Culture as Constitutive: An exploration of audience and journalist perceptions of journalism in Samoa

Culture as Constitutive:

An exploration of audience and journalist perceptions of journalism in Samoa

Abstract

Much research implicitly suggests that journalism values arise from culturally removed organizational structures or shared occupational training and few studies examine the perspective of journalism from both audiences and journalists. These omissions are important given the essentiality of mutually constructed and culturally embedded normative behaviours within journalism. This research examines audiences and journalists in Samoa, a recently independent, post-colonial, country that relies upon a very traditional, shared national identity for its relatively nascent cohesion. This study aims to gain a better understanding of how local culture can set parameters and expectations for journalism; how journalists negotiate culture into their own professional ideology; and how audiences understand journalism within a cultural context.
Key Words

Culture, Journalism, Audience, Journalist, Hierarchy of Influences Model