Interpreting news values in j-blogs: Case studies of journalist bloggers in post-1997 Hong Kong

Abstract

This study aims to arrive at a contextualized understanding of the perspectives of a small group of Hong Kong journalist bloggers regarding a wide range of media issues. In addition to analyzing how they interpret news values in post-1997 Hong Kong, it also discusses how j-blogs can facilitate a new form of ‘interpretive community’.

Together with in-depth interviews with eight journalist bloggers, this study analyzes 1044 blog posts written by them over a period of two years. Findings show how journalist bloggers narrated their personal and work lives, and identified recurring themes from these j-blogs. It argues that journalist bloggers have used blogs to make sense of their journalistic lives and professional ideology. Despite a lack of active interactions, j-blogs have cultivated a space for journalists to share narratives that are deemed to be important to their personal and professional lives. In this regard, journalist blogs are facilitating a new form of interpretive community. Within this community, journalists are able to deliberate core news values in the Hong Kong context.