How to Read Economic News: A Critical Approach to Economic Journalism

Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Contributors
1 Introduction – The Construction of Economic News: Critical Research Into Economic, Business and Financial News
	1. Introduction
	2. Key Themes of Research Into Economic and Business Journalism
		A Narrowing Focus: Financialised Economic Reporting
		Media Amnesia
		The Role Conception of Business and Economic Journalists and the Loss of Trust
		Working Practices of Economic Journalists and Source Relations
		Inequality and Austerity Narratives
	Conclusion
	3. Aims of the Book
	4. Chapter Overview
		1. Introduction
	Part I: Connecting Economic Theory, Ideology and Journalism
		2. Economic Imaginaries, Economics Theories and the Role of Economic Journalism
		3. What Journalists Can Learn From Heterodox Economics
		4. Ideology, Economics and Journalism
		5. Journalism Studies and “Cascading Crises”: Towards a Political Economic Approach
	Part II: Methodological Approaches for the Evaluation of Economy-Related Media Output
		6. The Content Is the Thing: Using Content Analysis to Study Economic Journalism
		7. Analysing Economic News Sources: Who Gets to Speak?
		8. Using Corpus Linguistics to Interpret Economic News Texts
		9. Breaking Down the Discourse, Exposing Power in Economic Journalism: Critical Discourse Analysis
		10. Deconstructing Economic Discourses On Broadcast News
		11. Deconstructing Discourse: Applying Interview Research in the Economic Newsroom
		12. Researching Audiences: Understanding How Economic News Is Received
	Part III. News Production: Best Practices for Investigating Economic and Business Stories
		13. Making Sense of Economic Data
		14. Economic News Approaches: Journalism Practitioners’ Experience of News Production
		15. Where Theory Meets Practice: Practitioner Tips for Better Economic Journalism
	Notes
	References
Part I Connecting Economic Theory, Ideology and Journalism
	2 Economic Imaginaries, Economics Theories and the Role of Economic Journalism
		Advance Organiser
		1. Economic Imaginaries as Simplified Understandings of Economic Reality
		2. Economics as a Scientific Field
			A Short History of Economics
			The Rise of Market-Liberal Perspectives in Economics
			Economics Today
		3. The Role of Economics to Inform Economic Imaginaries
		4. Neoliberalism as a Powerful Economic Imaginary
		5. Conclusion: Why Is That Important for Economic Journalism?
		Answers to the Activity
		List of Concepts Introduced
		References
	3 What Journalists Can Learn From Heterodox Economics
		Advance Organiser
		1. Introduction
		2. What Is Heterodox Economics?
		3. Why Heterodox Economics?
		4. Crises
		5. The Role of Markets, Market Imperfections
		6. The Role of the State
		7. Conclusion: What Does All This Mean for Journalistic Practice?
		List of Concepts Introduced
		Notes
		References
	4 Ideology, Economics and Journalism
		Advance Organiser
		1. Introduction
			Why Study Ideology?
		2. Ideology: Some Definitions
			Marx and Ideologies
			Material Ideology: Base and Superstructure
			Ideology and the Reproduction of Power: The Materialist View of Individual Consciousness
			Louis Althusser: The Reproduction and Internalisation of Domination
			Antonio Gramsci and the Theory of Hegemony
			Ideology and Micro Power
		3. Media and Crisis – Base and Superstructure
		4. Ideology and Journalism, Journalistic Norms and Ideologies
		5. Journalism and Economic Ideology
		List of Concepts Introduced
		Notes
		References
	5 Journalism Studies and “Cascading Crises”: Towards a Political Economic Approach
		References
Part II Methodological Approaches for the Evaluation of Economy-Related Media Output
	6 The Content Is the Thing: Using Content Analysis to Study Economic Journalism
		Advance Organiser
		1. An Introduction to Content Analysis: Background and Approaches
		2. Content Analysis: Processes of Analysis
		3. Framing Analysis
			What Is a Frame?
			Key Factors Influencing Frame Construction in Economic News Output
		4. Thematic Analysis
		5. Semiotic Analysis
			Syntagms
			Paradigms
		6. Conclusion
		List of Concepts Introduced
		Further Practical Reading for Content Analysis
			Evolution of Content Analysis
			Quantitative Analysis in the Field of Economics
			Qualitative Content Analysis in the Field of Economics
			Mixed Method Content Analysis in the Field of Economics
		Acknowledgements
		References
	7 Analysing Economic News Sources: Who Gets to Speak?
		Advance Organiser
		1. Sources and News Construction
		2. Sources as Subsidised Information and the Colonisation of News
		3. Sourcing and Economic Journalism
		4. How to Do a Sourcing Analysis
			Case Study: The Irish Blanket Bank Guarantee
				Step One: Formulate the Question
				Step Two: Gather the Data
				Step Three: Count and Code the Sources
				Step Four: Analyse the Data
			Frequency of Sources Counted By Article
			Primary Definers
		5. Conclusion
		List of Concepts Introduced
		References
	8 Using Corpus Linguistics to Interpret Economic News Texts
		Advance Organiser
		1. Introduction
		2. Language and Media Texts
		3. The “Corpus” in Corpus Linguistics
		4. Building Your Own Corpus
			What Kind of Data Do I Use?
			What Size Should My Corpus Be?
			What Texts Should I Include?
			How to Access Texts?
