Expanding the scope of paradigmatic research in journalism studies: The case of early mainstream Israeli journalism and its discontents

Abstract

This article argues that existing scholarship on paradigmatic crises in journalism neglects some of the fundamental dynamics that were explored in Kuhn’s original work. In order to fully conceptualize the creation and alteration of news paradigms, journalism scholars ought to study ‘paradigmatic challenges’: the multifaceted ways by which journalistic communities react to planned, methodical, and continuous challenges that offer comprehensive paradigmatic alternatives to existing core professional convictions. To operationalize this research interest, the article explores a salient case study: the multi-dimensional response of early Israeli mainstream journalism to the paradigmatic challenge posed by the radical and sensational weekly Haolam Hazeh.