Constructive opportunities and challenges

During times of war and crisis, it is more important than ever that people remain motivated to inform themselves with fact-based reporting on events. At the moment, however, contradictory trends are emerging in Germany and elsewhere in the world: Interest in the news is flagging, trust in the media is dwindling and levels of news avoidance are rising. The aim of this study is to provide media content producers with timely and practical knowledge on how to design war coverage in a way that meets the information needs of users so that people don't »tune out.«

The hypothesis of this study is that constructive journalistic approaches have the potential to counter a disproportionately negative worldview and news avoidance. To test this theory, we conducted 16 qualitative guided interviews with media users about their wishes when it comes to coverage of war. We also conducted qualitative guided interviews with 12 journalists about whether they thought it possible to cover a war constructively and what kind of framework might be required to do so.

Nevertheless, not all the journalists we interviewed believe constructive journalistic approaches can be applied to war reporting, either because this is unfeasible or in appropriate. However, others see potential. Respondents listed multiple hurdles to the implementation of new, constructive approaches, namely time constraints, a lack of diversity among editors, a traditional understanding of journalism and the need for further training.

Overall, our results offer an opportunity to constructively question established approaches to covering war. In order to underscore the practical nature of this study, we have put together and annotated a collection of "Good Practice" examples gleaned from clustered interview results.

• Many media users say they want reporting that covers as many different perspectives and everyday realities as possible.
• Many say they also appreciate on-the-scene reporting that shows how civilian populations in war zones overcome their challenges.
• Respondents say journalists need to speak to people, both on the ground and in talk shows, as equals.
• Some media users say they want more reporting on what is being done to achieve peace and how one can help.
• Source transparency is an important issue.
• Respondents say they would like more links to background information, written in easily comprehensible language, in order to better understand the news.
• Some say they would like to see a more careful approach to visual imagery, with others calling for trigger warnings.

• Many media content producers said they had experienced stress within the context of covering war. Some have cut down on private news consumption as a result. In particular, those participants who frequently work as war correspondents said repeatedly confronting human suffering changes one's psyche.
• Nearly all participants spoke of time pressure in their daily work and feared constructive journalism would cost them more time still. Some spoke of fatigue brought on by numerous change processes instituted in newsrooms and other departments over the past several years. Both, they said, make it difficult to experiment with innovative, user-focused approaches.
• According to interview participants, journalistic self-perception in today's newsrooms is still largely characterized by a belief that objective journalism and absolute neutrality exist, thus justifying a predominantly negative focus (»The world is just bad«).
• Constructive approaches are not widespread in newsrooms, leading to a lot of baseless misconceptions. Participants said constructive journalism was often mistaken for positive »Good News« or »Happy End« journalism.

• Many participants said a lack of diversity and traditional editorial structures often stand in the way of constructive journalistic approaches that give voice to a wealth of perspectives.
• Our respondents see management as principally responsible for implementing constructive change at the work level, saying it is the task of leadership to provide a conducive framework and adequate resources.
• Beyond that, participants pointed to the need for increased training in newsrooms and departments as well as more research showing that constructive journalism could contribute to the relevance and monetization of journalistic products.
• Ultimately, individual media content producers also need to reflect on their own biases and blind spots (»humility«). Only then can constructive reporting be successful.