				Corpus Construction
		5. What Can You Do With a Corpus Once You Have One?
			Word Frequency Lists
			Keywords
			Collocation
			Concordance Lines
		6. Corpus Perspectives On Media Texts
		7. Summary and Conclusion
		List of Concepts Introduced
		References
	9 Breaking Down the Discourse, Exposing Power in Economic Journalism: Critical Discourse Analysis
		Advance Organiser
		1. CDA: Theories, Concepts and Methods
			What Is Meant By Critical?
			What Is Discourse?
			Analysing Discourse Critically: The Aims of CDA
		2. The Analytical Process of CDA
			Fairclough’s Three-Dimensional Framework
			Discursive Practice
				Production
				Consumption
				Discourses
			Text
				Vocabulary and Grammar
				Cohesion and Text Structure
			Social Practice
				Text and Context(s)
				Changing Discourses and Ideologies
		3. Conclusion
		List of Concepts Introduced
		Further Practical Reading for CDA Articles On the Press and News
			CDA and News Discourse
			Economic Crises/Inequality
		References
10 Deconstructing Economic Discourses On Broadcast News
	Advance Organiser
	1. Media Research and CDA
	2. Broadcast Interviewing
	3. CDA: Learning From Radio
	4. CDA and the Qualitative Research Process
		Identifying General Topic and Problem Area
		Reviewing Literature
		Refining Problem Definition, Devising Research Objectives and Questions
		Data Selection and Collection
			Sampling Method
			Sample Frame
			Building a Corpus
		Data Analysis
			Transcription
			Tone and Voice
			Framing Analysis
			Rhetorical Devices
			Argumentation Strategies
		Reporting
		Discussion
	5. Conclusion
	List of Concepts Introduced
	Further Practical Reading On Broadcast Analysis
		Broadcast TV
		Political Interviewing
		Useful Broadcast Resources
	References
11 Deconstructing Discourse: Applying Interview Research in the Economic Newsroom
	Advance Organiser
	1. Introduction
	2. Why Content Analyses and Surveys Aren’t Always Enough
	3. Interviews With Economic Journalists
	4. Case Study 1: The Global Financial Crisis
		Results From the Interview Analysis
	5. Case Study 2: Sustainable Finance
	6. Some Limitations and Further Considerations
	7. Discussion and Conclusion
	List of Concepts Introduced
	References
12 Researching Audiences: Understanding How Economic News Is Received
	Advance Organiser
	1. Introduction
	2. Survey Research
		Key Issues in Survey Research
	3. Focus Groups
		Advantages of Focus Groups in Conducting Audience Research
		Key Issues in Focus Group Design
	4. Triangulation
	5. Conclusion
	List of Concepts Introduced
	Key Readings On Audience Research
	References
Part III News Production: Best Practices for Investigating Economic and Business Stories
	13 Making Sense of Economic Data
		Advanced Organiser
		1. An Introduction to Interpreting Economic Data and Analyses: Background and Context
		2. Interpreting Different Measures of Economic Activity
			Overall Economic Activity
			How Is GDP Measured?
			Labour Market Activity
			Price Levels
		3. Causation, Correlation and Data Manipulation
			Cause and Effect
		4. Data Visualisation: Identifying Misleading Information
			Manipulating the Y-Axis
			Changing the Baseline
			Cherry-Picking Data
		5. Conclusion
		List of Concepts Introduced
		Further Practical Reading
			Key Studies in How the Media Covers the Economy
			Studies Exploring the Use of Statistics and Data in Journalism
		Note
		References
	14 Economic News Approaches: Journalism Practitioners’ Experience of News Production
		Advance Organiser
		1. Introduction
			Interviewees Overview
			List of Interviewees
		2. Discussions
			What Is the Role of a Financial Or Economic Journalist?
			How Do Stories “Get Into” a Newspaper?
			What Are Some of the Difficulties Or Obstacles That You Face in Terms of Doing Economic Journalism?
			What Is the Effect of the Professional Communications Or Public Relations Industry in Terms of News Output?
			How Do Financial Journalists Attain and Manage “Good” Sources?
			Who Are Your Audience and to What Extent Does That Audience Define What You Focus On in Your Stories?
			What Advice Would You Have for Aspiring Journalists in the Field?
		List of Concepts Introduced
		References
	15 Where Theory Meets Practice: Practitioner Tips for Better Economic Journalism
		Advance Organiser
		1. Best Practice for Economic/Business Or Financial Journalism
			Use Numbers Accurately, Sparingly and in Context
			Think Straight and You Can Write Straight
			Vary Your Sources – for Information, Interpretation and General Expertise
			Beyond Numbers and Expert Analysis, Consider the Human Impact of These Numbers Properly
			Have You Differentiated Speculation and Commentary From Fact?
			Prize Accuracy Over Speed, and Fight for the Integrity of Your Work
		2. Ideological and Theoretical Literacy in Journalism Practice
			Your Work Matters
			Know Your Economic Theory
			Ideology Underpins Everything
			Know Your Role
			Recognise How Political Economic Factors Limit the Scope of Your Work
			Consider Deeper Meanings Communicated By the Way Your Content Is Selected, Constructed and Presented
			News Discourse Reveals Where Power Is Thought to Reside
			History and Context Are Critical in Business and Financial Reporting
			Diversity Matters
		References
Index