‘Ethnography as negotiated lived experience’: researching the fluid and multi-sited uses of digital technologies in journalism practice

Mabweazara, H. M. (2013) ‘Ethnography as negotiated lived experience’: researching the fluid and multi-sited uses of digital technologies in journalism practice. Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture, 9(3), pp. 97-120. (doi: 10.16997/wpcc.175)

Abstract

The permeation of digital technologies into social practices, including journalism has posed significant challenges to our understanding of what really counts as ‘ethnographic’. However, there is consensus among researchers that ethnography inscribes a particular relationship between the researcher, the researched, and the context of research. Specifically, it brings a variety of techniques of inquiry into play, attempting always to observe things that happen, to listen to what people say and to question people in the setting under investigation. Drawing on my ethnographic exploration of how Zimbabwean print journalists use the internet (and its associated digital technologies) in newsmaking, this study suggests the continued relevance of traditional ethnographic methods (observation; informal conversations and in-depth interviews) in studying internetbased phenomena in the context of journalism practice. While advancing the argument that ethnography is a negotiated self-reflexive ‘lived experience’, I also emphasize the importance of sustained intuitive and creative inclinations throughout the research process.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Mabweazara, Dr Hayes
• Authors: Mabweazara, H. M.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Sociology Anthropology and Applied Social Sciences
• Journal Name: Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture
• Publisher: University of Westminster Press
• ISSN: 1744-6708
• ISSN (Online): 1744-6716
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2013 The Author
• First Published: First published in Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture 9(3):97-120
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons license