Cultural Forces in Journalism

Abstract

Social system-level analyses of journalism have tended to focus on political and economic influences, at the expense of other factors, such as the role that culture and cultural values play in shaping journalists' professional views and practices. This paper identifies cultural values as a particularly fruitful area for providing a more nuanced analysis of journalism culture. It examines this issue in the context of in-depth interviews with 20 Māori journalists from Aotearoa New Zealand. The study finds that Indigenous journalism in that country is strongly influenced by Māori cultural values, such as showing respect to others, following cultural protocols, and making use of culturally-specific language. Cultural limitations are also identified in the form of the social structures of Māori society, and journalists' strategies in working around these are discussed. The paper highlights the implications a renewed focus on cultural values can have for the study of journalism culture more broadly.

KEYWORDS:

• culture
• Indigenous
• journalism culture
• Maori
• New Zealand
• professional views
• role perception
• values

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author would like to thank all the journalists who were so generous with their time and participated in this study. A large thank-you also goes to Maatakiri Te Ruki, who worked as a research assistant on this project and whose help was invaluable.