My search topic is finding if journalists can still act as the watchdogs of the media if they are not considered credible due to certain modern elements such as social media and advertising.

Database – Sage Premier:

1.  “Advertising  AND journalism” was the terms used which resulted in 848 results after the limiter “Open access content only” was selected.

• This search seemed to be fruitful as they contained topics on the future of journalism and also about advertisement being misleading. However, there were also an abundance of articles that could be discarded.

2.  “Social media AND new journalism”  were the terms used which showed 38,830 results after the limiter “Only content to which I have full access” was selected.

• This search showed some promising results and showed studies with journalists involving social media in other countries. This could be helpful to my research by showing social media and advertisings vast effect nationally.

Database – Communication & Mass Media Complete database from EBSCO Host:

3. “New journalism AND social media” were the terms used which showed 72 results after the limiter “Full text” was selected.

• This search showed many good articles that would help add to my research involving social media and new journalism. There were a few dud articles and some in different languages. All new articles were presented with this different database so the repetition of the search terms from the previous search were necessary.

4. “Online advertising AND journalism ethics” were the terms used which brought up 7 results when no limiters were used.

•  All but one of the sources would be useful to me in my research. This also presented be with studies focused on in-text advertisement which is a new angle I plan to use.

5. “Journalism AND fake news AND technology” were the terms used which brought up 18 results after the limiter “Full text was selected.

•  These results were very mixed and the first few seemed to be the most useful. Some articles were more on the topics of education and politics.

Saturation:

I feel as if I have reached saturation on my research topic as I have to search harder to find helpful information and continuously run into the same sources two or three times. However, if I have a gap in my research or want to explain a point further that my research does not help me with, I have no problem using my collected search histories and finding a more suitable source. For now, saturation has been reached with these and my previous sources.

Annotated Bibliography:

Modern journalism is being affected by modern elements of advertising and social media. It can blur the lines between professional journalism and biased advertisement/fake news, creating further distrust in media from society. Citizen journalists are not acting professionally, and professional journalists are not trusted with these significant effects that are gaining normalcy.

Craig, D. (2007). In-Text Ads: Pushing the Lines Between Advertising and Journalism. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 22(4), 348–349. https://doi.org/10.1080/08900520701583636

This source discusses the confusion of journalism news outlets using in-text advertising where users can hover over the word and be shown and brought to different advertisements. Some argue there is still a clear separation between journalism and advertising, while others consider it is blurring the line between the two. This source gives three references to visit that validate its information; however, it is less of a study and more of a question with the start of research. This is the first article I found discussing in-text advertising giving me another topic to dive into. This will tie into my research by relating to how advertising goes one step further and affects modern journalism.

Dai, Y., & Luqiu, L. (2020). Camouflaged propaganda: A survey experiment on political native advertising. Research & Politics. https://doi.org/10.1177/2053168020935250

This study looks at political native advertising using actual advertisements from the Washington Post and The Telegraph bought by the Chinese government. The study finds it hard to separate these advertisements from real news and that trust in the site that shows this advertisement is lowered if the ad is detected. This source is valuable and references many other references if I need to find more about this topic. However, the research technique is an online survey, which could not be very accurate since the survey takers are not experiencing the same “test.” This will help me add to my very first source of native advertising by testing real-life native advertising instead of just how journalists think it affects people. 

Deuze, M., & Witschge, T. (2018). Beyond journalism: Theorizing the transformation of journalism. Health Education & Behavior, 19(2), 601–614. https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198103255368

This study reviews journalism’s history and sees if the journalism core is problematic and should consist of journalism studies. This study wants to bring different approaches to move beyond how journalism is practiced and thought of. This would then allow journalism to have a broader definition and different practices that makeup journalism. This source is interesting as it dissects old journalism into the problem and offers a new solution. This will fit my research perfectly as I want to discuss citizen journalism and see how this article will broaden the definition of journalism in their favor or not.

Papanagnou, V. (2021). Who is a good journalist? Evaluations of journalistic worth in the era of social media. Journalism. https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849211036848

This study is searching for how journalists understand and create their identities and values while social media has a significant presence in modern journalism. This study shows that modern journalists have shifted toward networking, but it does not change old journalistic values. This study argues that while journalists show they are not fond of the market’s financial rewards, they can not help but expose themselves to the influence that these markets have. In the abstract, the source seems like it may be biased with the wording; however, there are plenty of sources throughout the study that hopefully have statements backed up with research. This source will tie into my research because it acknowledges the new modern journalism associated with social media and the benefits and drawbacks.

SKOLER, M. (2009). Why the news media became irrelevant–And how social media can help. Nieman Reports, 63(3), 38–40.

This source discusses how social media needs to be used to make news media as relevant as it once was. The author states that social media sites are not models for new journalism but show how news organizations must stay relevant by taking notes from the new culture. This source is not a study but rather thoughts and statements from an author who has contributed to the journalistic community. This could be helpful because of his strong opinions, but this article references no other sources. This has given me a different angle that social media and advertising are not necessarily a problem but the culture that the new journalism needs to be built on.