Exploring Trust/Mistrust in Journalistic Practice: An Actor-network Analysis of a Kenyan Newsroom
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Date
2022-02-17
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Daystar University, School of Communication
Abstract
The entry of non-traditional actors into aspects of journalistic
practice has been widely explored in scholarship, as have
expressions of the public’s trust in journalistic work. However,
there is a scarcity of research addressing the construct of trust in
relation to the interactions among traditional and non-traditional
journalism actors engaged in news production. Through the use
of actor-network theory and by applying qualitative case study
design, this study focused on the nature of journalistic practice in
a digitally disrupted Kenyan newsroom, and how trust/mistrust
manifested itself within the actor-network of journalistic practice.
Theoretical and thematic analyses established the social and
technological actors that had joined the process of journalistic
practice while four findings emerged addressing notions of trust/
mistrust within the actor-network. These findings were as follows:
trust occurs within an established routinized process; trust is
enacted within a particular news media environment; new
entrants in journalistic practice need to demonstrate value to
gain trusted entry in the actor-network; and trust is engendered
at institutional level but needs acceptance at individual level.
Description
Journal Article
Keywords
Trust/Mistrust in Journalistic Practice, Actor-network Analysis, Kenyan Newsroom
Citation
Wambui Wamunyu (2022): Exploring Trust/Mistrust in Journalistic Practice: An Actor-network Analysis of a Kenyan Newsroom, African Journalism Studies, DOI: 10.1080/23743670.2022.2026430