In the last few years, a new practice known as semi-investigative reporting has appeared in Slovenian journalism. This article presents a study of the strategies used by reporters to construct an ...image of investigative reporting and of reporters' own interpretations of this practice. A critical discourse analysis of reports of institutional scandals in the Slovenian quality daily press during a four-year period is combined with in-depth interviews with reporters. Textual analysis revealed four strategies used in the majority of reports: factism; extensive citing of authoritative official sources; reliance on faceless (secret) sources; and appealing to common knowledge and common sense. The interviewees justified semi-investigative reporting via the changes in contemporary journalism, the tastes and desires of their readers, and market-driven pressures from editors. Semi-investigative reporters do not uncover failures in society's systems of regulation, but in truth they stabilize relations of power within society. In the long term, this practice is harmful to the readers who are exposed to the agendas and frames of official sources under the veil of investigative reporting, which diminishes the credibility of quality media, which are supposed to make those holding power accountable. Reprinted by permission of Routledge, Taylor & Francis Ltd.
ABSTRACT IN SLOVENE: Pojav spletnega novinarstva je privedel do novih eticnih dilem in zmede glede eticnih standardov. Pojavljajo se dvomi o ustreznosti tradicionalne novinarske etike za spletno ...novinarstvo, saj gre za podrocje, na katerem trcijo stare in nove vrednote. Cilj tega clanka je raziskati eticne dileme spletnih novinarjev in urednikov, strategije resevanja in stalisca o potrebi po prilagoditvi eticnih kodeksov izzivom spletnega okolja. Poglobljeni intervjuji z dvanajstimi novinarji in uredniki treh najbolj branih slovenskih spletnih novicarskih medijev (24ur.com, Siol.net in Rtvslo.si) so pokazali, da imajo intervjuvanci tezave z jasnim in s sistematicnim izrazanjem o eticnih temah. Njihove odlocitve bolj kot na teoretsko utemeljenem presojanju temeljijo na izkusnjah in zdravem razumu. Kljub temu je bilo mogoce razbrati sest kljucnih dilem in razlicne strategije resevanja, stalisca o spreminjanju kodeksov pa so bila raznolika in brez konkretnih predlogov. // ABSTRACT IN ENGLISH: The phenomenon of online journalism has led to new ethical dilemmas and to the confusion regarding the existent ethical standards. Doubts have arisen whether the traditional journalism ethics is appropriate for online journalism, as it represents a field where old and new values clash. The goal of this article is to research online journalists' and editors' ethical dilemmas, strategies of solving them and views on the need to adapt ethical codes to the challenges of online environment. In-depth interviews with 12 journalists and editors at three most-read Slovenian news websites (24ur.com, Siol.net and Rtvsio.si) revealed that the interviewees have problems with clear and systematic expressing about ethical topics. Their decisions are based on experiences and common sense rather than theoretically grounded reasoning. Still it was possible to determine six crucial dilemmas and different strategies of solving them, while the views on changing codes were diverse and without concrete suggestions. Reprinted by permission of European Institute for Communication and Culture
The editor of a prominent newspaper New York Times Bill Keller in 2004 in the column entitled 'The Times and Iraq' critical outlined the practice of real weighted in whose credibility was ...questionable. The editor noted several examples of such reporting. Confidential source, in the title story, initially described as the 'Iraqi scientist', in a subsequent contributions as a 'servant military intelligence' is for example claimed that Iraq into Syria sent unconventional weapons and collaborated with Al Qaeda, said the information was press the paper used as an argument in favor of the US invasion of Iraq, but the New York Times never checked the authenticity of this resource and its claims. Adapted from the source document.
The authors analyse Slovenian journalists' reporting on hate speech and their ethical problems. (Inter)textual analysis of reporting on hate speech expressed during the first reading of the Family ...Law showed that journalists either did not report on the parliament members' hate speech or they included only a few less extreme statements. They avoided evaluation and condemned hate speech mostly through the words of sources. Interviews with the authors of analysed reports revealed that they are afraid of what effects the spreading of hate speech in news items might have, that they have problems at recognising it and deciding which words are appropriate for publication, and that they do not want to comment in news reports. Adapted from the source document.
