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.
AndrewsP (2003) Is blogging journalism?Nieman ReportsFall: 63.
3.
BerkowitzDTerKeurstJV (1999) Community as interpretive community: Rethinking the journalistic-source relationship. Journal of Communication49(3): 125–136.
4.
BloodR (2003) Weblogs and journalism: Do they connect?Nieman ReportsFall: 61–63.
5.
ChanJLeeCC (1991) Mass Media and Political Transition: The Hong Kong Press in China’s Orbit. New York: Guilford Press.
6.
ChanJLeePLeeCC (1996) Hong Kong Journalists in Transition. Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
7.
CheungASY (2003) Self-Censorship and the Struggle for Press Freedom in Hong Kong. The Hague: Kluwer Law International.
8.
DahlgrenP (2005) The internet, public spheres and political communication: Dispersion and deliberation. Political Communication22: 147–162.
9.
DeuzeM (2005) What is journalism? Professional identity and ideology of journalists reconsidered. Journalism6(4): 442–464.
10.
DvorakJC (2006) The YouTube phenomenon. PC Magazine, August.
11.
FungAYH (2007) Political economy of Hong Kong media: Producing a hegemonic voice. Asian Journal of Communication17(2): 159–171.
12.
JankowskiNW (2002) Community Media in the Information Age: Perspectives and Prospects. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
13.
JonesJHimelboimI (2010) Just a guy in pajamas? Framing the blogs in mainstream US newspaper coverage (1999–2005). New Media & Society12(2): 271–288.
14.
HempeiJ (2005) Are bloggers journalists?Business Week, 7March.
15.
KimH (2005) Blogs as the new media on the internet. Review of Communication5(2–3): 100–108.
16.
KuAS (2001) The ‘public’ up against the state: Narrative cracks and credibility crisis in postcolonial Hong Kong. Theory, Culture and Society18(1): 121–144.
LeeFLF (2007) Strategic interaction, cultural co-orientation and press freedom in Hong Kong. Asian Journal of Communication17(2): 134–147.
19.
LeeFLFChanJM (2008) Professionalism, political orientation, and perceived self-censorship: A survey study of Hong Kong journalists. Issues and Studies44(1): 205–238.
20.
LeeFLFChanJM (2009) Organizational production of self-censorship in the Hong Kong media. International Journal of Press/Politics14(1): 112–133.
21.
LeeFLFChanJMSoCYK (2004) Press freedom and the politics of objective journalism in post-handover Hong Kong. Paper presented at ICA, New Orleans.
22.
LeungK (1999) How free is the press of Hong Kong: 1997 and after? In: ChowLFanYK (eds) The Other Hong Kong Report (1998). Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press.
23.
LowreyW (2006) Mapping the journalism-blogging relationship. Journalism7(4): 477–500.
24.
McKinnonR (2008) Blogs and China correspondence: Lessons about global information flows. Chinese Journal of Communication1(2): 242–257.
25.
MaEFungA (2007) Negotiating local and national identifications: Hong Kong identity survey 1996–2006. Asian Journal of Communication17(2): 172–185.
26.
MathesonD (2004) Weblogs and the epistemology of the news: Some trends in online journalism. New Media & Society6(4): 443–468.
27.
Mingpao (1998) Media dares to attack the SAR, but scared of offending central. Mingpao, 27December, A3.
28.
PavlikJ (2001) Journalism and New Media. New York: Columbia University Press.
29.
PriceCJ (2006) Self-censorship and influence in journalism: An examination of network television news and newsmagazine correspondents. In: MusaBAPriceCJ (eds) Emerging Issues in Contemporary Journalism: Infotainment, Internet, Libel, Censorship, Et Cetera. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press.
ShoemakerPJReeseSD (1996) Mediating the Message: Theories of Influences on Mass Media Content. New York: Longman.
34.
SingerJ (2003) Who are these guys? The online challenge to the notion of journalistic professionalism. Journalism4(2): 139–163.
35.
SoCYKChanJM (2007) Professionalism, politics and market force: Survey studies of Hong Kong journalists 1996–2006. Asian Journal of Communication17(2): 148–158.
36.
SoloskiJ (1989) News reporting and professionalism: Some constraints on the reporting of the news. Media, Culture & Society11(2): 207–228.
37.
TambiniD (1999) New media and democracy: The civic networking movement. New Media & Society1(3): 305–329.
38.
ThorsenE (2008) Journalistic objectivity redefined? Wikinews and the neutral point of view. New Media & Society10(6): 935–954.
39.
ThurmanN (2008) Forums for citizen journalists? Adoption of user generated content initiatives by online news media. New Media & Society10(1): 139–157.
40.
TuchmanG (1978) Making News: A Study in the Construction of Reality. New York: Collier Macmillan.
41.
WallM (2004) Blogs as black market journalism: A new paradigm for news. Interface: The Journal of Education, Community and Values. Available at: bcis.pacificu.edu/journal/2004/02/wall.php
42.
WallM (2005) ‘Blogs of war’: Weblogs as news. Journalism6(2): 153–172.
43.
WinogradMHaisMD (2008) Millennial Makeover: Myspace, YouTube, and the Future of American Politics. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
44.
ZelizerB (1993) Journalists as interpretive communities. Critical Studies in Mass Communication10(3): 219–237.
