Tertius Tactics: ‘‘Mediated Social Capital’’ asa Resource of Power for TraditionalCommercial News Media
Kristy Hess
School of Communication and Creative Arts, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
This essay reconceptualizes ‘‘social capital’’ as it relates to scholarship regarding thetraditional news media. Much academic attention links the news media to Robert Putnam’sview which focuses on social capital as enhancing ‘‘civic pride’’ and collective/communityinvolvement. I suggest Putnam’s perspective is often adopted without wider exploration ofwhat the theory may offer the future of the commercial news media in western societies.This essay proposes the term ‘‘mediated social capital’’ may be a more suitable lens throughwhich to consider this theory, taking a cue from Pierre Bourdieu who views social capital asa resource of power that may be utilized to maintain or build a position of advantage.
doi:10.1111/comt.12005
The gathering and dissemination of news is changing as audiences fragment and newsoutlets struggle to compete in the burgeoning digital media world. The importanceof social connections to traditional media outlets has become increasingly part ofthe lexicon in scholarship deliberating their future via terms such as ‘‘interactivity,’’‘‘connectivity,’’ and ‘‘disconnection’’ (Batten, 2010; Dueze, 2010; Flew & Wilson,2008; Lister, Dovey, Giddings, Grant, & Kelly, 2003; Pavlik & McIntosh, 2004).Nolan, for example, argues ‘‘connectivity’’ means that journalists become less of anauthority and more of a guide and that the news media has not come to terms withthis shift (as cited in Bird, 2009), while former editor-in-chief of international newsagency Reuters, David Schlesinger, says a new way of looking at the news gatheringprocess is vital in this changing environment. He contends:
. . . The rules of today’s journalistic world are these: Knowing the story is notenough. Telling the story is only the beginning. The conversation about the storyis as important as the story itself. The more you look beyond the story forconnections, the more value you will have. And if you have value and no one elsedoes, you will get paid. Simple? No. But it is exciting and transforming.(Schlesinger, 2010)
This essay reconceptualizes the notion of social capital—the value or importanceof social connections—as it applies to scholarship about the news media. It respondsto the challenge issued by Kikuchi and Coleman (2012) to re-examine the theoreticalunderpinnings of social capital research articulated by its contemporary foundersPierre Bourdieu (1986) and James Coleman (1988, 1990) and deliberate how the roleand functions of communication might drive social capital. I suggest viewing socialcapital as a specific resource of power/advantage that commercial news organizationscan consciously invest in and develop for their own gain (Bourdieu, 1986), is themissing link in the scholarship to date. I draw largely on the work of Bourdieu and alsothe concept of brokerage offered by Ronald Burt (1992, 1997, 2005) to suggest the term‘‘mediated social capital’’ may be a more appropriate lens through which to considersocial capital as it relates to commercial news media in western society. I define‘‘mediated social capital’’ as a resource of power available to traditional, commercialnews media1 through its ability to connect people, consciously and unconsciously,across various social, economic, and cultural spaces and to link people with those inpositions of power. Such a view aims to address the divide between a rational choicemodel of social capital that considers this resource as an unintentional ‘‘by-product’’of individual self-interest (Coleman, 1990; Putnam, 2000) and the idea that thedevelopment of useful social connections requires endless effort at institutional leveland is highly historically and culturally contextual (Bourdieu, 1986).
This essay begins by providing an overview of the literature on social capital andits relationship to news media and journalism, which in itself offers an importantcontribution to the discussion as the concept is not often critically examined by thoselinking social capital to the news media field and the wider social space in whichit is situated. I suggest established frames of ‘‘bonding,’’ ‘‘bridging,’’ and ‘‘linking’’are useful for showing how mediated social capital can be considered a resourceof advantage to the news media. The essay uses exemplars, as well as extracts frominterviews with Australian journalists and editors, to outline some of the challengesand potentials this concept offers media researchers and the future of journalismpractice.
Social capital and the media—an overview
At its heart, social capital offers the view that social relations have productive benefits(Field, 2008) or that social networks matter (Putnam, 2002). Scholars have used theconcept to discuss how relationships within close networks and associated normsof trust, reciprocity, and goodwill foster benefits to individuals, communities, andeven entire nations (Coleman, 1988; Putnam, Leonardi, & Nanetti, 1993; Putnam,2000). In other research, social capital is considered to arise from ‘‘weak’’ connectionswhere distant ties may be particularly beneficial in fostering career advancement andbusiness productivity (Lin, Burt, & Cook, 2001; Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998). Fromeconomic sociology, for example, we gain the idea that social capital accrues from theinformation and control advantages of being a broker in relations between people
otherwise disconnected in social structure (Burt, 1992, 1997, 2005; Walker, Kogut,& Shan, 1997). I will explore these concepts shortly, but my entry point for this essayis to examine how social capital has been applied in discussions about traditional,commercial news media.
Much contemporary social capital thought can be traced to the scholarship ofJames Coleman, Pierre Bourdieu and Robert Putnam. While I advocate for a returnto the work of Bourdieu in conceptualizing ‘‘mediated social capital,’’ Colemanand Putnam provide the theoretical foundations for much of the existing researchlinking social capital to the commercial news media. Coleman borrowed liberallyfrom economic models, where ‘‘capital’’ refers to labor, forms of currency, stock, andpower, while social capital refers to the currency that results from the social networksthat humans enjoy and from the resources gleaned from relationships within suchnetworks (Kikuchi & Coleman, 2012). His view is embedded in rational choice theory,which suggests all social action can be seen as rationally motivated, as instrumentalto action (Fine & Lapavitsas, 2004; Scott, 2000). Coleman (1988) defined the conceptas:
. . . a particular kind of resource available to an actor. Social capital is defined byits function. It is not a single entity, but a variety of entities with two elements incommon: they all consist of some aspect of social structures, and they facilitatecertain actions of actors within the structure. Social capital inheres in thestructure of the relations between actors and among other actors. (p. 98)
Coleman did not discuss the news media, rather he focused on the benefit of‘‘close ties’’ in generating social capital such as the family and tight social networks.2
Like most scholars in the field, however, he recognized the importance of informationin generating social capital and in this way the news media may be seen to play a rolein providing the communications channels that assist individuals, communities, andfirms across wider society to accrue social capital. This has led to a widely establishedview that the media serve only as a door through which individuals and groups passen route to amass their own social capital, rather than exploring the news media’sability to control the information people use to connect with each other as a positionof power.
