In this collaborative project, my team and I explored the forces that dictate global news agendas by bridging macro-level theories with the actual lived experiences of reporters. My role was to lead the analyse the research by Thomas Hanitzsch and Claudia Mellado, focusing on their 18-country comparative study of journalistic cultures. I also wrote a seminar paper, reviewing the concept of the Worlds of Journalism.
For the presentation, I summarised the six domains of influence that are ranging from political and economic pressures to “procedural” constraints like newsroom routines and deadlines.
By cross-referencing these findings with the media models of Hallin and Mancini, we were able to demonstrate that journalistic autonomy is a moving target heavily influenced by a country’s ownership structures and democratic performance. The project highlighted how even in supposedly “free” systems, market logic and organisational hierarchy can quietly erode editorial independence.
For the seminar paper, I explored how theories of the worlds of journalism apply in today’s rapidly shifting media landscape. A key part of my research involved a review of the World Values Study by Haerpfer et al. (2022), which I used to analyse the classic frameworks like those of Hallin and Mancini.
By applying more recent data, I was able to demonstrate that while some global media values have remained remarkably consistent over decades, where some of them have fractured systems due to rising conflicts between secular-rational and self-expression values.
My analysis addressed modern disruptions like “robot journalism” and the transformation of audiences from passive spectators into active participants. Having bridged these current developments with the findings of the Haerpfer study, I argued that we need a more flexible, culturally-attuned model of media research that accounts for the influence of AI and the changing democratic performance of nations.