Journal Description
Newspaper Research Journal (NRJ) is a refereed journal published quarterly that reaches thousands of journalism students, scholars, and media professionals in the United States and internationally.
Founded in 1979, NRJ answers questions about all aspects of US and foreign newspapers: their content, their staffs, their management (including advertising, circulation, and production) and economics, their technology, their design and layout, their relationships with their communities and democracy, their relationships with journalism educators, journalism ethics, and more. All research methodologies and all relevant theories are welcome.
NRJ is the official journal of the Newspaper and Online News Division (NOND) of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC).
This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Journal Feed
- by Olanrewaju O. P. AjakaiyeNewspaper Research Journal, Ahead of Print. There is a known fact that the public depends largely on the media for information. However, such information might not have been perceived rightly as sent by the media. Hence, the objective of this study is to examine the extent to which information on the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic containment policy flows from the government to the public through the pages of newspapers. Aside from examining how these policies were framed, it seeks to also find out if Nigerians perceived the coverage by newspapers as relevant for them to comply with them. Adopting a […]
- by Ruth J. HeoNewspaper Research Journal, Ahead of Print. The extended parallel process model summarizes the positive impact of threat and efficacy messages on behavioral intentions. In news contexts, research to date shows national journalists emphasize threat information and neglect efficacious information. Findings show U.S. university student journalists emphasized efficacy rather than threats countering past content analysis research. We also found environmental and sustainability communities of practice did not predict threat and efficacy information, but topics did.
- by Dorothy BlandNewspaper Research Journal, Ahead of Print.
- by Junghyun MoonNewspaper Research Journal, Ahead of Print. Amid widespread skepticism about news media actors and journalistic practices, questions about citizens’ use of and dependency upon mainstream news media remain ripe for investigation. This research is designed to deepen an understanding of the concept of Perceived News Media Importance (PNMI) and consider it as a factor undergirding contemporary newspaper use. To this end, this study draws on the frameworks of uses and gratifications (U&G) and media system dependency theory for orienting an understanding of PNMI and its role in motivating newspaper use. Furthermore, based on the theoretical assumption that individuals’ various needs […]
- by Kimberly A. LaufferNewspaper Research Journal, Ahead of Print.
- by Marc EdgeNewspaper Research Journal, Ahead of Print.
- by Patrick WaltersNewspaper Research Journal, Ahead of Print.
- by AdekamwaNewspaper Research Journal, Ahead of Print.
- by Stefanie E. Davis KemptonNewspaper Research Journal, Ahead of Print. In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court dissolved federal protection for a woman’s right to an abortion and gave each individual state control over abortion laws. The ruling caused a media frenzy, with news outlets across the United States and the world reporting on the ground-breaking decision. The present study employs a textual analysis of this news coverage in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, paying special attention to the people interviewed as news sources. News sources were placed into categories based on occupation and gender and the frequency by which […]
- by Shenid BhayrooNewspaper Research Journal, Ahead of Print. This research applies framing theory and basic quantitative content methods to analyze the New York Times coverage of the 1959 Cuban Revolution, in order to examine assertions that New York Times stories contributed to Fidel Castro’s victory. Specifically, the study analyzes datelines, bylines, types of sources and story framing in all the stories about Cuba published on the front page of the New York Times between January 1, 1957, and December 31, 1962. The findings of this research contest long-held claims that the New York Times stories, in particular those written by reporter Herbert […]
- by Sima BhowmikNewspaper Research Journal, Ahead of Print. While peace journalism is an often-evoked concept in academic and journalism industry literature, its exact definition remains rather elusive. This study utilizes a theoretical framework of metajournalistic discourse to understand how practitioners define peace journalism and identify its related practices. Results show that peace journalism is constructed with advocacy in mind. We argue the concepts of peace journalism and traditional journalism are not adversaries, but rather complementary.
- by Jessica F. SparksNewspaper Research Journal, Ahead of Print. Despite calls for journalists and media agencies to address a disconnect between news audiences and news prose, content continues to increase in its difficulty to read and comprehend for the masses. While readability is often associated with audience comprehension and engagement, studies have neglected to assess whether readability is a factor in audience assessments of the credibility of content. Using an online experimental design, this study examines whether readability acts as a heuristic that helps news consumers make credibility judgments of news. Results show that readability tends not to be a predictor of credibility […]
- by Kyser LoughNewspaper Research Journal, Ahead of Print. This study examines media trust and how members of the public perceive and value various journalistic roles using a nationally representative survey (n = 1,026) to redefine and confirm how the American public places significant value on the contextualist role of journalism. The individual journalistic functions that make up contextual reporting are also highly valued. Media trust is primarily predicted by overall journalistic role perception, even above ideological views, but not for the contextualist role.
- by Rich G. JohnsonNewspaper Research Journal, Ahead of Print. News organizations increasingly utilize visual elements to communicate news and information to audiences. Digital editing technology allows producers to enhance visual communication through the addition of supplementary text or filters to photos. Such metacommunication can alter the intrinsic meaning of a photograph while increasing audience engagement. Traditional photojournalism norms state that images should not be altered. This study examines whether metacommunicative news images receive more engagement and whether some outlets are more likely than others to share such images.
- by J. Ian TennantNewspaper Research Journal, Ahead of Print.
- Dave Hoekstra, Beacons in the Darkness: Hope and Transformation Among America’s Community Newspapersby Dane S. ClaussenNewspaper Research Journal, Volume 45, Issue 1, Page 123-125, March 2024.
- by Vernando Yanry LamekyNewspaper Research Journal, Volume 45, Issue 1, Page 122-123, March 2024.
- Newspaper Research Journal, Volume 45, Issue 1, Page 3-6, March 2024.
- by Thomas J. HrachNewspaper Research Journal, Ahead of Print. The U.S. news media has been under pressure to avoid reporting the names of the perpetrators of mass shootings. This research shows a connection between the number of people killed in a mass shooting and the number of times the news media report the perpetrators’ name. It shows that from 2012 to 2021 the news media heeded the call to limit the number of times the name of a mass shooter was reported.
- by William SingletonNewspaper Research Journal, Ahead of Print. This study examines how Black journalists in local legacy newspapers, digital startup media and historically Black newspapers have expressed journalistic objectivity and enacted journalistic roles. Findings showed more neutral coverage in historically white media, which was expected, while coverage in the historically Black newspaper and the digital startup reflected an advocacy role—one that did not fit within the four expected roles. Also, a “clarifier” role emerged in which journalists encouraged local protest groups to distinguish their identities.