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Beschleunigung ist ein oft verwendetes Schlagwort in der Beschreibung aktueller Trends in der Massenkommunikation und im Journalismus. Jedoch wird das Wort meist nicht als analytischer und theoretisch fundierter Begriff verwendet, und es mangelt an Studien, die empirisch Zeitstrukturen im Journalismus erfasst und Beschleunigungsprozesse nachgewiesen haben. In diesem Vortrag wird versucht, eine theoretische Grundlage für Beschleunigung im Journalismus zu legen, unter Bezug auf die Theorie der sozialen Beschleunigung des Zeitsoziologen Hartmut Rosa. Schließlich werden acht Aspekte im Journalismus identifiziert, in denen sich in den letzten Jahren, Jahrzehnten und Jahrhunderten Geschwindigkeiten erhöht bzw. verändert haben könnten: etwa in der Verkürzung des Zeitraums zwischen Ereignis und Berichterstattung (Aktualitätssteigerung), Verdichtung von Arbeitstagen durch Aufgabenvermehrung, Verkürzung von Schnittfolgen in Nachrichtensendungen und Verdichtung von Sendungen (mehr und kürzere Filmbeiträge im selben Nachrichtenformat), Beschleunigung von Themenumschlag, Verkürzung von Themenkarrieren bzw. -zyklen. Vorhandene empirische Daten werden präsentiert, und es werden die Vor- und Nachteile von Beschleunigung in diesen Bereichen diskutiert, vor allem die Gefahren für die Qualität von Journalismus und seine Funktionalität für die demokratische Gesellschaft: Wer immer weniger Zeit hat für Recherche und Reflexion, sitzt öfter Falschinformationen auf und kann seinen Rezipienten weniger Substanz bieten. Und wenn Themen und Skandale sich in immer schnellerer Folge abwechseln, bleibt den politischen Akteuren immer weniger Zeit, Probleme zu bearbeiten – denn schon wird „die nächste Sau durchs Dorf getrieben“, die die Aufmerksamkeit bindet.
Citation preview
page 1„Journalism in Transition: Crisis or Opportunity?“
ECREA Journalism Studies Section, Thessaloniki, March 27-29, 2014
Acceleration in Journalism: A Theoretical Approach to a Complex Phenomenon
Uwe Krüger
Photo
: w
allp
apers
tock.n
et
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: cara
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page 2
1. Introduction
2. Definition of acceleration
3. 8 forms of acceleration in journalism and their normative
implications
4. Conclusion
Outline
page 3
High speed leads to paradoxes and dysfunctionalities
Introduction Definition 8 Forms Conclusion
Photo
: M
ichael K
appele
r/dpa
Party conference of the Green party, Berlin
page 4
High speed leads to paradoxes and dysfunctionalities
• “A proper discussion was hardly possible. (…) If the speed
in which the coverage of party conferences gets part of
the party conferences increased even more, you could
also hold them virtually as weblogs.”
Ulrike Winkelmann, taz, 11.05.2009
Introduction Definition 8 Forms Conclusion
page 5
1. Introduction
2. Definition of acceleration
3. 8 forms of acceleration in journalism and their normative
implications
4. Conclusion
Outline
page 6
Acceleration: A banal meta-word?
• The term „acceleration“ is often used, but mostly as an
unreflected buzz phrase
• Lutz Hachmeister (2012): “The term has become so banal
that it cannot be used anymore at all. But nevertheless, it
is probably the meta-word for everything that has been
going on recently.”