According to the European Commission's proposed regulation from 2010, European Union member states can also restrict or prohibit the cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in their ...territory on the basis of the socio-economic factors of the impact of GMOs. The paper presents reference approaches to designing and arguing the socio-economic impact of GMOs and reveals significant variation between them. An agreement on a comprehensive, empirically supported and mutually acceptable set of factors that would allow integration into the EU's regulatory framework has not yet been achieved. Slovenia is stepping into the process of designing relevant socioeconomic factors with negative public attitudes to the cultivation of GMOs, related restrictive legislation, and the natural and structural characteristics of agriculture which at the outset restrict the possibility to grow GMOs. In the paper, we propose a set of seven socio-economic factors which reflect specific characteristics of the Slovenian agricultural and social environment, and which could serve as a platform for public debate on this issue. Adapted from the source document.
According to the European Commission’s proposed regulation from 2010, European Union member states can also restrict or prohibit the cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in their ...territory on the basis of the socio-economic factors of the impact of GMOs. The paper presents reference approaches to designing and arguing the socio-economic impact of GMOs and reveals significant variation between them. An agreement on a comprehensive, empirically supported and mutually acceptable set of factors that would allow integration into the EU’s regulatory framework has not yet been achieved. Slovenia is stepping into the process of designing relevant socio-economic factors with negative public attitudes to the cultivation of GMOs, related restrictive legislation, and the natural and structural characteristics of agriculture which at the outset restrict the possibility to grow GMOs. In the paper, we propose a set of seven socio-economic factors which reflect specific characteristics of the Slovenian agricultural and social environment, and which could serve as a platform for public debate on this issue.
The main goal of this article is to research how the protection of journalists' confidential sources is defined in the normative documents of the Council of Europe and the European Union, what is the ...case law of the European Court of Human Rights, and what is the normative regulation of source protection in Slovenia. The authors state that in the European legal arena it is allowed to demand that a journalist reveal a secret source only exceptionally, when there is intense public interest, and they suggest changes in the Slovenian legislation. Analysis of the relevant legal documents and case law is combined with the method of semi-structured interviews with 15 journalists. The interviewees have different views on whether revealing a confidential source is admissible; the prevalent one is that the promise of confidentiality should be respected unless the circumstances are exceptional. Adapted from the source document.
Slovenian journalists have adopted certain strategies to create images of investigative journalism in the (quality) daily press. However, some reports covering institutional scandals may be labelled ...merely semi-investigative. The textual analysis exposed strategies of factism, referring to official and/or anonymous sources, and to common knowledge and common sense. During in-depth interviews, journalists attributed reasons for this practice to the media’s market-driven orientation; they believed that they are forced to persist in a situation which cannot be changed or is even perceived as normal. Thus, instead of playing the role of watchdogs, semi-investigative journalists allow official sources, often hidden behind a veil of anonymity, to build media agendas.
ABSTRACT IN ENGLISH: The study explores the decision-making rationale of news websites' moderators who keep hate speech at the gates by reviewing and selecting users' comments for publication under ...news items. By using document analysis, newsroom observations and interviews, the study indicates a combination of traditional and network gatekeeping at three leading Slovenian news websites. The adopted minimal measures for regulating hate speech at 24ur.com, Siol.net and Rtvslo.si and their various gatekeeping mechanisms call for reconsideration of some central issues in contemporary social communication: the gatekeeping model and technological innovation as well as multivalent roles of news media in public life. // ABSTRACT IN ITALIAN: La ricerca esplora la logica e motivazioni dietro le decisioni di moderatori dei siti di news che tengono discorso incitante all'odio alle porte tramite il selezionamento di commenti da pubblicare nella sezione notizie. Usando analisi di documenti, osservazioni nella redazione, e interviste, la ricerca identifica la combinazione di gatekeeping tradizionale e quello di rete di tre principali siti di news Sloveni. Le minime misure adottate per regolare il discorso incitante all'odio di siti 24ur.com, Siol.net, e Rtvslo.si e i loro meccanismi di gatekeeping invitano alla riconsiderazione di alcuni temi centrali alla comunicazione sociale contemporanea; cioè il modello di gatekeeping e innovazioni tecnologiche, cosi come i vari ruoli di news media nella vita pubblica.