Those who examine social capital as it applies to the news media in some depthlargely draw on the scholarship of Robert Putnam—the most widely cited theoriston social capital. Putnam extended on Coleman’s early sketching of the theory, butinstead of focusing on the benefits of social capital to the individual, he emphasizedsocial capital as an attribute of ‘‘community’’ and ‘‘collectivity’’ itself (Portes, 2000).He defined social capital as ‘‘connections among individuals—social networks andthe norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them’’ (Putnam, 2000,p. 19) and linked the concept to a celebration of ‘‘civic pride,’’ ‘‘volunteerism,’’and ‘‘collective involvement.’’ Putnam had conflicting ideas about the media andsocial capital. On one hand, he is renowned for his critical views of broadcastmedia and online communications, declaring that social capital or civic engagement
in the United States had declined toward the end of the 20th century largely orcoincidently, because people were watching more TV, and viewing programs thatwere associated with civic disengagement (entertainment as oppose to news) (Putnam,2000). However, he considered newspaper readership, particularly outside big cities,positive indicator of community social capital as readers tended to belong to moreorganizations, participate more actively in clubs and civic associations, attend localmeetings, vote more regularly, volunteer, and work on community projects moreoften (Putnam, 2000, p. 218). In the past decade there has been an increasing body ofliterature that echoes Putnam’s views of newspapers and the notion of ‘‘community’’building, highlighting their more productive, positive function in generating civicpride, collective cohesion, and community ties (Jeffres, Lee, Neuendorf, & Atkin,2007; Kreuters, Young, & Lezin, 1998; McManamey, 2005; Mersey, 2009; Richards,2012). A study of more than 300 residents in a metropolitan area in the MidwesternUnited States (Jeffres et al., 2007), for example, found newspaper readers weremost involved in ‘‘community,’’ most attached to their neighborhoods and mostactive in discussing public affairs. Richards (2012) draws on Putnam in his studyof ‘‘local’’ media in Australia and Canada to suggest such outlets are influentialin facilitating community communication and hence contribute to regional socialcapital. Putnam’s research on declining social capital in the United States has alsobeen referenced by public journalism scholars who suggest journalism cannot remainviable unless public life remains viable (Batten, 2010; Friedland, Sotirovic, & Daily,1998; Friedland, 2004; Merritt, 1995; Rosen, 1999). Friedland speaks of civil societyas social capital and argues journalism does not create social capital, rather newsinstitutions are central community assets which might stimulate leadership networksand create environments for discussion (Friedland et al., 1998).
I suggest, however, there is scope to theorize how traditional commercial newsmedia might amass its own forms of social capital. This requires a shift from anentirely Putnam-centric notion that sees the media as enhancing civil society and‘‘community’’—an approach that is vulnerable to accusations of functionalism as ittends to overlook the fact that news outlets do not necessarily function identically forpeople or groups, disregards conflict, and tends not to acknowledge the importanceof context—social, political, and cultural—as an influence on all stages of thecommunication process (Watson & Hill, 2000, p. 149). Harrison, among others,argues the ideals and values behind a deliberative or discursive public sphere exist intension with the lived reality of journalistic activity, the exercise of power by largeorganizations and the pressures of the news media marketplace (Harrison, 2006,p. 88). Traditional commercial news media straddles both public and privatedomains. News is a business where operations are designed to maximize profits, yetnews media is also celebrated for its ability to serve as a ‘‘public good,’’ disseminatinginformation, bringing people together to facilitate action and serving a vital FourthEstate role—the idea of the press as part of society yet with its own role to scrutinizeand check power (Croteau & Hoynes, 2006; Hampton, 2010). In this way, the conceptof ‘‘mediated social capital’’ identifies an important gap in the literature as it offers
scope to consider social capital as a specific resource of power that comes from thenews media’s ability to control the information that brings people together and toconsciously and deliberately connect people across different social structures andacross both public and private domains. Importantly, it recognizes that this form ofsocial power does not always contribute to a socially cohesive society nor should itbe tied entirely to discussions pertaining to the public sphere ideal.
Laying the foundations of ‘‘mediated social capital’’—a return to Bourdieu
To build this concept then, I suggest a return to the work of Pierre Bourdieu ashe considers social capital to be one of several resources of power individuals andorganizations utilise to maintain or build a position of advantage. Bourdieu developedhis view of social capital from his earliest ethnological work in Kabylia and Bearn(Bourdieu, 2005, p. 2) where he examined the way villagers traded on the basis of theirsocial connections. Bourdieu (1986) defined social capital as ‘‘the aggregate of theactual or potential resources which are linked to possession of a durable network ofmore or less institutionalised relationships of mutual acquaintance and recognition’’(p. 248).
Unlike Putnam, Bourdieu did not focus on how social relations contributeto cohesion and social integration, but rather, his emphasis was on how groupssucceeded in accumulating social capital to maintain a position of advantage. Hecontended social capital was contextual and constructed, an idea set aside by bothColeman and Putnam (Fine, 2001, p. 17). While Bourdieu considered social capitalto be ‘‘inextricably’’ linked to economic capital, he argued it was inseparable fromseveral other resources used to create or maintain positions of advantage in specificsocial spaces of relationships, which he referred to as ‘‘fields’’ (Bourdieu, 1986). Heoutlined four types of capital; economic, cultural (embodied and/or objectified inthe form of cultural goods such as art work, and institutionalized such as academicqualifications), social, and symbolic (honor, prestige) (Bourdieu, 1986). He alsoreferred to the concept of ‘‘habitus’’ (or the structure of dispositions, tastes, practicalknow-how, second sense) that equips social actors in a particular field. (Bourdieu,1977).