• In contrast, I want to show the usefulness of the term to
understand transition processes in journalism
Introduction Definition 8 Forms Conclusion
page 7
• Acceleration can be defined “as an
increase in quantity per unit of time (or,
logically equivalent, as a reduction of
the amount of time per fixed
quantity).” (Rosa 2013: 65)
• The quantity can be a distance covered
(miles per hour), the number of
communicated signs (e-mails per day)
or produced goods (cars per day), but
also the number of jobs per working life
or the number of activities per day
Hartmut Rosa: Acceleration is an increase in quantity per unit of time
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: cara
dvic
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.au
Introduction Definition 8 Forms Conclusion
page 8
(1) technological acceleration: intentional, technical, machine-
based acceleration of goal-directed processes (e.g., of
communication: marathon runners, horse-riding messengers,
smoke signals, mail pigeons, telegraph, telephones, Internet)
(2) the acceleration of social change: increase in the rate of
decay of action-orienting experiences and expectations;
contraction of the “present” in politics, the economy, science,
art, work relations, family arrangements, moral orientations
(3) acceleration in the pace of life: shortening or condensation of
episodes of action (eat or pray faster, decrease in rests and
empty times, multitasking)
Hartmut Rosa distinguishes three types of social acceleration
Introduction Definition 8 Forms Conclusion
page 9
The speeding up of society is a self-propelling process: The circle of acceleration
Rosa 2013: 156
Introduction Definition 8 Forms Conclusion
page 10
1. Introduction
2. Definition of acceleration
3. 8 forms of acceleration in journalism and their normative
implications
4. Conclusion
Outline
page 11
(1) Reduction of the period between event and coverage
1755
Earthquake in Lissabon
(1.11.)
2004
Indian Ocean earthquake
and tsunami (26.12., 1:59
CET)
Madrid: 1 week after (8.11.) AFP: 1 hour after (2:59)
Paris and London: 3 weeks
after (22.11.)
CNN: 2 hours after (4:00)
Hamburg and Berlin: 4 weeks
after (2.12.)
Internet: 2.5 hours after (4:30)
Wilke 2010
Introduction Definition 8 Forms Conclusion
page 12
(1) Reduction of the period between event and coverage
Introduction Definition 8 Forms Conclusion
• Advantage: Recipients can get information very fast and can
react fast (if necessary)
• Disadvantage: Journalists of fast media have almost no time
for fact-checking, investigation and reflection
page 13
• Research on news values has revealed that events that
occur suddenly and fit well in the news organization’s
schedule are more likely to be reported than those that
occur gradually.
• Disadvantage: As the publication frequencies increase
with new technologies, important long-term trends may
be even less likely to receive much coverage.
(2) Increasing attention to events with a short time horizon
Introduction Definition 8 Forms Conclusion
page 14
• e.g., within an editorial staff, between staffs or between
journalism and public relations
• Advantages: fresh ideas, curiosity, independence from sources
• Disadvantages: loss of expert knowledge, institutional memory
and professional identity
(3) Faster rotation of personell
Introduction Definition 8 Forms Conclusion
page 15
(4) Increased density of journalists’ working days
We
ische
nb
erg
et a
l. 2
00
6: 8
0
9
84
78
33
117
0
50
69
49
140
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
PR, marketing
technical tasks
organization, administration
selection of texts
journalistic research
1993 2005
Minutes per day
N=1.498 (1993) 1.536 (2005)
Introduction Definition 8 Forms Conclusion
page 16
(4) Increased density of journalists’ working days
Introduction Definition 8 Forms Conclusion
• Disadvantage: adverse effects on the quality of coverage
(substance, depth)
page 17
(5) Increased density of journalistic products
ARD-Tagesschau 1975 ARD-Tagesschau 1995
12,5 news clips (av. 73 sec.) 14,8 news clips (av. 60 sec.)
sound bite: 26 sec. sound bite: 12 sec.Zu
ba
yr/
Fa
hr
19
99
Scre
en
sh
ots
: Y
ou
tub
e
Introduction Definition 8 Forms Conclusion
page 18
(5) Increased density of journalistic products
Introduction Definition 8 Forms Conclusion
• Advantage: more exciting and entertaining news with more
information (infographics)
• Disadvantage: adverse effects on the understandability and
memorability of news
page 19
(6) Accelerated patterns of news reception
Ph
oto
: w
ww
.fra
ulic
h-o
nlin
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dwell time at one channel:
1988: 27 minutes
1994: 16 minutes
Change of channels:
1995: 10 times per hour
2005: 16 times per hour
Re
ino
ld 1
99
4
Ett
en
hu
ber
20
07
Parallel use of 2 media:
1995: 13 minutes per day
2010: 37 minutes per day
Be
st/
Bre
un
ig 2
011
Introduction Definition 8 Forms Conclusion
page 20
(6) Accelerated patterns of news reception
Ph
oto
: w
ww
.fra
ulic
h-o
nlin
e.d
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Introduction Definition 8 Forms Conclusion
• Disadvantage: negative effects on how deep the recipients
understand and memorize journalistic information
page 21
(7) Faster news diffusion
Ro
se
ng
ren
19
87
: 2
42
Introduction Definition 8 Forms Conclusion
Hours after event
Percent of
population
knowing the
news
Diffusion of the news „Assassination of Olof Palme“ in 11 countries
page 22
(7) Faster news diffusion
Introduction Definition 8 Forms Conclusion
• Advantage: Recipients get information very fast and can react
fast (if necessary)
page 23
(8) Reduced length of issue-attention cycles and increased alteration of discussed issues
Ko
lb 2
00
5: 9
5
In 1997, “we took an
issue a day. But in
2005, we had to
have one for the
morning, another for
the afternoon, and
by the evening the
agenda had already
moved on.“ (Tony
Blair) cited from Rosen-
berg/Feldman 2008: 1f.
