Truth Talk
NUI Galway
Teaching Journalism in a "Post-Truth" Era - Case Studies in Combating Disinformation: Practical Examples of Positioning Journalists to Report in Environment Hostile to Facts and Truth View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jim Carney
On October 8th, 2021 at the 5th Annual Conference of Communication and Media Studies, a panel discussion with seasoned Journalism professors from diverse and prestigious Journalism programs discussed the challenges of preparing new, professional journalists. Specifically, the difficulty in teaching journalists to report in environments where facts and truth are increasingly considered unnecessary. This follow-up paper checks in with those Journalism educators and presents specific examples of Journalism programs throughout the United States and globally, that are responding to the increasing use of misleading, false and malicious information through saturated media. The frustrations and obstacles - and techniques enlisted to overcome them - are presented in a multimedia format, and illustrate the successes and lessons learned by young journalists. It illustrates the challenges faced, and tools available for the reporting of News that is meaningful and constructive to promoting democracy and civil societies. Specific examples ranging from grass-roots coverage of hyper-local school board elections in America's suburbs, to coverage of elections resulting in the regime change in the Far East are discussed.
Featured Irish Soft Power in Northern Irish Protestant Communities: How Mediated Political Discourse is Changing Perspectives on Irish Reunification in Historically-opposed Communities View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Seán Hickey
This paper outlines my research findings into how Irish and British political discourses are interpreted in Northern Irish Protestant communities. My project details how, over the last decade, Irish soft power has grown in influence in Northern Ireland and what impact that has had on people from communities ideologically-opposed to Irish political and social discourse. In this research, a discourse analysis of the Belfast Telegraph was conducted to understand mediated narratives related to topics of Brexit, same-sex marriage legislation in Ireland and abortion legislation in Ireland. Findings are then dissected with focus group participants ranging in age and background, but all from the Northern Irish Protestant, Unionist and/or Loyalist communities. This presentation then details the findings from these focus groups, which demonstrated how a drop in support for unionist/loyalist politics in the NI Protestant community comes both from a crumbling in consensus unionist politics and from a deepening complexity in cultural and political identity in Northern Ireland. Most significantly however, my research finds that participants found Irish politics and politicians to be comparatively far more reasoned and tolerant than British or Northern Irish discourses, and unionist-leaning media coverage in fact does little to instil support for its cause, rather solidifies the position of Irish soft power. The study thus concludes that whilst NI mediated political discourse hasn't quite shifted the electorate to a pro-reunification stance, Irish soft power messaging has made significant ground in detoxifying and reshaping reunification narratives and debates.
Competitive Analysis of South Korean Real Variety Show: Case Study of Grandpas over Flowers View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Pei Tsai, Ming-Jay Chang
The “real variety show” is a new genre of TV format created in Korea by combining local variety shows and imported reality shows. Grandpas over Flowers has a competitive advantage in terms of intellectual property in the following three key factors of reality shows: casting, setting, and editing. First, Grandpa over Flowers has been innovative since its planning phase. A new element of “old people” was introduced to the common formula of backpacking programs. Producer Na Young-seok followed “the logic of subtraction” and focused only on the essentials of the program, which means “people” who are travelling. The programs were able to present contrasts between the actors’ true personal feelings and their public images on TV. Secondly, the role of the “scriptwriter” was stressed in the variety show. The documentary clips in the “live variety show” were enhanced with a moving plot, and the “scriptwriter” who knows how to “tell good stories” can successfully create a personality for each character in the variety show that appeals to the audience. Thirdly, innovation was integrated in both production and post-production. Hidden cameras were used to capture the most realistic and natural appearance of the actors and to create surprises and add more fun. The editors sifted out interesting clips from the vast amount of raw footage so as not to miss any trivial laughing moments. Subtitles were no longer “just subtitles”, but were specially designed so that they can express emotions, narrate as hosts, or invite the audience into a dialogue.
