The BBC’s solutions-focused video stories on Facebook: Practicing the ‘dark arts’ of solutions journalism. Kovačević, P. Ph.D. Thesis, Cardiff University, 2022. ![The BBC’s solutions-focused video stories on Facebook: Practicing the ‘dark arts’ of solutions journalism [link]](https://bibbase.org/img/filetypes/link.svg "link")
Paper abstract bibtex Journalism has been criticized for being too negative, and this is one of the main reasons for active news avoidance and rising levels of distrust among audiences. Among the proposed antidotes are socially responsible journalistic practices that aim to report beyond the problem, such as solutions journalism – a practice that is part of constructive journalism, and which focuses on reporting on solutions to societal problems. Inherent in this practice are two main ideas: to maintain the rigour of journalism ideals, but also to engage the audience and inspire social change and progress. Whether these ideas are implemented in practice, and how they are understood within the context of a particular newsroom, has not been studied until now. This case study of the BBC's practice called solutions-focused journalism focuses on the BBC People Fixing the World team and its solutions-focused video stories that are intended primarily for younger audiences and published on Facebook and the BBC's website. On the one hand, it explores the different understandings of solutions-focused journalism among journalists and editors. On the other hand, it explores if and how these ideas, along with solutions journalism guidelines, are implemented in the solutions-focused video stories and identifies the factors that enforce or compromise this. The findings show that, while journalists and editors care about the ideals and values of journalism, the presentation of solutions is often incomplete because of the tendency to exclude negative information, keep a dominantly positive tone, and simplify the narrative. The main factors that determine the production process are the chase for better audience metrics, the demands of social media platforms, and the audience preferences. This study prompts a necessary debate about the sustainability of solutions journalism’s normative foundation in practice, and the resourcefulness of newsrooms to successfully implement its key ideas in today’s media environment.
@phdthesis{kovacevic_bbcs_2022,
type = {Ph.{D}. {Thesis}},
title = {The {BBC}’s solutions-focused video stories on {Facebook}: {Practicing} the ‘dark arts’ of solutions journalism},
copyright = {cc\_by\_4\_0},
shorttitle = {The {BBC}’s solutions-focused video stories on {Facebook}},
url = {https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/157082/},
abstract = {Journalism has been criticized for being too negative, and this is one of the main
reasons for active news avoidance and rising levels of distrust among audiences.
Among the proposed antidotes are socially responsible journalistic practices that
aim to report beyond the problem, such as solutions journalism – a practice that is
part of constructive journalism, and which focuses on reporting on solutions to
societal problems. Inherent in this practice are two main ideas: to maintain the rigour
of journalism ideals, but also to engage the audience and inspire social change and
progress. Whether these ideas are implemented in practice, and how they are
understood within the context of a particular newsroom, has not been studied until
now. This case study of the BBC's practice called solutions-focused journalism
focuses on the BBC People Fixing the World team and its solutions-focused video
stories that are intended primarily for younger audiences and published on Facebook
and the BBC's website. On the one hand, it explores the different understandings of
solutions-focused journalism among journalists and editors. On the other hand, it
explores if and how these ideas, along with solutions journalism guidelines, are
implemented in the solutions-focused video stories and identifies the factors that
enforce or compromise this. The findings show that, while journalists and editors
care about the ideals and values of journalism, the presentation of solutions is often
incomplete because of the tendency to exclude negative information, keep a
dominantly positive tone, and simplify the narrative. The main factors that determine
the production process are the chase for better audience metrics, the demands of
social media platforms, and the audience preferences. This study prompts a
necessary debate about the sustainability of solutions journalism’s normative
foundation in practice, and the resourcefulness of newsrooms to successfully
implement its key ideas in today’s media environment.},
language = {en},
urldate = {2023-02-22},
school = {Cardiff University},
author = {Kovačević, Petra},
year = {2022},
}
Downloads: 0
