Marju Himma-Kadakas

Karlstads Universitet · Department of Geography, Media and Communication

Several studies have shown the effect of information activism and microinterventions, such as I Am Here International, the Elves and #NAFO to combat information disorder and hate online. Nevertheless, microinterventions have yet to be conceptualised in promoting media and information literacy (MIL) and informational resilience. This study positions...

This study examines the perceived relevance and implementation of competing normative ideals in journalism in times of increasing use of digital technology in newsrooms. Based on survey and content analysis data from 37 countries, we found a small positive relationship between the use of digital research tools and “watchdog” performance. However, a...

The impact of socio-political variables on journalism is an ongoing concern of comparative research on media systems and professional cultures. However, they have rarely been studied systematically across diverse cases, particularly outside Western democracies, and existing studies that compare western and non-western contexts have mainly focused o...

This study tests the potential of using the QUEST model in science communication teaching and applying the model in planning communication and dissemination (C&D) activities for research applications. Based on the training analysis, we reason that the QUEST model provides relevant criteria for understanding the function of science communication. We...

This paper examines journalistic role performance in coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, based on a content analysis of newspaper, television, radio and online news in 37 countries. We test a set of hypotheses derived from two perspectives on the role of journalism in health crises. Mediatization theories assume that news media tend to sensationaliz...

p>Studies suggest that, at the routine level, news beats function as unique “micro-cultures.” Exploring this “particularist” approach in news content, we compare how the interventionist, watchdog, loyal, service, infotainment, and civic roles materialize across 11 thematic news beats and analyze the moderating effect of platforms, ownership, and le...

p>Studies suggest that, at the routine level, news beats function as unique “micro-cultures.” Exploring this “particularist” approach in news content, we compare how the interventionist, watchdog, loyal, service, infotainment, and civic roles materialize across 11 thematic news beats and analyze the moderating effect of platforms, ownership, and le...

Studies suggest that, at the routine level, news beats function as unique “micro-cultures.” Exploring this “particularist” approach in news content, we compare how the interventionist, watchdog, loyal, service, infotainment, and civic roles materialize across 11 thematic news beats and analyze the moderating effect of platforms, ownership, and leve...

The shifting role of journalism in a digital age has affected long-standing journalistic norms across media platforms. This has reinvigorated discussion on how work in online newsrooms compares to other platforms that differ in media affordances and forms. Still, more studies are needed on whether those differences translate into distinct practices...

This study investigates journalists’ self-censorship and introduces a phenomenon of unperceived collective self-censorship that demands a combination of detection methods. We conducted a content analysis of media critique texts (N=156) that discuss attacks on Estonian journalism. These results were combined with the content analysis of journalistic...

This research briefly analyses Swedish and Estonian laws, journalistic codes of ethics, and newsroom guidelines that set the foundation for minors (not) being interviewed as news sources. Textual analysis of such documents shows that regardless of minors’ right to free expression, minors are mostly addressed only in victims’ roles, prioritizing pro...

While traditional media often fails to engage young audiences with news, YouTubers’ content gains popularity and attracts attention with specific stylistic practices. Based on dimensions of audience engagement and a worthwhileness approach, this article examines how young audiences engage with YouTubers’ formats and genres used in news media produc...

The study presented in this article demonstrates journalists' abilities to debunk mis-, dis-and malinformation in everyday work situations. It shows how journalists use core skills and competencies to verify the information and it describes why false information evades the journalistic filter and gets published. We combined semi-structured intervie...

This paper explores the change in Estonian media organizations’ readiness to cooperate with freelance journalists. The interviews with editors of newsrooms of magazines, newspapers, and radio and television broadcasters were conducted in 2014 and 2019. The findings were additionally tested in the conditions of the Covid-19 crisis in 2020. The paper...

Traditional news media are not engaging young audiences and there has been a decline in the number of consumers of traditional media. The main news sources for teenagers in Europe and North-America are social media and friends. Our research project outlines YouTubers’ content production strategies in order to apply them in conventional news content...

Traditional news media are not engaging young audiences and there has been a decline in the number of consumers of traditional media. The main news sources for teenagers in Europe and North-America are social media and friends. Our research project outlines YouTubers' content production strategies in order to apply them in conventional news content...

The aim of this doctoral thesis is to analyze the role of skills and competencies in online journalistic practice in terms of aspects of 1) outlining the expectations and actual performance of journalists in relation to the work processes involved in online journalism; 2) showing the skill performance that is behind online journalistic content in r...

Multi-mediality has created the notion that online journalists need to be multi-skilled. This argument often ignores skill performance in the media production cycle. We used the parameters of media, technical, and issue multi-skilling as a framework to analyze multi-skilling practices in Estonian online newsrooms. We conducted in-depth interviews w...

Processing information into journalistic content in contemporary news media creates a favorable environment for the distribution of misleading and fake information. This paper analyzes the distribution of alternative facts and fake news as a phenomenon characterizing post-fact society and how journalistic work processes may promote and legitimize t...

While the overall readership of newspapers is growing as a result of the multiplatform reach, many online media consumers are not offered the surplus value they expect of journalistic content. Since a great deal of journalistic content published on the internet has been free of charge for years, attempting to monetarise this content is now proving...

Immediacy and 24-hour deadline have been inseparable while characterizing online as a medium or news production process. Though both assets are intrinsic for the online, research of the impact of immediacy and time acceleration is in need of complementation. Online as a medium has changed the work routines of journalists and this in turn has had im...

A distinction should be made between institutional media accountability and journalistic accountability. Th e latter individualizes the accountability of media organizations and enables the public to see the individual journalist (with his own ideas, sense of moral values) instead of a homogeneous mass that fits into the corporate journalistic syst...