In this respect, the concept of ‘‘mediated social capital’’ positions commercialnews media both as producers of social capital for its own gain and as regulatorsof its distribution across wider social space. Of course, we must first ascertain thatthe traditional commercial news media is indeed in a position of power to controlinformation and produce social capital for its own advantage in a competitive digitalworld. I have highlighted elsewhere (Hess, 2013) the strong body of scholarship thatconsiders the traditional news media to hold a privileged position in controllinginformation and constructing networks as the speed and quantity of material flowsincreases (Castells, 2010; Couldry, 2000; Massey, 1994; Morley, 2006). Couldry(2000) contends, for example, that accelerated flows of information and peoplealways involve ‘‘nodes’’ through which these flows pass: What matters, economically
and socially is where you are in relation to those nodes. Massey’s (1994) referenceto the ‘‘power geometry’’ of time-space compression is also useful to illustrate howdifferent social groups and different individuals are placed in distinct ways in relationto flows and interconnections. She, among others, argues the news media are amongthose who hold powerful positions in social flows and movement and can use thistime-space compression to their advantage (Massey, 1994; Morley, 2006; Couldry,2000). Bourdieu uses the concept of social space or fields rather than networks andinformation flows, but from his theoretical work, the news media may be consideredto wield a degree of symbolic power. He emphasizes that there can be ‘‘no symbolicpower without the symbolism of power’’ (Bourdieu, 1991, p. 75) which he describesas:
A power of constituting the given through utterances, of making people see andbelieve, of confirming or transforming the vision of the world and thus the worlditself, an almost magical power which enables one to obtain the equivalent ofwhat it obtained through force. (Bourdieu, 1991, p. 170)
Couldry (2000) highlights how symbolic power provides the news media withincredible influence to ‘‘construct reality’’ which is played out through practices atevery level of social interaction (Couldry, 2000, p. 4) and I will outline shortly howthis form of power helps the news media to construct symbolic meaning around itsnetworks in the spaces and places of information flow.
Forms of ‘‘mediated social capital’’
Bourdieu did not acknowledge various forms of social capital within a given networkthat provide different benefits or create weaknesses (Sandefur & Laumann, 1998),whereas others do. Coleman centered his discussions around the value of ‘‘closeties’’ and connections such as family members and friends as necessary for socialcapital accumulation. He makes a rare reference to newspapers in highlighting this,by arguing that a person who is not greatly interested in current affairs can savetime reading a newspaper by depending on a spouse or friends who pay attentionto such matters (Coleman, 1990). However, Putnam considered the news media,particularly newspapers, an example of ‘‘bridging’’ social capital in that it can helpconnect people across a range of diverse social, cultural, and economic backgrounds,as distinguished from ‘‘bonding’’ social capital which tends to reinforce exclusiveidentities and homogenous groups such as country clubs or church-based women’sreading groups (Putnam, 2000). Other researchers such as Woolcock expanded onthe idea of types of social capital to include bonding, bridging, and linking forms ofsocial capital; linking pertaining to connections with people in power, whether theyare in politically or financially influential positions. (Woolcock, 2001; Woolcock &Sweetser, 2002). I suggest bonding, bridging, and linking then, are ideal prisms toconsider how the news media may acquire social capital in such contexts and that thedigital media environment provides an opportune way to illuminate these ideas.
Bonding—the power to ‘‘imagine’’ community and construct ‘‘sense ofplace’’
Scholars widely agree that to accumulate social capital a network of some descriptionmust first exist. Bourdieu’s concept of symbolic power is helpful to appreciate thetraditional news media’s role in constructing common ‘‘bonds’’ among its audiencesthat help shape its networks, which are also often connected to particular geographicareas (Hess, 2013) but increasingly stretch into digital space. There is extensivescholarship, for example, that highlights the role news media plays in constructinga sense of ‘‘connectedness,’’ ‘‘community,’’ or ‘‘sense of place’’ (Anderson, 1983;Entman, 1990; Hall, 1973; Morley, 2000) among audiences across digital and physicalspaces. Anderson (1983) argues that society has become so large and complex thatpeople can no longer be personally familiar with it, so instead they rely on thenews media as their window on the world and the news media creates ‘‘imaginedcommunities.’’ Elliott and Ozar (2010, p. 15) suggest that ‘‘community-building’’ isone of the central values of news media and by reporting stories which elicit empathyor pride can enhance the bond that joins people together as a society (as cited inRichards, 2012). Meadows (1998) argues smaller media outlets in particular canbe understood as the glue that binds community members into a social collectiveor ‘‘media public’’ through their representation of powerful ‘‘norms’’ of behavior,appearance, and characteristics for community members and ‘‘outsiders.’’ Thisresonates with Bourdieu’s idea that physical proximity among those within a givennetwork can be particularly potent in generating social capital.
Proximity in physical space allows the proximity in social space to deliverall its effects by facilitating and fostering the accumulation of social capital . . .
Possessing capital ensures the quasi-ubiquity that makes it possible to master botheconomic as well as symbolic means of communication. (Bourdieu, 1999, p. 127)
Buchanan, meanwhile draws on the work of Massey in her discussion aboutthe North American newspaper. She argues traditional newspapers tied to specificgeographic spaces generate a ‘‘sense of place’’ among readers as they bring togetherhistorical, regional, national, and international perspectives in their content by‘‘placing’’ readers in the context of the world (Buchanan, 2009). This idea featuresless prominently in the literature on social capital but is useful because ‘‘sense ofplace’’ tends to acknowledge the media’s role in providing the information whichhelps to maintain or strengthen an individual’s social, economic, or psychologicalbond with the place(s) that news media serve (cf. Buchanan, 2009; Butz & Eyles, 1997)rather than focusing exclusively on the notions of ‘‘community’’ and ‘‘civic pride.’’
It should be acknowledged that the power to help construct the idea of ‘‘commu-nity’’ and ‘‘collective’’ has its limitations and Bourdieu’s framework provides scopeto examine the inequalities that arise from the accumulation of social capital forms.Morley suggests the construction of a collective enables people to associate with those‘‘like themselves’’ in a functionally separated, internally homogenous environmentwhere the drawing of boundaries can imply that the homeland may be profaned
by the presence of strangers (Morley, 2000). Further, the idea of ‘‘mediated socialcapital’’ recognizes that a news outlet’s role in constructing the idea of communityand generating forms of social capital may be as much about establishing a point ofdistinction (Bourdieu, 1984) to position itself in the competitive media field as it isabout building the societal social capital celebrated by the Putnam school of thought.Bourdieu contends, for example, that while the formal presentation of the principleof social capital is that of altruism the economic realities behind its accumulationmust be masked in order to produce any effect.
