Critical Incidents in Journalism: Pivotal Moments Reshaping Journalism around the World

283 Pages·2020·5.666 MB·English

by  Edson C. Tandoc Jr., Joy Jenkins, Ryan J Thomas, Oscar Westlund

“This timely volume authoritatively develops the idea of the critical incident as a
key sensitizing concept in journalism studies. The book offers a rigorous con­
ceptualisation, followed by a truly global and diverse range of case studies—from
the Hong Kong demonstrations to the Rwandan genocide. In opening up new
ways of seeing journalism, the book stands as both an invaluable contribution to
knowledge and indispensable reading for students and scholars of journalism.”
Professor Karin Wahl-Jorgensen, Cardiff University
“A book that offers fresh perspectives on critical incidents in journalism was long
overdue, and Joy Jenkins, Edson C. Tandoc Jr., Ryan J. Thomas, and Oscar Westlund
are perfectly placed to competently and authoritatively lead such an ambitious
global endeavor. Using meticulous research, rigorous analysis, and influential
scholarship, their volume presents new methodological and theoretical directions
that will undoubtedly help shape the future of journalism studies.”
Professor Bruce Mutsvairo, Auburn University

CRITICAL INCIDENTS IN JOURNALISM

This edited collection examines critical incidents journalists have faced across different
media contexts, exploring how journalists and other key actors negotiate various
aspects of their work.
Ranging from the Rwandan genocide to the News of the World hacking scandal in
the UK, this book defines a critical incident as an event that has led journalists to
reconsider their routines, roles, and rules. Combining theoretical and practical analy­
sis, the contributors offer a discussion of the key events that journalists cover, such as
political turmoil or natural disasters, as well as events that directly involve and affect
journalists. Featuring case studies from countries including Australia, Germany, Brazil,
Kenya, and the Philippines, the book explores the discourses that critical events have
generated, how journalists and other stakeholders have responded to them, and how
they have reshaped (or are reshaping) journalistic norms and practices. The book also
proposes a roadmap for studying such pivotal moments in journalism.
This one-of-a-kind collection is a valuable resource for students and scholars across
journalism studies disciplines, from journalism history, to sociology of news, to digital
journalism and political communication.
Edson C. Tandoc Jr. is an Associate Professor at the Wee Kim Wee School of
Communication and Information at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
Joy Jenkins is an Assistant Professor of digital journalism at the University of
Tennessee School of Journalism and Electronic Media.
Ryan J. Thomas is an Associate Professor of Journalism Studies at the University of
Missouri’s School of Journalism.
Oscar Westlund is a Professor at the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at
Oslo Metropolitan University. He holds adjunct positions at Volda University
College and University of Gothenburg.

CRITICAL INCIDENTS IN
JOURNALISM
Pivotal Moments Reshaping
Journalism Around the World
Edited by Edson C. Tandoc Jr., Joy Jenkins,
Ryan J. Thomas and Oscar Westlund
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 selection and editorial matter, Edson C. Tandoc Jr., Joy Jenkins, Ryan J.
Thomas, and Oscar Westlund; individual chapters, the contributors.
The right of Edson C. Tandoc Jr., Joy Jenkins, Ryan J. Thomas, and Oscar
Westlund to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the
authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections
77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Tandoc, Edson C., Jr., editor. | Jenkins, Joy (Joy M.), editor. |
Thomas, Ryan J., 1983-editor. | Westlund, Oscar, editor.
Title: Critical incidents in journalism : pivotal moments reshaping
journalism around the world / Edson C. Tandoc Jr., Joy Jenkins, Ryan J.
Thomas, Oscar Westlund.
Description: London ; New York : Routledge, 2021. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020033346 | ISBN 9780367895365 (hardback) | ISBN
9780367895341 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003019688 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Journalism–Social aspects. | Journalism–Political
aspects. | Press and politics. | Journalists–Job stress. |
Journalists–Crimes against. | Journalism–Objectivity.
Classification: LCC PN4749 .C75 2021 | DDC 070.9–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020033346
ISBN: 9780367895365 (hbk)
ISBN: 9780367895341 (pbk)
ISBN: 9781003019688 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Taylor & Francis Books
CONTENTS

List of illustrations x

List of contributors xi

Acknowledgments xviii

Introduction: Theorizing critical incidents in journalism across the globe 1

Joy Jenkins, Edson C. Tandoc Jr., Ryan J. Thomas and Oscar Westlund
SECTION I

Conceptualizing Critical Incidents 13

1.1 Critical incident as a construct in journalism studies 15

Paul D’Angelo

1.2 Journalistic critical incidents as boundary making and the

making of boundaries around critical incidents 28

Matt Carlson
SECTION II

Characteristics of Journalistic Work 43

2.1 Peeling or plagiarizing? A Danish media scandal as an incident

of re-instating boundaries in the grey zones of “good”

journalistic citing practices 45

Jannie Møller Hartley, Maria Bendix Wittchen and

Mark Blach-Ørsten
viii Contents
2.2 The voices of Aleppo: Re-evaluating US journalistic practices

for news coverage of children during the Syrian Civil War 57

Jeanna Sybert

2.3 Reporting when the current media system is at stake:

Explaining news coverage about the initiative on the abolition

of public service broadcasting in Switzerland 71

Linards Udris, Mark Eisenegger, Daniel Vogler, Andrea Häuptli and

Lisa Schwaiger

2.4 “You can’t run away from the truth”: Journalistic reflections

of enduring injustices that shape news-making in Kenya 85

Irene Awino

2.5 Mexico’s 2006 Drug War and its impacts on newsroom

practices: From violence to anonymity and self-censorship 99

Manuel Chavez

2.6 (Re)telling the story: Is the Rwanda genocide a critical

incident in journalism? 109

Florence Madenga

2.7 False accusations in a school: A critical incident in Brazilian

journalism 25 years later 119

Rafael Grohmann, Felipe Moura de Oliveira and Moreno Osorio

SECTION III

Communities Engaging in Interpretation 127

3.1 Critical incidents and auto-analysis: Photojournalists’

introspections while covering the drug war in the Philippines 129

Ma. Diosa Labiste

3.2 Boundary work on media freedom after the phone hacking

scandal in the United Kingdom 139

Binakuromo Ogbebor

3.3 United in protest: Coverage of attacks against journalists in the

2019 Hong Kong demonstrations as a critical incident 152

James Zhang and Joy Jenkins

3.4 Save the Children UK’s #blogladesh campaign and the change

in humanitarian reporting 166

Glenda Cooper
Contents ix
3.5 Lives and livestreaming: Negotiating social media boundaries

in the Christchurch terror attack in New Zealand 178

Matthew Chew and Edson C. Tandoc Jr.

SECTION IV

Consequences of Critical Incidents 190

4.1 Cross-border investigative collaboration on the surviving

stories: The Forbidden Stories 191

Maria Konow-Lund and Eva-Karin Olsson

4.2 The Spiegel Affair, 1962: The incident that changed German

journalism history and mediatized politics 203

Thomas Birkner and Sebastian Mallek

4.3 From disruptive power to trapped endurance: Egypt’s

journalistic agency after the Tahrir Revolution 216

Hanan Badr

4.4 An uncritical incident?: Journalism and Indigenous deaths in

custody in Australia 230

David Nolan and Lisa Waller

5 Critical incidents in journalism: Conceptualization,

characteristics, communities, and consequences 244

Ryan J. Thomas, Edson C. Tandoc Jr., Oscar Westlund and

Joy Jenkins

Index 261