Journalistiek en het WWW

Due to the growing influence of the Internet, the traditional field of journalism has been altered in many ways. An important development is the rise of ‘citizen journalism’, referring to the contributions of citizens in the publication of news. In this master’s thesis, the ways in which the Internet is used in professional journalism are compared to the ways in which citizen journalists use the Internet. Motives for Internet usage by both sectors were also taken into account. Based on the dichotomy of interpreting communication as means for ‘transmission’ or as ‘ritual’, stemming from the field of Communication Studies, the concept of Internet usage was operationalized by analysing whether the Internet was used for ‘references’ or for ‘sending information’ (communication in the sense of ‘transmission’) versus using the Internet as a means for ‘collaboration’ (communication in the sense of ‘ritual’). In an empirical study, five professional journalists and five citizen journalists were interviewed about their Internet usage. Discourse analysis of the interviews resulted in several discourses concerning journalism on the Internet. A comparative analysis of Internet usage by professional journalists and by citizen journalists showed that the ‘transmission’ internet profile and the ‘ritual’ internet profile exist among journalists and that both profiles occur randomly in professional and citizen journalism. Professional journalists use the Internet mainly for its effectiveness concerning information gathering, whereas citizen journalists have more specified, individual motives for Internet use, such as the need to express opinions or to find a stage for their ideas.