Bridging and the role of the tertius
Onyx, Edwards, and Bullen (2007) argue ‘‘bridging’’ can be a resource of powerand used in three distinct ways—to cross demographic divides, to bridge or brokerstructural holes between networks (Burt, 1997, 2001, 2005) and to access informationand resources outside a ‘‘community’’ in question (Onyx et al., 2007). The conceptof ‘‘brokerage across structural holes’’ is particularly useful here, yet surprisingly itdoes not appear to be examined in regard to social capital and news media.
The role of brokerage in accumulating social capital was arguably pioneered inthe 1960s by American urban activist Jane Jacobs (Adler & Kwon, 2000; Jacobs, 1961;Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998) but developed by Ronald Burt, who drew inspiration fromGranovetter’s weak ties concept—the idea that when seeking jobs or political allies,our links to distant acquaintances who move in different circles are more valuablethan strong ties (Granovetter, 1973). Burt contends that information brokers acquiresocial capital by feeding off weak ties or ‘‘structural holes’’ between clusters of peoplefor their own gain (Burt, 1992, 1997, 2005). The structural hole argument definessocial capital in terms of the information and control advantages of being the brokerbetween people otherwise disconnected in social structure (Burt, 1992). Burt says a‘‘structural hole’’ indicates that people on either side of the hole circulate in differentflows of information and that brokers are in a position to bring together thesecontacts. He suggests that while brokers have the power to spread new ideas andbehavior it is not obvious whether people set out to build bridges or whether theyare a byproduct of pursuing other ends. ‘‘We know brokerage creates advantage,but we know little about how people come to be brokers’’ (Burt, 2005, p. 28).Bourdieu’s construct of symbolic power is important here to help understand therole of journalists as brokers in this context. James Carey (1969) suggests journalistsare ‘‘brokers in symbols’’ who translate the attitudes, knowledge, and concerns ofone speech community into alternative but persuasive and understandable terms foranother community—a role that operates in two directions, ‘‘vertically, professionalcommunicators link elites in any organization or community with general audiences,and horizontally, they link two differentiated speech communities at the same levelof social structure’’ (p. 26). Carey highlights that the messages, ideas, and purposesof any given source of news can be converted into a symbolic strategy designed toinform or persuade an audience, placing journalists in a position of advantage in
social networks and information flow. By intertwining the symbolic power of themedia as outlined here with the concept of brokerage and social capital, I suggestthere are two brokerage functions performed by news media; that of the tertiusgaudens (third who benefits) and tertius iugens.
Tertius iungensBourdieu suggests social capital requires endless time and effort to acquire and unlikeeconomic capital, if the effort and investment ceases then the social capital candissolve. (Bourdieu, 1986; Fine, 2001), which challenges the Coleman/Putnam viewthat social capital is a by-product of individual self-interest. There are examples ofjournalistic practices that take a conscious, deliberate approach to connecting people,such as public journalism and some forms of advocacy journalism, which I shalloutline soon. But public journalism associates itself with a view of social capital ascivil society and while I do not challenge this idea, I advocate for a need to considersocial capital as a specific resource of advantage for the news media that comesfrom its ability to bring people together across both public and private domains andwhich examines the news media from both a market model and public sphere model(Phillips & Witschge, 2011). In this way I draw on the work of Obstfeld (2005) whohas coined the phrase tertius iungens, ‘‘third who joins’’ and is based on the Latinverb ‘‘iungo’’ which means to join, unite, or connect. He highlights that the role ofthe tertius iugens is to introduce or facilitate pre-existing connections, particularlyevident among horizontal ties (Carey, 1969).
While the relationship between news media and social capital in an onlineenvironment is relatively under theorized,3 I suggest news media’s investment ininformation communication technologies and the internet provide the ideal ‘‘tools’’for news outlets to perform this specific brokerage function at a time when there ismuch discussion over the role of social media as it relates to traditional news forms.This is exemplified by news outlets that facilitate, or broker, live chat forums for targetpublics. Consider the live chat forums facilitated by television current affairs program60 Minutes, which screens in Australia and in the United States. The Australianprogram recently brokered discussions between audience members and Australianwoman Jodie McMahon, a mother of five boys who travelled to the United States touse in vitro fertilization (IVF) gender selection to conceive a girl—an illegal practicein Australia. The news media performed its traditional agenda-setting role by firstlyreporting on the woman’s plight before facilitating the chat forum to connect thewoman with audience members (Brown, 2012). It is a useful example to highlighthow such conversations do not always sit neatly within the public sphere ideal ascelebrated by public journalism scholars which promote discussions about mattersof ‘‘common good’’ and civic participation. They may also concern more personaland private domains. An extract from the chat transcript is as follows:
Interviewer. Jodi, thank you for talking to us tonight, in our live online chatroom.
Jodi McMahon. Thanks for having me tonight, I’m looking forward to thequestions.
Interviewer. Now we will go to the questions from our guests.OpenMinded asks. I am sure you have come up against negativity, can you
explain to us why you made the decision to go this way?Jodi McMahon. Because it wasn’t working naturally and I was running out of
time. We did try all the old wives tales and they didn’t work soit came down tothis choice.
Dalewalker asks. I’m sorry I didn’t really understand from the story why it is soimportant for you to have a girl?
Jodi McMahon. I guess it was just a deep down desire that I have, and I assumedI would have girls and boys when we decided to have our family.It’s hard toexplain but it was just a feeling we had and we choseto follow our dream.
john.l asks. What is the clinic called and how much was it?Jodi McMahon. The clinic is called HRC which stands for Huntington
Reproductive Centre in Newport Beach California. It wasapproximately $30,000to go over and that is rounding it up.That is the first time we went and includesthe procedure,airfares, accommodation etc. (Brown, 2012, no.)
Note how the aim here is not to connect audiences directly with journalists, whichis often the focus of scholarship on news in a digital environment via terms such as‘‘interactivity’’ and ‘‘connectivity’’ (Lister et al., 2003), rather the program activelyseeks to connect people in ‘‘real time’’ with each other and journalists perform thebrokerage function with the help of digital tools given its position of power in the spaceof flows and information in which to connect people from diverse social structures.
