how they can be overcome by media, were at the top of the agenda at the Global Media and Culture conference today.

Prof. Panagiotou at Media Conference

Prof. Nikos Panagiotou of Aristotle University, the sponsor of the conference, laid a foundation for the days’ discussion. Among the insightful statistics he cited: On average, consumers spend 8 hours and 10 minutes daily on digital media; and social media consumption rose 61% between 2012 and 2020. He also laid out challenges for the media, including news avoidance by audiences (53% avoid news altogether or turn the channel when news comes on) and negativity bias in news reporting. Dr. Panagiotou finished by discussing antidotes to what ails media, including collecting better audience data and changing media delivery models. These improved methods, of course, could include peace journalism.

I presented research I conducted on peace journalism content in Russia-Ukraine war reporting. I analyzed the words used in thousands of stories, looking for usage that would indicate either PJ or its opposite, traditional journalism.  I found that traditional war language (missile, attack, killing) outnumbered PJ/peace language (reconciliation, treaty, negotiation) by 5 to 1. (For more details on the study, see my previous blog).  

Other conference presentations included:

--Prof. Christoph Schmidt, who enlightened the attendees about constructive journalism, which he defined as “yes we can journalism” that includes elements that empower audiences. He discussed his survey of international media leaders on CJ, who indicated their preference for CJ-style stories that present information of “high importance” to society. These practices, according to those surveyed, makes CJ media more sustainable than traditional media.

--Profs. Cheng Chen Ching and George Athanasopoulos, who discussed their study about how well university students in 4 countries understand fake news. The takeaway: students everywhere lack an operational definition of fake news, leading to a wide divergence of often poorly informed opinions. Especially interesting were statements made by Chinese students during the study’s focus groups. These statements include:
“There is no fake news. If you believe it, it’s true.”
“Propaganda is actual, factual news.”
“Russia must have had a justified reason to start the war.”

--Evlambia Angelou, who presented about translation in journalism and its important role in building meanings for audiences.

--Ionnia Georgia Eskiadi gave data about the movement from social media to immersive media (social gaming, virtual worlds, etc.), especially among young people. She said this has strong implications for new providers, although traditional media have largely failed to make a large impact yet in this area. (The NY Times has dabbled in virtual reality, Eskiadi noted).

Conference attendees included students, academics, and journalists from South Korea, Kosovo, China, the Netherlands, U.S., Canada, Serbia, and Greece.

Click here for the full conference program.