The current iteration of the information disorder has created several challenges for news organis... more The current iteration of the information disorder has created several challenges for news organisations, not least exacerbated pressure to identify, rapidly, false and fabricated content, which has found new impetus through social media. In the current context, the imperative is also, for many journalists, to maintain their authority as truth providers. However, when journalists, themselves, contribute to the dissemination of false information, adhering to that imperative is compromised. Prior research (Bennett et al., 1985) has shown that the media may attempt to repair problematic news stories that fail to conform to expectations of fairness, accuracy, and quality by reaffirming the boundaries of what is acceptable journalistic practice. This paper examines the case of French news outlets falsely reporting the arrest of Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès, a man suspected of murdering his family in April 2011. The analysis of metajournalistic discourse, or discourse about journalism, in news articles about the aftermath of the false scoop demonstrates that the French media repaired this news story through three main narrative strategies: minimisation, externalisation, and circumscription. By either mitigating their responsibility vis-à-vis this false story, distancing themselves from it, or presenting it as an isolated incident, news organisations normalise this example of journalistic misinformation as an unfortunate case of deviant professional practice in an otherwise mostly sound paradigm. However, limited reflection on greater implications for journalism and on how to prevent such shortcomings in future hint at the fact that the question of accountability is yet to form an intrinsic part of journalists’ professional identity in France.
The current iteration of the information disorder has created several challenges for news organis... more The current iteration of the information disorder has created several challenges for news organisations, not least exacerbated pressure to identify, rapidly, false and fabricated content, which has found new impetus through social media. In the current context, the imperative is also, for many journalists, to maintain their authority as truth providers. However, when journalists, themselves, contribute to the dissemination of false information, adhering to that imperative is compromised. Prior research (Bennett et al., 1985) has shown that the media may attempt to repair problematic news stories that fail to conform to expectations of fairness, accuracy, and quality by reaffirming the boundaries of what is acceptable journalistic practice. This paper examines the case of French news outlets falsely reporting the arrest of Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès, a man suspected of murdering his family in April 2011. The analysis of metajournalistic discourse, or discourse about journalism, in news articles about the aftermath of the false scoop demonstrates that the French media repaired this news story through three main narrative strategies: minimisation, externalisation, and circumscription. By either mitigating their responsibility vis-à-vis this false story, distancing themselves from it, or presenting it as an isolated incident, news organisations normalise this example of journalistic misinformation as an unfortunate case of deviant professional practice in an otherwise mostly sound paradigm. However, limited reflection on greater implications for journalism and on how to prevent such shortcomings in future hint at the fact that the question of accountability is yet to form an intrinsic part of journalists’ professional identity in France.
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Papers by Pauline Renaud