There is some evidence that the practice of deliberately connecting peoplewith each other is beginning to accrue symbolic capital within the wider mediafield (Bourdieu, 1986). Bourdieu argues for example, that the accumulation ofsocial capital may also generate an extraordinary concentration of symbolic capitalunderstood in terms of one’s accumulated prestige, reputation, legitimacy, or honorin its own right by individuals, among their peers, within a field, as well as beyondit, among citizens (Bourdieu, 1986; Thompson, 1995). Consider the example ofthe Australian current affairs program Sunday Night, which was nominated for aprestigious national television award and a top Australian journalism prize for itsstory ‘‘Rescue 500.’’ Here journalists actively sought to reunite a rescue team witha group of people they managed to pluck to safety during devastating floods inQueensland in 2011, and reported on the journey and the emotional reunion acrossits traditional broadcast and online platforms (Coulthart, 2011).
Putnam makes reference to the media as an example of bridging social capital inits ability to connect individuals from disparate groups. Burt contends, however, thatthe ability to broker across structural holes does not mean that the people connected
by a broker are not already familiar with each other but that they come from different‘‘social circles’’ (Burt, 2005; Simmel, 2009). This is a useful if we wish to examine therole the news media play in connecting ‘‘ordinary’’ people with each other who mayhave similar demographic, religious and/or cultural backgrounds but operate in dif-ferent ‘‘social circles.’’ Bourdieu’s field theory, for example, may not take into accountthe role of some news audience members or individuals who do not compete forresources necessarily or belong to any particular field (Couldry, 2004a) but their mediapractices will play an important role in understanding how news outlets connect peo-ple at the everyday level within society. Couldry suggests media power is not somethingthe media possess or their audiences absorb. It is continually reproduced throughvarious practices and dispositions at every level of social life, through the details ofwhat social actors do and say (Couldry, 2000, p. 4), including ‘‘ordinary’’ people.
News media as tertius gaudensConflict has no place in Putnam nor Coleman’s theory of social capital, yet thenews media is seen to serve a pivotal role in both generating and reporting conflictwithin and across particular social spaces. Burt argues the ability to control theinformation flow between two parties is a form of social capital and makes referenceto Simmel’s concept of tertius gaudens (the ‘‘third’’ who benefits) (Simmel, 2009)where a broker can spontaneously seize opportunity by controlling informationrelating to the conflict between two others. This forces us to consider that, at times,news media as brokers can play a counterproductive rather than socially cohesive role,while still accumulating social capital for its own advantage. The news media’s role inreporting, instead of resolving conflict is well documented in scholarship about thenews media (Evenson, 2008; Mencher, 2010). Conflict is recognized as one of several‘‘news values’’ or cultural codes professional journalists rely on to construct thenews. Mencher highlights how conflict is not limited to ‘‘warfare in the Middle East’’or running gun battles between Mexican drug lords, but rather intense and bitterbattles are fought over ideas, politics, legal issues, and the like (Mencher, 2010, p.12). In discussing the role of the news media in debate about abortion, for example,Ferree argues journalists play the role of tertius gaudens, by creating a polarizedpseudodialogue of dramatic conflict to sell newspapers (Ferree, 2002, p. 264).
An interview with a veteran Australian journalist on the changing nature ofreporting ‘‘conflict’’ in the news media environment since the 1970s, highlights howmedia outlets feed off the conflict of others instead of facilitating some type ofresolution between parties. He says:
When I started as a cadet I was taught to talk to one party involved in a conflictone day, publish their story and then go to the other party the following day andprint their comments. Now days, this has changed so that we seek balance inevery article . . . but conflict still plays a huge part in determining what isnewsworthy . . . I wouldn’t say conflict resolution, though, is something weconsider to be part of our role (personal communication, April 5, 2012).
Conflict definitely sells newspapers and we report it, not try to resolve it(personal communication, March 29, 2012).
Davis Merritt (1995) argues news media provide a unique opportunity torecognize, maintain, and create spaces where public questions and conflict canbe discussed and potentially resolved. He highlights however, that such a concept‘‘causes discomfort among traditionalists who contend that journalists who createsuch forums are intruding, abandoning appropriate detachment’’ (1995, p. 11). Theidea that journalists may be in a unique position to consciously and deliberately bringpeople together given their unique position in information flows and connections,sits uncomfortably with the mainstream ideal of journalism as guided by professionalideals of objective and detached reporting (Schudson & Anderson, 2009; Waisbord,2009) and which have influenced the journalistic field since the early 20th century.Objectivity assumes the news media and the journalist exist above or ‘‘outside’’ societyrather than embedded within it (Bollinger, 1991; Cottle, 2003; Schudson, 2001). Thedoctrine, as instilled via western media institutions and the journalism academy, maybe understood as what Bourdieu describes as doxa, the ‘‘ordinary acceptance of theusual order which goes without saying and therefore usually goes unsaid’’ (Bourdieu,1984, p. 424) that organize action within the field. This challenges Coleman andPutnam’s rational choice view of social capital. Coleman, for example, argued anindividual who serves as a source of information for another ordinarily acquires thatinformation for his own benefit, not for any other who might make use of it (Coleman,1994). Bourdieu, however, acknowledged that while journalists might cover a storybecause they want to get a scoop and make themselves journalistic stars, rationalchoice explains little of the actual content of what journalists do which is socially andhistorically limited to the circumstances that create them (Hallin, 2005, p. 234).
My own research on Australian newspaper practices highlights how the notionof objectivity influences how journalists might see their ability to consciouslyand deliberately connect people with each other. As one experienced commercialnewspaper editor, who has worked for metropolitan and regional newspapers inAustralia, commented:
It is the journalist’s job to be objective. They provide information and detail andanalysis and commentary that might end up having the effect of bringing peopletogether but this isn’t a primary role. If you went around a news desk and askedjournalists ‘do you think part of your role is to connect people with each other?’they would think you were mad. However if you talk about it in some depth it’sprobably what we are doing every day (personal communication with author,April 1, 2012).
And this from a younger, university educated journalist who has worked innewspapers and as a reporter for commercial television news:
Connecting people with each other is not something I’ve ever consciouslythought about. We are there to be objective . . . that’s what we are taught. It’s(connecting people) probably more an unconscious thing that just happens as aresult of what we do (personal communication, April 3, 2012).
