Practice Theory for Journalism Studies

Abstract

This article offers a theoretical-methodological contribution to the discussion on the relationship between practice theory and journalism. The article argues that the domain of practice theory—combining elements from cultural and social theories—offers the opportunity to both move away from industrial or professional frameworks of studying journalism and to examine how journalism is reproduced in practices of various agents involved in its enactment. Firstly, the article presents a model in which the concept of practice is deconstructed into three elements (activity, materiality and reflexivity), which can be used as the basis for empirical analysis. Secondly, it provides methodological insight and proposes a way in which citizen participation, as an emerging practice of journalism, can be scrutinized by operationalizing practice theory. This theoretical-methodological avenue enables us to see the multiple orientations and meanings that participation has in journalism. Moreover, studying journalism through the concepts provided by practice theory can eventually help us understand how journalism maintains itself and is capable of renewal through (and despite) increasing participation.

KEYWORDS:

• activity
• materiality
• methods
• participation
• participatory journalism
• practice
• practice theory
• reflexivity

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author wishes to thank David Domingo and the seminar group at ULB as well as Esa Reunanen, Jari Väliverronen, Anneli Lehtisalo, Mikko Hautakangas, Esa Sirkkunen and other Tampere colleagues for their useful comments on the manuscript.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Academy of Finland [grant number 267467].