Introduction Definition 8 Forms Conclusion
time
Am
ou
nt o
f co
ve
rag
e
page 24
(8) Reduced length of issue-attention cycles and increased alteration of discussed issues
Ph
oto
: w
ww
.fra
ulic
h-o
nlin
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Introduction Definition 8 Forms Conclusion
• Disadvantage: negative effects on the ability of players to come
to reasonable solutions (or: to generate enough political pressure
to cause effective change)
page 25
1. Introduction
2. Definition of acceleration
3. 8 forms of acceleration in journalism and their normative
implications
4. Conclusion
Outline
page 26
• scattered empirical data exists on some of these aspects
• systematic research on time structures in journalism is
required
• If acceleration processes lead to a declining quality of
coverage, to an erosion of media’s orientation function and to
a dysfunctional public debate, it would be necessary to
discuss those time structures
(1) Need for empirical research
Introduction Definition 8 Forms Conclusion
page 27
(2) Need for theoretical framework tounderstand empirical observations
Introduction Definition 8 Forms Conclusion
Rosa 2013: 156
page 28
References (I)
Best, Stefanie/Breunig, Christian (2011): Parallele und exklusive Mediennutzung.
Ergebnisse auf Basis der ARD/ZDF-Langzeitstudie Massenkommunikation. In: Media
Perspektiven (1), pp. 16-35.
Hachmeister, Lutz (2012): Journalismus und digitale Geschwindigkeit.
Deutschlandfunk, 20.01., http://diskurs.dradio.de/thema/neuer-journalismus/page/3/
(accessed on 17.09.2013).
Ettenhuber, Andreas (2007): Die Beschleunigung des Fernsehverhaltens.
Sekundäranalyse von Daten aus dem GfK-Fernsehpanel. München: Reinhard Fischer.
Kolb, Steffen (2005): Mediale Thematisierung in Zyklen. Theoretischer Entwurf und
empirische Anwendung. Köln: Herbert von Halem.
Rosa, Hartmut (2013): Social Acceleration: A New Theory of Modernity. New York:
Columbia University Press.
page 29
References (II)
Rosenberg, Howard/Feldman, Charles S. (2008): No Time to Think. The Menace of
Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle. New York: Continuum.
Weischenberg, Siegfried/Malik, Maja/Scholl, Armin (2006): Die Souffleure der
Mediengesellschaft. Report über die Journalisten in Deutschland. Konstanz: UVK.
Wilke, Jürgen (2010): Historical perspectives on media events: a comparison of the
Lisbon earthquake in 1755 with the Tsunami catastrophe 2004. In: Couldry,
Nick/Hepp, Andreas/Krotz, Friedrich (eds.): Media Events in a Global Age. London,
New York: Routledge, pp. 45-60.
Zubayr, Camille/Fahr, Andreas (1999): Die Tagesschau: Fels in der dualen
Brandung? Ein Vergleich von Inhalten und Präsentationsformen 1975 und 1995. In:
Wilke, Jürgen (ed.): Massenmedien und Zeitgeschichte. Konstanz: UVK, pp. 638-
647.
page 30
Dr. Uwe Krüger
Universität Leipzig
Institut für Kommunikations- und
Medienwissenschaft, Abteilung Journalistik
Burgstr. 21
04109 Leipzig
Germany
Phon: ++49-341-97-35756
Fax: ++49-341-97-35799
E-mail: [email protected]
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