Contemporary Journalism in the US and Germany

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

   PDF

2. Introduction: Textures and Porosities of Journalistic Fields

   • Matthias Revers

   Pages 1-18

3. Contextualizing US and German Journalism

   • Matthias Revers

   Pages 19-42

4. The Sacred Discourse of Journalistic Professionalism

   • Matthias Revers

   Pages 43-78

5. Staking Out the Boundaries of Professionalism: Good and Bad Journalism

   • Matthias Revers

   Pages 79-112

6. Competitive Collegiality: The Press Corps Environment

   • Matthias Revers

   Pages 113-152

7. Embedded Political Reporting: Boundary Processes and Performances

   • Matthias Revers

   Pages 153-195

8. Digital Media and the Diversification of Professionalism

   • Matthias Revers

   Pages 197-217

9. Conclusion: Occupational Cultures and Journalistic Fields in Germany and the USA

   • Matthias Revers

   Pages 219-229

10. Back Matter

    Pages 231-279

    PDF

This book challenges the idea that Western media systems are becoming more American in the digital age, arguing that journalistic cultures are not only significantly different from each other still but also variably open and resistant to change. Drawing upon extensive field research of political reporters and examination of discourses of journalistic professionalism as well institutional analysis, this book finds that occupational norms and values of journalism in the US are vigorously upheld but in fact relatively porous and malleable. In Germany, by contrast, professional boundaries are rather strong and resilient but treated matter-of-factly. Revers argues that this is both a consequence of institutional arrangements of media systems and historically evolved cultural principles of journalism in both countries which mutually constitute each other.

• Germany
• journalism
• Media sociology
• Journalism studies
• Comparative media research
• Political communication
• Field theory
• Cultural sociology
• Professionalism

“Matthias Revers has written a terrific cross-national ethnographic study of political news reporting in two leading democracies. He draws out the similarities and differences between Germany and the United States with compelling observations and quotes, and he explains his findings with a sophisticated blend of cultural sociology and field theory. Revers is sometimes critical, but never cynical: one comes away from this book with a renewed appreciation of how much civic values still matter for journalists, in profound and meaningful ways that affect all of us.” (Rodney Benson, Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication, New York University, USA, and author of “Shaping Immigration News”)

“This is first-rate scholarship. Cross-national studies of the news media are unusual; those based on ethnographic research are rare indeed. This rich, well-conceived, and deeply thoughtful work illuminates both German and American journalistic values and practices. It’s a treasure!” (Michael Schudson, Professor of Journalism and Adjunct Professor of Sociology, Columbia University, USA)

“No one is foolish enough to think of news media as a transparent window into political action, but few consider the national differences in how the work that journalists do to construct mediated realities for their readers.  This study of local political reporting in Albany and Munich unpacks German and American reporters’ beliefs about professionalism, objectivity and fairness to explain significant differences in how they walk the line between facts and opinion.” (Myra Marx Ferree, Alice H. Cook Professor of Sociology, University of Wisconsin, USA, and co-author of “Shaping Abortion Discourse”)

• Department of Sociology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany

  Matthias Revers

Matthias Revers is Senior Researcher and Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Frankfurt, Germany. His articles have been published in the Journal of Communication, Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism, and Media, Culture & Society.    

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