Journalistic work in cultures of protest: A transnational review

Mutibwa, Daniel H.

Abstract

Across its history, journalistic work in cultures of protest – by which I mean a sphere of meaning making operating outside dominant media and cultural production contexts – has been associated with a primarily socio-political function. This function foregrounds putting the needs of democratic communication and practice over and above professional journalistic considerations and commercial logic. Such work, and associated counter-discourses, have been said to be motivated by the inability and/or unwillingness of established public-service and commercial media to provide a full range of news, information and programming that caters to the needs, wants and interests of a multiplicity of communities and groups in heterogeneous societies (Atton, 2002; Downing, 1984; Harcup, 2003). Although adherence to the socio-political function is clearly still discernible today, evolving economic, cultural, institutional and regulatory circumstances over time have gradually transformed the organisation and practice of journalistic work in protest cultures. This transformation has been as enriching as it has been destabilising. This chapter reviews key developments in a transnational context.

Citation

Mutibwa, D. H. (2022). Journalistic work in cultures of protest: A transnational review. In J. Morrison, J. Birks, & M. Berry (Eds.), The Routledge Companion to Political Journalism (363—372). Routledge

• Online Publication Date: Oct 19, 2021
• Publication Date: Jan 5, 2022
• Deposit Date: Feb 15, 2025
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 363—372
• Book Title: The Routledge Companion to Political Journalism
• Chapter Number: 34
• ISBN: 9780367248222
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/45402980
• Publisher URL: https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Companion-to-Political-Journalism/Morrison-Birks-Berry/p/book/9781032080451?srsltid=AfmBOopBwkejvTqEL5g38LxVohPLDz5ja8vLEaldFaRbQ8kic5oi7sQk
• Other Repo URL: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429284571-34/journalistic-work-cultures-protest-transnational-review-daniel-mutibwa