“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” – a critical discourse analysis on media evolution

The purpose of this study is to find out 1) what kind of discourses of media evolution can be found from media texts, 2) what kind of understandings and meanings of media evolution are produced in the discourses by journalists and 3) what kind of tensions and connections exist between the identified discourses. I aim to find out how media evolution is represented in the studied articles and how media itself sees media evolution. In the beginning of the research report I will give an overview on globalization and factors framing the new global economy and then move on to describe medialization and challenges within the media industry. The theoretical and methodological approach of this study is discourse analysis which stems from social constructionism. Discourse analysis is the study of the ways in which language is used in texts and contexts. I will use critical discourse analysis to analyze the selected research material. Critical discourse analysis aims at uncovering deterministic and causal relations that exist between discourses. The main premise of critical discourse analysis is to approach a certain problem of social reality through the study of language. The analysis focuses on how discursive strategies, structures of text and speech, are used to affect recipients. My research material consists of 54 articles, published in Helsingin Sanomat, that discuss or otherwise touch upon media evolution. As a result of analysis, I identified three discourses out of the selected research material. I named the discourses as discourse of powerlessness, discourse of possibility and discourse of strong professional identity. Journalists repeat themes of concern, unfairness, uncertainty and lack of control and thus affirm the discourse of powerlessness. Media evolution in this discourse is seen as insuperable obstacle in front which journalists cannot do much. In the discourse of possibility journalists see media evolution actually benefiting the industry by developing the ways of working. In addition, journalists do want to maintain strong professional identity and integrity amidst the changes, as indicated in the discourse of strong professional identity