Brett G Johnson
Biographic Data
| ID | 4267192 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Brett G Johnson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Brett G |
| FAMILY NAME | Johnson |
| SIGNATURE | JOHNSON B G |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Missouri |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0610-9042 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 9 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 33 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 9 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
A Test of Free Speech: Applying the Ethics of Care to Coverage of Snyder V. Phelps
U.S. journalists must walk a fine line when reporting on hate speech. Journalists have a vested interest in standing up for the First Amendment, which gives them the freedom to do their work. However, the legal protection that people who spew hateful rhetoric enjoy vastly outweighs any protections upon which the victims can rely. As such, dealing with hate speech in the United States is an inherently ethical issue. Applying the ethics of care to …
Boundaries of Hate: Ethical Implications of the Discursive Construction of Hate Speech in U.S. Opinion Journalism
In the United States, hate speech sits at the intersection of ethical and legal debates and has a complex relationship with journalism. The First Amendment provides broad legal protections for hate speech, and U.S. journalists have historically been known for their advocacy for speech freedoms. However, ethical debate persists about the extent to which hate speech should be used within U.S. public discourse. At the nexus of this debate are journa…
Young Adults’ Folk Theories of How Social Media Harms Its Users
The age of digital, and especially social, media has increased the volume of information users encounter and the mediated interactions users are involved in or observe. This study analyzes young adults’ understanding of harmful content online to identify folk theories, the explanations and predictions users develop to help guide their judgments and behavior. In 494 free responses, college students identified 12 online speech acts or trends as har…
An Ethic of Advocacy: Metajournalistic Discourse on the Practice of Leaks and Whistleblowing from Valerie Plame to the Trump Administration
This study analyzes the metajournalistic discourse surrounding leaks and whistleblowing crafted by online journalism industry publications since 2004. The goal of the study is to understand how journalism has discursively shaped itself as an institution vis-à-vis the meta-ethical norms surrounding the use of leaks and whistleblowing sources. Findings suggest that journalism has embraced an advocacy role with leaks despite (or perhaps because of) …
Covering Hate: Field Theory and Journalistic Role Conception in Reporting on White Nationalist Rallies
In the United States, journalists covering white nationalist groups find themselves in an impossible situation: how do you cover the newsworthy rallies—and the concerns raised by the local community—without providing a platform for hate speech? The present study conducts in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 18 journalists who have covered white nationalist rallies. Through the lens of field theory, this study seeks to understand how journali…
Beyond Journalism about Journalism: Amicus Briefs as Metajournalistic Discourse
There is a growing interest in journalism studies in metajournalistic discourse—that is, sites where journalists construct the boundaries and norms of their field. This study highlights a hitherto unstudied site of such discourse: the briefs of amicus curiae that news organizations file in U.S. appellate courts. While other forms of metajournalistic discourse seek to influence journalistic or public opinion, amicus briefs represent an attempt by …
Third-Person Effect and Hate Speech Censorship on Facebook
By recruiting 368 US university students, this study adopted an online posttest-only between-subjects experiment to analyze the impact of several types of hate speech on their attitudes toward hate speech censorship. Results showed that students tended to think the influence of hate speech on others was greater than on themselves. Their perception of such messages' effect on themselves was a significant indicator of supportive attitudes toward ha…
Tolerating and managing extreme speech on social media
Purpose This study seeks to understand the opinions of internet users toward extreme speech on social media platforms and their willingness to censor such speech. The purpose of this paper is to examine how norms of freedom of expression are changing in an online communication environment dominated by these platforms. Design/methodology/approach Four focus groups were conducted in this study. Participants needed to use at least one social media p…
Placing Facebook: “Trending,” “Napalm Girl,” “fake news” and journalistic boundary work
Facebook is challenging professional journalism. These challenges were evident in three incidents from 2016: the allegation that Facebook privileged progressive-leaning news on its trending feature; Facebook’s removal of the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Napalm Girl” photo from the pages of prominent users; and the proliferation of “fake news” during the US presidential election. Using theoretical concepts from the field of boundary work, this paper ex…
Placing Facebook: “Trending,” “Napalm Girl,” “fake news” and journalistic boundary work
Facebook is challenging professional journalism. These challenges were evident in three incidents from 2016: the allegation that Facebook privileged progressive-leaning news on its trending feature; Facebook’s removal of the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Napalm Girl” photo from the pages of prominent users; and the proliferation of “fake news” during the US presidential election. Using theoretical concepts from the field of boundary work, this paper ex…
Beyond Journalism about Journalism: Amicus Briefs as Metajournalistic Discourse
There is a growing interest in journalism studies in metajournalistic discourse—that is, sites where journalists construct the boundaries and norms of their field. This study highlights a hitherto unstudied site of such discourse: the briefs of amicus curiae that news organizations file in U.S. appellate courts. While other forms of metajournalistic discourse seek to influence journalistic or public opinion, amicus briefs represent an attempt by …
Covering Hate: Field Theory and Journalistic Role Conception in Reporting on White Nationalist Rallies
