Research process seminar. Interviewing journalists: How to get the most out of qualitative data while finding the “new” in the “same old” – Tuesday 6th June at 2pm on Zoom

You are warmly welcomed to this week’s research process seminar. Hosted in FMC but open to all.
While the topic is on interviewing journalists, much of what Mireya will talk about covers all types of elite interviewing, and so should be of interest to many across the university.
Interviewing journalists: How to get the most out of qualitative data while finding the “new” in the “same old” – by Dr Mireya Márquez Ramírez (Universidad Iberoamericana Mexico City)

Scholarship that is based on interviews with journalists or news-content producers is increasingly commonplace around the world. Despite being members of a busy occupation,  journalists who accept to be interviewed tend to openly share views that, unsurprisingly, resonate with one another regardless of socio-geographical differences, specific circumstances, or individual nuances. Familiar anecdotes and themes often emerge when interviewing journalists for different research topics: the multiple challenges they face, the restrictive conditions to exert their occupation, the impact of digital technologies in their work, or the increasing gap between normative ideals and actual practice. As a result, research findings often replicate and corroborate existing knowledge, while critical issues are overlooked. How to make the most of interviews with journalists? How to get past occupational essentialism? This talk argues that interviews with journalists might benefit from more instrument development, more refined comparative focus, better data-analysis processes, more theory-building and more dialogue with quantitative studies and literature tackling other professions. The talk reflects on the challenges and opportunities researchers face when interviewing journalists.

Mireya is Professor of Journalism Studies and Media Theory at the Department of Communications, Universidad Iberoamericana Mexico City since 2011. She is a member of Mexico’s System of National Researchers (SNI), Level II, a distinction awarded by the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT). She received her doctoral degree (Ph.D.) in Media and Communications from Goldsmiths, University of London (2012) and her MA in Journalism Studies from Cardiff University (2006). She has co-published in high-impact journals like the Journal of Communication, Press Politics, Journalism, Journalism Studies, Journalism Practice and Digital Journalism. Her research interests include media capture; media systems in Latin America; comparative journalism cultures; journalistic roles; journalistic professionalism and labour; sociology of news production; anti-press violence; safety of journalists, health, and sports journalism. She is the principal investigator (PI) of the Journalistic Role Performance study in Mexico and Worlds of Journalism study in Bolivia and is part of the national consortium conducting Worlds of Journalism Mexico. She serves the scientific or editorial boards of Digital Journalism, Journalism Studies, Communication Culture and Critique, Spain’s Estudios sobre el Mensaje Periodístico and Mexico’s Communication and Society.

Tuesday 6th June on Zoom

https://bournemouth-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/9292103478?pwd=UzJnNTNQWDdTNldXdjNWUnlTR1cxUT09

Meeting ID: 929 210 3478

Passcode: rps!4fmc

We hope to see you there

Dan and Sae