Publications

RISJ Reports

RISJ Reports are designed to make available current research on journalism that has been undertaken either within or in association with the Reuters Institute.

The papers can be downloaded in PDF format, by clicking on the titles, or right-clicking and choosing 'Save Target as...' to save the file directly to your computer.

Squeezing Out the Oxygen - or Reviving Democracy? the History and Future of the TV Election Debates in the UK

by Ric Bailey

The impact of the TV debates during the 2010 Election campaign has led many to assume they will now become a permanent feature of UK general elections. This firsthand account examines the arguments over whether debates are appropriate for the UK’s parliamentary democracy, and warns that despite their galvanising impact on the 2010 campaign, future debates cannot be taken for granted if old difficulties recur and some new ones emerge.

Medical and Health News and Information in the UK Media: The Current State of Knowledge

by Robert G. Picard and Minhee Yeo

This report reviews what is known about medical and health news in UK media and shows that research on the subject is spotty, weak, and outdated. It suggests a research agenda for better understanding the roles and performance of UK media in conveying medical and health information.

Mainstream media and the distribution of news in the age of social discovery

by Nic Newman

Social media have helped UK newspapers and broadcasters gain traction around the world, but news organisations are becoming increasingly worried about the potentially disruptive effect of social media on their business models. This paper offers an important contribution to understanding the implications of these changes for the quality of news and the future of journalism.

Public Support for the Media: A Six-Country Overview of Direct and Indirect Subsidies

by Rasmus Kleis Nielsen with Geert Linnebank

This report examines the main forms of direct and indirect public sector support for the media in six developed democracies (Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States), shows how the main beneficiaries of the hundreds of millions of Euros worth of subsidies provided remain broadcast and print industry incumbents, and discusses the prospects for reform.

The new foreign correspondent at work: Local-national stringers and the global news coverage of conflict in Darfur

by Mel Bunce

This report examines the Sudanese-national journalists who provided an important portion of the global news coverage on the crisis in Darfur. The results point to a potential crisis in the discursive nature of contemporary international news.

Can it tweet its way to democracy? The promise of participatory media in Africa

by Abiye Megenta

In this report, we explore the changing ways in which citizens are chipping away the power of authoritarian regimes in Africa, including Egypt, through the use of online participatory media.

From their own correspondent? New media and the changes in disaster coverage: Lessons to be learnt

by Glenda Cooper

This research discusses how disaster reporting has changed since the 2004 tsunami and how a duet – aid agencies and the media – has become a trio with the introduction of user-generated content into the lexicon.

Trust in International News Media in partially free media environments

by Anne Geniets

This report examines attitudes to trust in domestic, regional and international news media across the whole population in five developing countries: Kenya, Senegal, Egypt, India and Pakistan.

The Global News Challenge: Assessing changes in international broadcast news consumption in Africa and South Asia

by Anne Geniets

This report examines changing news consumption patterns across the whole population in six African countries, India and Pakistan in the context of increased competition and media liberalisation in these eight markets.

#UKelection2010, mainstream media and the role of the internet: how social and digital media affected the business of politics and journalism

by Nic Newman

This study examines the impact of social media on the UK election, looking in particular at the record breaking levels of participation among younger voters and the effect this had on the outcome.

Good News from a Far Country? Changes in international broadcast news supply in Africa and South Asia

by Brian Rotheray

This report is based on reviews of the main international broadcasters, news agenda analysis of local and international broadcasters and studies of the media environment in eight countries in Africa and Asia.

Investigative Journalism and Political Power in China: Five Newspapers’ Reporting of the Chenzhou Mass Corruption Case, February 2004–November 2008

by Haiyan Wang

This working paper begins by asking whether or not investigative journalism in China takes the same adversarial position towards officialdom as do its Western counterparts and, if not, what the relationship looks like.

The rise of social media and its impact on mainstream journalism

by Nic Newman

This study by Nic Newman, Future Media Controller, BBC Journalism, examines how newspapers and broadcasters in the UK and US are responding to a wave of participatory social media, and a historic shift in control towards individual consumers.

Journalism, Democracy and the Public Interest: rethinking media pluralism for the Digital Age

by Steven Barnett

The media industry is in the midst of a 'perfect storm', as recession, fragmented audiences and the shift of press advertising to the internet, impact upon it. Steven Barnett, Professor of Communications at the University of Westminster, analyses the effects of these changes on the industry, and how Government and regulatory intervention can best enable it to move forward in a changing world.

Navigating the Crisis in Local and Regional News: A Critical Review of Solutions

by Andrew Currah

This report, by Andrew Currah who is a lecturer at University of Oxford specialising in the digital economy, and a visiting fellow at the Reuters Institute, evaluates the likely impact of the serious funding crisis in local and regional news, on the quality of journalism, and on the potential for the emergence of a 'news gap' in the UK. A range of options for sustaining local and regional journalism are then examined in turn, and possible ways of moving through the crisis are proposed.

Press Subsidies and Local News: The Swedish Case

Karl Erik Gustafsson, Henrik Örnebring and David AL Levy

In this working paper, Karl Erik Gustafsson, co-founder of the Media Management and Transformation Centre at Jönköping International Business School, together with Henrik Ornebring and David Levy, from Reuters Institute, review the Swedish media landscape in the context of its historical background, and in today's more uncertain marketplace. They then critically assess the quality of Swedish journalism, and draw lessons from the Swedish press subsidy system.

University of Oxford

Thomson Reuters Foundation

Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism