On 9-10 February, a seminar entitled ‘Research on journalists in Poland: problems, dilemmas, challenges’ was held in Poznan. During the seminar, Prof Karina Stasiuk-Krajewska, CEDMO coordinator in Poland, presented her research on the professional community of fact-checkers.
The two-day seminar, organised by the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, brought together several dozen media researchers. In keeping with the title – the leading topic of the meeting was the methodology of media studies. Methodology is still a major challenge for researchers in the field of social communication and media studies due to its multidisciplinarity. The seminar presented research findings on the state of the discipline in Poland and a variety of methodological approaches – both quantitative and qualitative. “In particular, we want to focus on the challenges related to the technological changes taking place in the media, the changes taking place in the types of journalism, journalistic genres, as well as on the very practical aspects related to the collection of research material, the selection of material and the analysis of the collected material,” declared the organisers on the event’s website.
Prof. Karina Stasiuk-Krajewska from the SWPS University presented the methodology of her CEDMO research on the Polish community of fact-checkers as a symbolic community. The aim of the research is to reconstruct the specificity of this profession, especially in its self-construction, i.e. values, competences, discursive practices and self-description. From a practical perspective, the research will serve to bring this community and the importance of its work closer to the public, thus increasing interest in the work of fact-checkers. Due to the topic of the seminar and because the full results of the research are still being compiled, particular emphasis was placed on justifying the chosen methodology (in-depth interviews), as well as the challenges and difficulties associated with its application.
The presentation generated a lot of interest in the results of the research, which will be published soon on the CEDMO website, and in the work of the Central European Digital Media Observatory in Poland in general.