{"_id":"ninLRdF9ddoz9JBmw","bibbaseid":"kovaevi-thebbcssolutionsfocusedvideostoriesonfacebookpracticingthedarkartsofsolutionsjournalism-2022","author_short":["Kovačević, P."],"bibdata":{"bibtype":"phdthesis","type":"Ph.D. Thesis","title":"The BBC’s solutions-focused video stories on Facebook: Practicing the ‘dark arts’ of solutions journalism","copyright":"cc_by_4_0","shorttitle":"The BBC’s solutions-focused video stories on Facebook","url":"https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/157082/","abstract":"Journalism has been criticized for being too negative, and this is one of the main reasons for active news avoidance and rising levels of distrust among audiences. Among the proposed antidotes are socially responsible journalistic practices that aim to report beyond the problem, such as solutions journalism – a practice that is part of constructive journalism, and which focuses on reporting on solutions to societal problems. Inherent in this practice are two main ideas: to maintain the rigour of journalism ideals, but also to engage the audience and inspire social change and progress. Whether these ideas are implemented in practice, and how they are understood within the context of a particular newsroom, has not been studied until now. This case study of the BBC's practice called solutions-focused journalism focuses on the BBC People Fixing the World team and its solutions-focused video stories that are intended primarily for younger audiences and published on Facebook and the BBC's website. On the one hand, it explores the different understandings of solutions-focused journalism among journalists and editors. On the other hand, it explores if and how these ideas, along with solutions journalism guidelines, are implemented in the solutions-focused video stories and identifies the factors that enforce or compromise this. The findings show that, while journalists and editors care about the ideals and values of journalism, the presentation of solutions is often incomplete because of the tendency to exclude negative information, keep a dominantly positive tone, and simplify the narrative. The main factors that determine the production process are the chase for better audience metrics, the demands of social media platforms, and the audience preferences. This study prompts a necessary debate about the sustainability of solutions journalism’s normative foundation in practice, and the resourcefulness of newsrooms to successfully implement its key ideas in today’s media environment.","language":"en","urldate":"2023-02-22","school":"Cardiff University","author":[{"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Kovačević"],"firstnames":["Petra"],"suffixes":[]}],"year":"2022","bibtex":"@phdthesis{kovacevic_bbcs_2022,\n\ttype = {Ph.{D}. {Thesis}},\n\ttitle = {The {BBC}’s solutions-focused video stories on {Facebook}: {Practicing} the ‘dark arts’ of solutions journalism},\n\tcopyright = {cc\\_by\\_4\\_0},\n\tshorttitle = {The {BBC}’s solutions-focused video stories on {Facebook}},\n\turl = {https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/157082/},\n\tabstract = {Journalism has been criticized for being too negative, and this is one of the main\nreasons for active news avoidance and rising levels of distrust among audiences.\nAmong the proposed antidotes are socially responsible journalistic practices that\naim to report beyond the problem, such as solutions journalism – a practice that is\npart of constructive journalism, and which focuses on reporting on solutions to\nsocietal problems. Inherent in this practice are two main ideas: to maintain the rigour\nof journalism ideals, but also to engage the audience and inspire social change and\nprogress. Whether these ideas are implemented in practice, and how they are\nunderstood within the context of a particular newsroom, has not been studied until\nnow. This case study of the BBC's practice called solutions-focused journalism\nfocuses on the BBC People Fixing the World team and its solutions-focused video\nstories that are intended primarily for younger audiences and published on Facebook\nand the BBC's website. On the one hand, it explores the different understandings of\nsolutions-focused journalism among journalists and editors. On the other hand, it\nexplores if and how these ideas, along with solutions journalism guidelines, are\nimplemented in the solutions-focused video stories and identifies the factors that\nenforce or compromise this. The findings show that, while journalists and editors\ncare about the ideals and values of journalism, the presentation of solutions is often\nincomplete because of the tendency to exclude negative information, keep a\ndominantly positive tone, and simplify the narrative. The main factors that determine\nthe production process are the chase for better audience metrics, the demands of\nsocial media platforms, and the audience preferences. This study prompts a\nnecessary debate about the sustainability of solutions journalism’s normative\nfoundation in practice, and the resourcefulness of newsrooms to successfully\nimplement its key ideas in today’s media environment.},\n\tlanguage = {en},\n\turldate = {2023-02-22},\n\tschool = {Cardiff University},\n\tauthor = {Kovačević, Petra},\n\tyear = {2022},\n}\n\n\n\n","author_short":["Kovačević, P."],"key":"kovacevic_bbcs_2022","id":"kovacevic_bbcs_2022","bibbaseid":"kovaevi-thebbcssolutionsfocusedvideostoriesonfacebookpracticingthedarkartsofsolutionsjournalism-2022","role":"author","urls":{"Paper":"https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/157082/"},"metadata":{"authorlinks":{}}},"bibtype":"phdthesis","biburl":"https://bibbase.org/zotero-group/KyserL/5223482","dataSources":["ddxJfLm2KLYRjrsth","3J4MEe2dZKZCYm75d","X5hGEvYECNQmXMHnP","aKqn4WhoXdLo9TqjF","ChofdFQg7uaFG6asN"],"keywords":[],"search_terms":["bbc","solutions","focused","video","stories","facebook","practicing","dark","arts","solutions","journalism","kovačević"],"title":"The BBC’s solutions-focused video stories on Facebook: Practicing the ‘dark arts’ of solutions journalism","year":2022}