Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2018
Publication Title
International Journal of Communication
Volume
12
Issue
Feature
First Page
2751
Last Page
2772
ISSN
1932–8036
Keywords
political economy of communication, trade press analysis, critical realism, documentary sources, ethnographic research
Abstract
The political economy of communication (PEC) situates media systems and practices in their structural and historical contexts; however, PEC scholars rarely articulate or justify their research methods. To address this oversight, this article explains how PEC scholars use trade publications to study media industries, practices, policy making, and discourses thereof. Following a critical realist approach, PEC researchers “burrow down” in trade press advertisements and reports and “listen in” to the frank, insider discussions therein. This article evaluates the trade press against Scott’s four “quality control criteria” for documentary sources—authenticity, credibility, representativeness, and meaning. Trade publications employ daunting industry jargon, and they can be cozy with the industries they cover. Still, the trade press provide otherwise unobtainable insights into the structure and organization of media industries, how they are regulated, and the practices and worldviews of media executives and professionals. This article argues that by approaching the trade press ethnographically, PEC researchers can reap their benefits while avoiding pitfalls.
Recommended Citation
Corrigan, Thomas F., "Making Implicit Methods Explicit: Trade Press Analysis in the Political Economy of Communication" (2018). Communication Studies Faculty Publications. 1.
https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/comm-publications/1
Included in
Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Epistemology Commons, Film and Media Studies Commons, Journalism Studies Commons, Political Economy Commons, Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies Commons
Comments
This article was originally published in the International Journal of Communication, http://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/6496