Comunicação e Sociedade, vol. 44

Deadline: April 15, 2023

Thematic editors: Sandra Marinho (CECS, Universidade do Minho, Portugal), Luís Miguel Loureiro (CECS, Universidade do Minho, Portugal), and Dolors Palau Sampio (Universitat de València, Espanha)

The concept of quality applied to journalism has a tradition in the scientific field of journalism and communication studies. However, over the last few years, due to the economic and technological transformations in the media ecosystem -in which journalism operates- this debate has gained renewed interest, seeking solutions or strategies that allow understanding and addressing numerous issues. These include the need for new business models or the sustainability of journalism (according to the theoretical perspectives of this argument), the fight against misinformation, the relationship of journalism and the production of journalistic narratives with formal professional sources (consultancies, public relations) or informal ones (spin doctors) or even the profound changes in the dynamics of newsrooms and work routines.

As a widely discussed concept in the literature, the quality of journalism has proven to be a complex topic. On the one hand, this feature represents an epistemological challenge and creates difficulties in its practical implementation (but does not make it impossible, as research in the area has shown). On the other hand, it gives it the flexibility, often necessary when it comes to changing ecosystems, to acquire the capacity to operate and articulate that other concepts, often related to it, have, such as the concept of credibility. 

As the range of themes that can be addressed within the framework of a debate on the quality of journalism is vast, proposals on the following topics will be especially appreciated. These may be literature reviews (including systematic literature reviews) or research work exploring the concept of quality of journalism (or its dimensions) through the measurement of its indicators:

-        the debate on the concept of quality of journalism, within its complexity and its dimensions;

-        the quality of journalism within the (wider) ecosystem of the quality of information;

-        the quality of journalism from the critical analysis of journalistic production as a production of discourse;

-        the quality of journalism from the social role of journalism, namely the public service perspective (sometimes, but not exclusively, discussed concerning "market" perspectives) in democracies;

-        the quality of journalism based on the public and the audience

-        the quality of journalism according to the characteristics and attributes of its products or services;

-        the quality of journalism perceived from its organisational dimension, namely the journalistic production routines and the journalists' working conditions (physical and emotional);

-        the quality of journalism as a strategic investment, enabling sustainability models for journalistic practices;

-        the ethical dimension as a variable of quality in journalism. 

KEY DATES

Proposals submission (full manuscript): April 15, 2023

Publication: continuous publication between July and December 2023 for this monographic

Language: Papers can be submitted in English or Portuguese. The articles selected for publication will be translated by the journal’s services into Portuguese or English, respectively, being published in both languages.

Comunicação e Sociedade is an open-access academic journal indexed in several databases, including SCOPUS.

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