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ABSTRACT
This article details a mixed-method technique called network ethnography, coined (though not invented) by Philip Howard in 2002, as it is applied to two cases documenting media ecologies in journalism studies. We map the news information flows – its influences, power dynamics, and obstacles – in Philadelphia, PA, and Madison, WI. The mix of locational sampling, formal network analysis, and triangulated news community ethnographies allow for multiple levels of investigation at the micro-meso-macro tiers of local community. Despite some significant logistical limitations, the method can be scaled according to resources and represents a robust tool for the complex work of journalism studies – especially those exploring news media ecologies, rather than single media organizations – in a digital age.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the anonymous reviewers and editors for their constructive feedback as well as Philip Howard and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, both of the University of Oxford, Christina Dunbar Hester of The University of Southern California, and Stephen Reese of the University of Texas at Austin for their help. The University of Wisconsin–Madison funded a portion of one of the studies.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Interestingly enough, while many of the concepts and techniques we set out here have yet to make much of an impact in academic journalism and communication studies, they have been increasingly applied by policy organizations, foundation funders, and other research organizations that sit between the worlds of traditional academia and the journalism profession. While we lack the space to go into this paradox here, we do think it is an interesting finding in and of itself to consider (see also Koneicza et al, forthcoming).