A Matter of perspective: An experimental study on potentials of constructive journalism for communicating a crisis

Svenja Schäfer, Hannah Greber, Michael Sülflow , Sophie Lecheler

Publications: Contribution to journalArticlePeer Reviewed

Abstract

Restorative narratives describe a new form of journalism that attempts to overcome the detrimental effects of the more prevalent negative and destructive tone of news coverage. This study investigates the potentials and risks of restorative narratives in the coverage of crises with a 2 (restorative/negative) × 2 (COVID-19/climate crisis) experimental online study (n= 829) for emotional, cognitive, evaluative, and behavioral outcomes. For both crises, results demonstrate that restorative narratives evoked more positive emotional reactions to the news, were more likely to be endorsed, and improved quality ratings of the news article compared with negative narratives. We found no effects for elaboration and information-seeking.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)774-796
Number of pages23
JournalJournalism & Mass Communication Quarterly
Volume101
Issue number3
Early online date16 May 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sep 2024

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

  • 508007 Communication science
  • 508014 Journalism

Keywords

  • constructive journalism
  • experimental research
  • restorative narrative

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