News sources in the sociology of the media : a critical re-examination

Amon Prodnik, Jernej (author), Vobič, Igor (author)

Sourcing practices are among the central research topics within the sociology of the media. Empirical studies have analysed what and who are the major journalistic sources, demonstrating that the selections journalists make not only depend on their subjective choices, but are connected to the norms and routines established in the profession. While invaluable, these studies are primarily media-centric and focused on small-scale investigations, meaning they regularly ignore the social totality in which sourcing is inevitably embedded. Such studies hence also pay too little attention to the external actors that provide ‘information subsidies’ to journalists. By employing the framework of the public sphere, we show that news sources should be viewed as a topic of central social relevance that touches on wider power relations within society. Sociological approaches should thus be complemented with other critical traditions, for instance the political economy of communication. The latter approach’s value is revealed in brief sketches that point to the possibilities of achieving deeper understanding of the topic.

• Language: English
• Keywords: sociology of news, news sources, sourcing practices, journalism, political economy of communication, information subsidies, communication inequalities, public relations
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2024
• Number of pages: Str. 795–812
• Numbering: Vol. 50, iss. 4/5
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-156199
• UDC: 070:316
• ISSN on article: 1569-1632
• DOI: 10.1177/08969205231217306
• COBISS.SI-ID: 195305731
• Publication date in RUL: 14.05.2024

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Critical sociology
• Publisher: SAGE, Association for Critical Sociology
• ISSN: 1569-1632
• COBISS.SI-ID: 518245657

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
• Description: A creative commons license that bans commercial use, but the users don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: novinarstvo, mediji, sociologija

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P5-0051
• Name: Množični mediji, javna sfera in družbene spremembe

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: J5-3110
• Name: Rekonfiguracija novinarstva sredi vzpona ekonomije pozornosti in zatona javne sfere