In the United States, journalists covering white nationalist groups find themselves in an impossible situation: how do you cover the newsworthy rallies—and the concerns raised by the local community—without providing a platform for hate speech? The present study conducts in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 18 journalists who have covered white nationalist rallies. Through the lens of field theory, this study seeks to understand how journali…
Tolerating and managing extreme speech on social media
Purpose This study seeks to understand the opinions of internet users toward extreme speech on social media platforms and their willingness to censor such speech. The purpose of this paper is to examine how norms of freedom of expression are changing in an online communication environment dominated by these platforms. Design/methodology/approach Four focus groups were conducted in this study. Participants needed to use at least one social media p…
Young Adults’ Folk Theories of How Social Media Harms Its Users
The age of digital, and especially social, media has increased the volume of information users encounter and the mediated interactions users are involved in or observe. This study analyzes young adults’ understanding of harmful content online to identify folk theories, the explanations and predictions users develop to help guide their judgments and behavior. In 494 free responses, college students identified 12 online speech acts or trends as har…
Placing Facebook: “Trending,” “Napalm Girl,” “fake news” and journalistic boundary work
Facebook is challenging professional journalism. These challenges were evident in three incidents from 2016: the allegation that Facebook privileged progressive-leaning news on its trending feature; Facebook’s removal of the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Napalm Girl” photo from the pages of prominent users; and the proliferation of “fake news” during the US presidential election. Using theoretical concepts from the field of boundary work, this paper ex…
Tolerating and managing extreme speech on social media
Purpose This study seeks to understand the opinions of internet users toward extreme speech on social media platforms and their willingness to censor such speech. The purpose of this paper is to examine how norms of freedom of expression are changing in an online communication environment dominated by these platforms. Design/methodology/approach Four focus groups were conducted in this study. Participants needed to use at least one social media p…
An Ethic of Advocacy: Metajournalistic Discourse on the Practice of Leaks and Whistleblowing from Valerie Plame to the Trump Administration
This study analyzes the metajournalistic discourse surrounding leaks and whistleblowing crafted by online journalism industry publications since 2004. The goal of the study is to understand how journalism has discursively shaped itself as an institution vis-à-vis the meta-ethical norms surrounding the use of leaks and whistleblowing sources. Findings suggest that journalism has embraced an advocacy role with leaks despite (or perhaps because of) …
Covering Hate: Field Theory and Journalistic Role Conception in Reporting on White Nationalist Rallies
In the United States, journalists covering white nationalist groups find themselves in an impossible situation: how do you cover the newsworthy rallies—and the concerns raised by the local community—without providing a platform for hate speech? The present study conducts in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 18 journalists who have covered white nationalist rallies. Through the lens of field theory, this study seeks to understand how journali…
Beyond Journalism about Journalism: Amicus Briefs as Metajournalistic Discourse
There is a growing interest in journalism studies in metajournalistic discourse—that is, sites where journalists construct the boundaries and norms of their field. This study highlights a hitherto unstudied site of such discourse: the briefs of amicus curiae that news organizations file in U.S. appellate courts. While other forms of metajournalistic discourse seek to influence journalistic or public opinion, amicus briefs represent an attempt by …
Third-Person Effect and Hate Speech Censorship on Facebook
By recruiting 368 US university students, this study adopted an online posttest-only between-subjects experiment to analyze the impact of several types of hate speech on their attitudes toward hate speech censorship. Results showed that students tended to think the influence of hate speech on others was greater than on themselves. Their perception of such messages' effect on themselves was a significant indicator of supportive attitudes toward ha…
Boundaries of Hate: Ethical Implications of the Discursive Construction of Hate Speech in U.S. Opinion Journalism
In the United States, hate speech sits at the intersection of ethical and legal debates and has a complex relationship with journalism. The First Amendment provides broad legal protections for hate speech, and U.S. journalists have historically been known for their advocacy for speech freedoms. However, ethical debate persists about the extent to which hate speech should be used within U.S. public discourse. At the nexus of this debate are journa…
Young Adults’ Folk Theories of How Social Media Harms Its Users
The age of digital, and especially social, media has increased the volume of information users encounter and the mediated interactions users are involved in or observe. This study analyzes young adults’ understanding of harmful content online to identify folk theories, the explanations and predictions users develop to help guide their judgments and behavior. In 494 free responses, college students identified 12 online speech acts or trends as har…
A Test of Free Speech: Applying the Ethics of Care to Coverage of Snyder V. Phelps
U.S. journalists must walk a fine line when reporting on hate speech. Journalists have a vested interest in standing up for the First Amendment, which gives them the freedom to do their work. However, the legal protection that people who spew hateful rhetoric enjoy vastly outweighs any protections upon which the victims can rely. As such, dealing with hate speech in the United States is an inherently ethical issue. Applying the ethics of care to …
Political science (9 works) · Social Media and Politics (7 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection (5 works) · Law (5 works) · Journalism (4 works) · Media studies (4 works) · Media Studies and Communication (4 works) · Politics (4 works) · Law (3 works)