Page 271 - Comparing Political Communication Theories, Cases, and Challenge

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ELEVEN

Political News Journalists

Partisanship, Professionalism, and Political Roles
in Five Countries

Wolfgang Donsbach and Thomas E. Patterson

Mostempiricalstudiesofjournalists’thinkinganddecision-makingpro-
cesses have been conducted as case studies of individual countries. They
suffer from a considerable shortcoming insofar as they lack a larger con-
text for assessing the validity of their findings. However, the question of
how significant these findings are can be answered by use of comparative
analyses, which include a range of different countries. The relevance of
international comparative studies is demonstrated, for instance, when
we examine the influence that journalists’ political beliefs exert on their
professional actions. To be sure, case studies of a particular national
context can provide a basis for describing the beliefs of journalists in the
respective country and the impact of these beliefs on the daily work in
newsrooms. Yet, such case studies give no clue as to how much their find-
ings have been influenced by characteristics of the respective media and
political systems. The national context must therefore be eliminated if we
want to get a clear picture of the connection between the political views
of journalists and their professional decisions. This can be achieved by
conducting a systematic comparison of various countries with differing
media systems and political situations. Apart from its cross-national per-
spective, this approach also provides a formidable basis for categorizing
the state of each country on an international scale.
Journalists in Western democratic societies operate under similar le-
gal, political, economic, and cultural conditions. They enjoy formidable
legal protections, have considerable access to those in power, and are
backed by substantial news organizations. They also share a professional
orientation that affects how they see their work. “The height of profes-
sionalskill,”saysDenisMcQuail,“istheexerciseofapracticalcraft,which
deliverstherequiredinstitutionalproduct,characterizedbyahighdegree
of objectivity, key marks of which are obsessive facticity and neutrality

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