Linking elites with ‘‘ordinary’’ people
Linking provides a prism to consider how the news media, in performing a brokeragefunction, has the ability to consciously and deliberately connect individuals andgroups in wider social space with those in positions of power (vertical ties). Woolcockand Sweetser (2002, p. 26) argue ‘‘linking social capital pertains to connections withpeople in power, and also includes vertical connections to formal institutions.’’ Whilejournalists perform the role of translating information from elites in a way that isunderstandable to the masses (Carey, 1969), there are also examples in digital spaceof journalists facilitating direct engagement between these elites and wider audiences.Fairfax Media network in Australia joined forces with a democracy advocacy groupOurSay, Google+, and a university to give Australians the chance to directly quiz thePrime Minister Julia Gillard in a live online forum. People were invited to submitquestions they wished to ask the head of state and the news organization filtered andselected the most appropriate questions from readers to participate in the discussionand reported on the event in its print news pages the following day (Schubert,2012). Other examples include The Guardian in the United Kingdom constructing aHigher Education network, which hosts regular live chat forums involving a panel ofeducation experts and audiences. To highlight discussions beyond matters pertainingto the traditional public sphere, in the United States, The Seattle Times recentlybrokered conversations between an National Football League (NFL) star makingheadlines and his fan base via the newspaper’s website. I suggest, linking social capitalmay also be illustrated via some forms of advocacy journalism (Waisbord, 2009; Hess& Waller, 2012; Bowd, 2001) which is not often associated with literature on socialcapital and the media. Bourdieu suggests that within any given network, a figureheadrepresents the group with the aid of collectively owned social capital (Bourdieu,1986). In regard to ‘‘mediated social capital’’ this not only enables the news media tospeak on behalf of its audiences, but it also provides an opportunity to address powerimbalances by ‘‘brokering’’ connections between those in power with those who arenot. The local news media provide exemplars of ‘‘advocacy reporting’’ where theyare seen to represent the interests of the communities they serve and as a ‘‘voice fortheir readers.’’4 A regional journalist in Australia, for example, told how he receiveda prestigious rural journalism prize (symbolic capital within the journalistic field) fora series of reports that advocated for new medical equipment at the local hospital.The project involved directly linking a local advocacy group—which came to thenewspaper for help in raising awareness of cancer patients’ plight—with those inpower at state and federal levels of politics. The newspaper used its symbolic capitalas a leader of its ‘‘community’’ to push for government funding via editorials and
comment pieces. The journalist said it was the first time in his young career he hadreported on an issue where there was a conscious strategy to connect people withothers (the lobby group with politicians).
We got overwhelming feedback from readers . . . I know it certainly boosted thenewspaper’s standing in the community, based on the comments I was receivingfrom people. Is it good journalism?—I had my doubts because it was reasonablyforceful and subjective, but it has been a highlight of my career so far (personalcommunication, April 2, 2012).
Conclusion
Kikuchi and Coleman (2012) set out to provide a measure of social capital in theirexamination of how the theory may relate to communication in the 21st century.This essay, however, has taken a step back from issues of measurement to re-examinethe theoretical underpinnings of social capital and its relationship to traditional newsmedia. I suggest ‘‘mediated social capital’’ is a constructed and contextual resourceavailable to news media, which, combined with its concentration of symbolic power,gives it a unique ability to consciously and unconsciously connect people with eachother. Drawing on Bourdieu, I contend ‘‘mediated social capital’’ positions commer-cial news media both as producers of social capital and as regulators of its distributionacross wider social space. Elevating this idea into the consciousness of media andjournalism scholarship on social capital and into journalistic practice has been theprimary motive here. I have highlighted how this concept may apply across three plat-forms widely acknowledged in the literature on social capital: ‘‘Bonding’’—the newsmedia’s ability to create the idea of ‘‘community’’ and ‘‘close ties’’ among social net-works based on its powerful role as a node in global information flows and spaces whilerecognizing the inequalities generated by media’s symbolic power; ‘‘Bridging’’—theunique position of the news media to control the types of information shared betweenindividuals and to connect people (mostly horizontal networks) across cultural, social,and economic spaces; And ‘‘linking’’—the news media’s role in linking people withthose in positions of power. The roles of the tertius are useful to understand how bridg-ing and linking practices may be performed by the news media. Given social capitaltheory is largely underdeveloped in discussions about the news media in digital spacesand that some commentators have called for a rethink as to how traditional news out-lets may view social connections in this unchartered technological terrain, this is alsoan invitation to consider how mediated social capital may be operationalized by newsoutlets to secure or maintain their position in the wider media field. Measuring socialcapital in this way may require a shift away from mathematical models developedby network theorists of social capital (Burt, 2005) and surveys gauging individuals’volunteer activities and sense of civic pride (Putnam, 2000) toward understandingthe symbolic power of news media and how it connects people at the ‘‘everyday’’ levelacross both public and private domains. This also requires consideration of whethersuch practices elevate news outlets’ reputation and legitimacy in the eyes of their
audiences. Perhaps we may take a cue from ‘‘media as practice’’ theorists such as NickCouldry, who focuses on what ‘‘what people do and say in relation to media’’ (cf.Couldry, 2004b) to consider how news outlets facilitate or foster social connectionsacross public and private domains. This is a particularly valuable approach becauseit decenters focus from news production to consider news media’s relationship withwider society, including audiences. I have pointed to the idea that ‘‘mediated socialcapital’’ poses a direct challenge to traditional norms and professional codes ofjournalistic practice—such as the ‘‘objective’’ and detached model of reporting. Yet,as traditional media outlets face increasing competition in digital space it is time toappreciate the tactics which may influence their continued survival— tertius tactics.
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank the reviewers for their most helpful feedback andadvice, to Dr. Lisa Waller for her contributive comments and editing assistance, andto Prof. Ian Richards and Dr. Kathryn Bowd for their continuing support for thisresearch.
Notes
1 I define traditional commercial news outlets as established media organizations that seekto deliver a nonpartisan, fair, and balanced view of news considered relevant toreaders/viewers within a given network. Their viability depends on commercialimperatives such as advertising and circulation revenues (Hampton, 2010) rather thanfunding by amateurs, citizens, philanthropic groups, or those primarily seeking toadvance the interests of political parties or lobby groups. These news outlets operate in adigital media environment, but their founding roots are embedded in traditionalcommunication channels such as print, radio, or television.
2 Coleman (1988, 1990) was interested in the benefits of close ties to individuals. Hehighlighted, for example, how the closeness and trust among merchants in the New Yorkdiamond market lubricated effective business dealings to illustrate how social capitalcould produce economic benefits. He also provides the example of a close family unitfostering educational and learning outcomes for children.
