Texas Tech University

Journalism

Journalism research

Despite rapid changes in the media landscape, journalism is as important as ever. Academic research in this area can be invaluable for journalists to understand how their craft is impacting their audiences. Whether these studies focus on framing, agenda setting or a of other media phenomena, research can provide a look inside the content and shape journalists' understanding of their work and how to improve it. College of Media & Communication researchers aspire to inform and influence practitioners by providing in-depth and insightful research on a broad range of journalistic topics. In a world fraught with false information, academic study of journalism is one of the best, most objective sources of information for journalists to utilize when working to make their work more effective.

Social Media in Television News

This study was designed to assess the influences of Facebook and Twitter comments compared to man-on-the-street interviews on audiences' evaluations of broadcast news journalism. Participants in this study responded on journalistic quality and credibility after watching a television news segment with different comment types. The results of this study revealed that social media comments played a substantial role in affecting audiences' evaluation of the news. While several types of social media comments were used in the study, Twitter comments received the highest perceptions of journalistic quality, especially when used in hard news stories. One of the main takeaways from the results in this study is that Twitter comments possess journalistic value. Read the full article.

2015 Survey of Journalism and Mass Communication Enrollments: Challenges and Opportunities for a Changing and Diversifying Field

This survey study was done to assess the enrollment of students into journalism majors and other mass communication fields of study. The study notes that enrollment in journalism and mass communication programs have continued to decline across the United States. In 2015, there was continued decline in undergraduate students enrolling in journalism sequences, but other areas, like strategic communication, have seen some growth over the past couple of years. The findings of the study did reveal potential for journalism and mass communication programs regarding the growth of online degree programs and online course offerings, the development of the competencies and skills desired by employers, and other opportunities for the professional development of today's practically minded students. Read the full article.

Journalism Research Faculty



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