"High-quality news is important, not only for its own sake but also for its political implications. However, defining, operationalizing, and measuring news media quality is difficult, because evaluative criteria depend upon beliefs about the ideal society, which are inherently contested. This concep
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tual and methodological paper outlines important considerations for defining news media quality before developing and applying a multimethod approach to measure it. We refer to Giddens’ notion of double hermeneutics, which reveals that the ways social scientists understand constructs inevitably interact with the meanings of these constructs shared by people in society. Reflecting the two-way relationship between society and social sciences enables us to recognize news media quality as a dynamic, contingent, and contested construct and, at the same time, to reason our understanding of news media quality, which we derive from Habermas’ ideal of deliberative democracy. Moreover, we investigate the Swiss media system to showcase our measurement approach in a repeated data collection from 2017 to 2020. We assess the content quality of fifty news media outlets using four criteria derived from the deliberative ideal (N=20,931 and 18,559 news articles and broadcasting items, respectively) and compare the results with those from two representative online surveys (N=2,169 and 2,159 respondents). The high correlations between both methods show that a deliberative understanding of news media quality is anchored in Swiss society and shared by audiences. This paper shall serve as a showcase to reflect and measure news media quality across other countries and media systems." (Abstract)
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"In order to build good international relationships, Public Diplomacy (PD) requires a precise and complete understanding of who and what makes up a country’s image. However, previous research lacks a theoretical and methodological framework that allows for the systematic collection and analysis of
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the opinions of foreign publics to analyze the whole picture of a country. This study discusses the concept of public opinion and country image formation and takes into consideration different measurement models. On this basis, a new, innovative, integrative country image listening and measurement instrument for public diplomacy is introduced. The new model integrates different components of country image and highlights the importance of formative and summative evaluation, while considering contextual factors influencing country image formation. This instrument allows the strategic analysis of how public diplomacy communication and various publics contribute to the formation of country images. We demonstrate the value of the integrated country image measurement instrument by analyzing the Swiss country image via a multimethod approach, principally through analyzing and integrating data from public opinion survey studies, international news coverage and Google Trends as a way to assess the international perception of a country. First, on the output level, we analyze high reach media outlets in five countries (Germany, France, Italy, UK, and US) with a codebook that allows for analysis of the news agenda about Switzerland in the countries abroad with respect to the five country image dimensions. Second, on the outcome level, we use a survey study in the five countries, combining a standardized instrument for measuring country image with open survey questions about general associations, strengths, weaknesses and recalled news media surrounding Switzerland. In addition, we use structural equation modeling to calculate the value drivers of the Swiss country image, to find out what the key components that shape the country image dimensions are. In order to look at conative outcomes, we further analyze google searches in the respective countries, as trace data can give empirical proofs for the statements of respondents and bring valuable insights on digital media as a new information source. Finally, we analyze the overall country reputation in each of the countries and align the results with the content analysis and survey studies. The study gives public diplomacy actors valuable insights into the use of mixed method approaches when measuring country images and exploring the importance of “listening” and so giving special attention to different types of publics, units and research methods." (Abstract)
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"Diana Ingenhoff und Alexander Buhmann führen in den aktuellen Forschungs- und Wissensstand zu Public Diplomacy und insbesondere zu Landesimages ein. Sie reflektieren dabei Fragen der Messung, En
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tstehung und Gestaltung von Landesimages und geben Antworten auf die folgenden Leitfragen: Welche Aspekte/Dimensionen eines Landes sind wichtig für sein Image und wie entsteht es? Welches sind die für die Imagebildung wirksamen Kanäle? Welche Handlungsrelevanz und Wirksamkeit hat das Landesimage? Wie lässt sich die Wirksamkeit von Public Diplomacy und Landeskommunikation messen und evaluieren? Das Buch dokumentiert und diskutiert die facettenreiche Literatur zu Landesimages und Public Diplomacy. Es enthält zahlreiche Abbildungen, ein Glossar und ein Register und fördert damit den Dialog zwischen Forschung und Praxis." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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