3 Putnam, Coleman, and Bourdieu did not extend their work on social capital in a digitalenvironment, but Putnam was skeptical of social capital existing in online spaces. Thisessay does not seek to wade into this debate, but rather I view digital and socialnetworking platforms as potential tools in which news media may utilise to build its ownsocial capital by connecting people with each other, across digital and/or physical spaces.
4 There is scope for further comparative analysis beyond this essay to examine advocacyjournalism practices of other news media forms and social capital.
References
Adler, P. S., & Kwon, S. W. (2000). Social capital: The good, the bad and the ugly. In E. L.Lesser (Ed.), Knowledge and social capital: Foundations and applications (pp. 89–109).Boston: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Anderson, B. (1983). Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread ofnationalism. London: Verso.
Batten, J. (2010). Newspapers and communities: The vital link. In J. Rosenberry, & S. J. I.Burton (Eds.), Public journalism 2.0: The promise and reality of citizen-engaged press (pp.13–20). New York, NY: Routledge.
Bird, S. E. (2009). Tabloidization: What is it, and does it really matter? In B. Zelizer (Ed.), Thechanging faces of journalism: Tabloidization, technology and truthiness (pp. 40–51). Oxon,England: Routledge.
Bollinger, L. C. (1991). Images of a free press. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Bourdieu, P. (1977). Outline of a theory of practice. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University
Press.Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A social critique of the judgment of taste. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press.Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J. G. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of theory and
research for the sociology of education (pp. 241–258). New York, NY: Greenwood Press.Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press.Bourdieu, P. (1999). The weight of the world: Social suffering in contemporary society. Oxford,
England: Polity.Bourdieu, P. (2005). The social structures of the economy. Cambridge, UK/Malden, MA: Polity.Bowd, K. (2003). How different is different? Australian country newspapers and development
journalism. Asia Pacific Media Educator, 1(14), 117–130.Brown, T. (reporter). (2012, April 3). By design. 60 Minutes. Sydney, NSW. Retrieved from
http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8445921.Buchanan, C. (2009). Sense of place in the daily newspaper. The Journal of Media Geography,
Spring, 62–82.Burt, R. S. (1992). Structural holes: The social structure of competition. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press.Burt, R. S. (1997). The contingent value of social capital. Administrative Science Quarterly, 42,
339–365. doi: 10.2307/2393923Burt, R. S. (2005). Brokerage and closure: An introduction to social capital. New York, NY:
Oxford University Press.Butz, D., & Eyles, J. (1997). Reconceptualising senses of place: Social relations ideology and
ecology. Geografiska Annaler, 79B, 1–25.Carey, J. (1969). The communications revolution and the professional communicator.
Sociological Review Monograph, 13, 23–38.Castells, M. (2010). The information age: Economy, society and culture. Vol 1: The rise of the
network society (2nd ed., with a new preface). Chichester, England: Wiley-Blackwell. doi:10.1002/9781444319514
Coleman, J. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. The American Journal ofSociology, 94, S95–S120. doi: 10.2307/2780243
Coleman, J. S. (1990). Foundations of social theory. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press ofHarvard University Press.
Coleman, J. S. (1994). Foundations of social theory. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press ofHarvard University Press.
Cottle, S. (2003). Media organization and production. London, England: Sage.
Couldry, N. (2000). The place of media power: Pilgrims and witnesses of the media age.London, England: Routledge.
Couldry, N. (2004a). Media meta-capital: Extending the range of Bourdieu’s field theory. InD. L. Swartz, & V. L. Zolberg (Eds.), After Bourdieu: Influence, critique, elaboration (pp.165–189). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer.
Couldry, N. (2004b). Theorising media as practice. Social Semiotics, 14(2), 115–132. doi:10.1080/1035033042000238295
Coulthart, R. (Reporter). (2011, June 2). Rescue 500. Sunday Night. Sydney, NSW: SevenNetwork. Retrieved from http://au.news.yahoo.com/sunday-night/
Croteau, D., & Hoynes, W. (2006). The business of media: Corporate media and the publicinterest (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.
Dueze, M. (2010). Journalism and convergence culture. In S. Allan (Ed.), The Routledgecompanion to news and journalism (pp. 267–276). Abingdon, Oxon, England: Routledge.
Elliott, D., & Ozar, D. (2010). An explanation and a method for the ethics of journalism. InC. Meyers (Ed.), Journalism ethics: A philosophical approach (pp. 9–24). New York, NY:Oxford University Press.
Entman, R. (1990). Modern racism and the images of the Black in local television news.Critical Studies of Mass Communication, 7, 332–345. doi:10.10.1080/15295039009360183.
Evenson, B. (2008). The responsible reporter (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Peter Lang.Ferree, M. M. (2002). Shaping abortion discourse: Democracy and the public sphere in Germany
and the United States. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.Field, J. (2008). Social capital (2nd ed.). London, England/New York, NY: Routledge.Fine, B. (2001). Social capital versus social theory: Political economy and social science at the
turn of the millennium. London, England: Routledge.Fine, B. & Lapavitsas, C. (2004). Social capital and the capitalist economies. South Eastern
Europe Journal of Economics, 1, 17–34. Retrieved fromhttp://www.asecu.gr/Seeje/issue02/ben%20fine.pdf.
Flew, T & Wilson, J.A. (2008). Citizen journalism and political participation: The Youdecideproject and the 2007 Australian Federal Election. Paper presented to Creating value:Between commons and commerce – conference of the Australian Research CouncilCentre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, Brisbane.
Friedland, L., Sotirovic, M., & Daily, K. (1998). Public journalism and social capital: The caseof Madison, Wisconsin. In E. Lambeth, P. Meyer, & E. Thorson (Eds.), Assessing publicjournalism (pp. 191–220). Columbia: University of Missouri Press.
Friedland, L. (2004). Public journalism and communities. National Civic Review, 93(3),36–43. doi: 10.1002/ncr.59
Granovetter, M. (1973). The strength of weak ties. The American Journal of Sociology, 78,1360–1380. doi: 10.1086/225469
Hall, S. (1973). The determination of news photographs. In S. Cohen, & J. Young (Eds.), Themanufacture of news: A reader (pp. 176–190). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Hallin, D. (2005). Field theory, differentiation theory and comparative media research. In R.D. Benson, & E. Nevey (Eds.), Bourdieu and the journalistic field (pp. 224–243).Cambridge, MA: Polity Press.
Hampton, M. (2010). The fourth estate ideal in journalism history. In S. Allan (Ed.), TheRoutledge companion to news and journalism (pp. 3–12). Oxon, England: Routledge.
Harrison, J. (2006). News. Abington, MA/Oxon, England: Routledge.
Hess, K. (2013). Breaking boundaries. Digital Journalism, 1(1), 48–63.Hess, K. & Waller, L. (2012). The Snowtown we know and love: Small newspapers and
heinous crimes. Rural Society, 21(1), 116–125. doi: 10.5172/rsj.2012.21.2.116.Jacobs, J. (1961). The death and life of great American cities. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books
in association with Jonathan Cape.Jeffres, L. W., Lee, J. W., Neuendorf, K., & Atkin, D. (2007). Newspaper reading supports
community involvement. Newspaper Research Journal, 28(1), 6–23. Retrieved fromhttp://www.newspaperresearchjournal.org/
Kikuchi, M., & Coleman, C. L. (2012). Explicating and measuring social relationships insocial capital research. Communication Theory, 22(2), 187–203. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2885.2012.01401.x.
Kreuters, M., Young, L., & Lezin, N. (1998). Measuring social capital in small communities.Atlanta, GA: St Louis University, School of Public Health.
Lin, N., Burt, R. S., & Cook, K. S. (2001). Social capital: Theory and research. New York, NY:Aldine de Gruyter.
Lister, M., Dovey, J., Giddings, S., Grant, I., & Kelly, K. (2003). New media: A criticalintroduction. London, England: Routledge.
McManamey, R. (2005). Exploring community newspapers and social capital: Themicro-giants of media and community – The quiet revolution. New CommunityQuarterly, 3(3), 3–14.
Massey, D. (1994). Space, place and gender. Cambridge, MA: Polity.Meadows, M. (1998). Making journalism: The media as a cultural resource. Australian
Mencher, M. (2010). News: Reporting and writing (12th ed.). xxx: McGraw Hill.Mersey, R. D. (2009). Sense of community differs for print, online readers. Newspaper
Research Journal, 30(3), 105–19. Retrieved fromhttp://www.newspaperresearchjournal.org/
Merritt, D. (1995). Public journalism and public life: Why telling the news is not enough.Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Morley, D. (2000). Home territories: Media, mobility and identity. London, England/NewYork, NY: Routledge.
Morley, D. (2006). Globalisation and cultural imperialism reconsidered: Old questions innew guises. In J. Curran, & D. Morley (Eds.), Media and cultural theory (pp. 30–44). NewYork, NY: Routledge.
Nahapiet, J., & Ghoshal, S. (1998). Social capital, intellectual capital and the organisationaladvantage. Academy of Management Review, 23(2), 242–266. doi: 10.2307/259373
Obstfeld, D. (2005). Social networks, the tertius iugens orientation, and involvement ininnovation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 50(1), 100–130.doi: 10.2189/asqu.2005.50.1.100.
Onyx, J., Edwards, M., & Bullen, P. (2007).The intersection of social capital and power: Anapplication to rural communities. Rural Society, 17(3), 215–230. Retrieved fromhttp://rsj.e-contentmanagement.com/archives/vol/17/issue/3/article/599/the-intersection-of-social-capital-and-power
Pavlik, J., & McIntosh, S. (2004). Converging media: An introduction to mass communication.Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Phillips, A., & Witschge, T. (2011). The changing business of news: Sustainability of newsjournalism. In P. L. Wright, A. Phillips, & T. Witschge (Eds.), Changing journalism (pp.3–20). London, England: Routledge.
Portes, A. (2000). The two meanings of social capital. Sociological Forum, 15(1), 1–12. doi:10.1023/A:1007537902813
Putnam, R. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. NewYork, NY: Simon & Schuster.
Putnam, R. (2002). Democracies in flux: The evolution of social capital in contemporary society.New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Putnam, R. D., Leonardi, R., & Nanetti, R. (1993). Making democracy work: Civic traditions inmodern Italy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Richards, I. (2012, July 11). Beyond city limits: Regional journalism and social capital.Journalism. Retrieved fromhttp://jou.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/07/2011/14688491245328.
Rosen, J. (1999). What are journalists for? New York, NY: Vail-Ballou Press.Sandefur, R., & Laumann, E. (1998). A paradigm for social capital. Rationality and Social
Capital, 10(4), 481–501. doi: 10.1177/104346398010004005Schlesinger, D. (2010). Changing journalism; changing Reuters [commentary]. Retrieved from
Schubert, M. (2012). Ask the Prime Minister a question. The Age. Retrieved fromhttp://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/ask-the-prime-minister-a-question-20120706-21lht.html
Schudson, M. (2001). The objectivity norm in American journalism. Journalism, 2, 149–170.doi: 10.1177/146488490100200201.
Schudson, M., & Anderson, C. (2009). Objectivity, professionalism, and truth seeking injournalism. In K. Wahl-Jorgensen, & T. Hanitzsch (Eds.), The handbook of journalismstudies (pp. 88–101). New York, NY: Routledge.
Scott, J. (2000). Rational choice theory. In G. K. Browning, A. Halcli, & F. Webster (Eds.),Understanding contemporary society: Theories of the present (pp. 126–136). London,England/Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Simmel, G. (2009). Inquiries into the construction of social forms. (A. J. Blasi, A. Jacobs, & M.Kanjiranthinkal, Trans. Vol. 1). Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
Thompson, J. (1995). The media and modernity: A social theory of the media. Stanford, CA:Stanford University Press.
Waisbord, S. (2009). Advocacy journalism in a global context. In K. Wahl-Jorgensen &T. Hanitzsch (Eds.), The handbook of journalism studies (pp. 371–385). New York:Routledge.
Walker, G., Kogut, B., & Shan, W. J. (1997). Social capital, structural holes and the formationof an industry network. Organization Science, 8(2), 109–125.
Watson, J., & Hill, A. (2000). A dictionary of communication and media studies (4th ed.).London, England: Arnold.
Woolcock, M. (2001). The place of social capital in understanding social and economicoutcomes. ISUMA Canadian Journal of Policy Research, 2(2), 11–17.
Woolcock, M., & Sweetser, A. T. (2002). Bright ideas: Social capital – The bonds thatconnect. ADB Review, 34(2), 26–27.
