Applied Media Studies Journal

Media Framing and Financial Journalism in Nigeria: A Comparative Analysis of Capital Market Coverage Across Newspaper Types

Charles Okonji — 2025-12-13

Financial journalism plays a critical role in shaping public understanding of economic realities and investor confidence. However, the framing of capital market news in Nigeria remains underexplored, particularly in the decade following the global financial crisis. This study examines how selected Nigerian newspapers reported and framed issues relating to the capital market between 2011 and 2021. Anchored on Framing Theory, the study adopted a mixed-method content analysis of 1,181 capital market stories drawn from six national newspapers—The Guardian, The Punch, This Day, The Nation, Business Day, and Vanguard. Quantitative analysis assessed the extent and structure of coverage, while qualitative thematic analysis examined dominant frames and narratives. The findings revealed varied levels of coverage, with Business Day and This Day showing the highest concentration of capital market stories. General-interest newspapers relied largely on episodic framing, whereas business-focused newspapers demonstrated more analytical depth. Thematic analysis identified dominant frames around market performance, regulatory interventions, and investment prospects, with minimal emphasis on transparency and accountability. The study concludes that financial journalism in Nigeria tends to privilege elite economic narratives while underrepresenting critical perspectives. It recommends enhanced professional training, source diversity, and accountability-oriented reporting to strengthen the interpretive quality and democratic role of financial news.

Digital Overload: Fatigue and Information Avoidance on Social Media

Ivana Stamenković — 2025-12-13

With the growing intensity of social media use, users are repeatedly reporting negative psychological states such as overload, fatigue, and exhaustion. In response to these conditions, various behavioral patterns have developed, among which information avoidance and discontinuation of social media use are most frequently examined. The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between different dimensions of social media overload, the feeling of fatigue, and information avoidance as a stress-coping mechanism. Data were collected through a questionnaire specifically constructed for the purposes of this research, while the measurement of overload dimensions was based on items developed in previous studies. The theoretical framework of the paper is the stressor-strain-outcomes model, in which stressors are operationalized as: information overload, social overload, and system feature overload. The psychological outcome of the stressors is fatigue, while information avoidance is considered as a possible result of their effects. The study was conducted on a sample of 121 students from the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Niš. The results indicate a positive correlation between information overload and feelings of fatigue (r = 0.576), as well as between system feature overload and feelings of fatigue (r = 0.293). However, although information overload leads to fatigue, it does not result in information avoidance, as respondents still feel a strong need to stay up to date with events on social media. A small but statistically significant correlation was found between information avoidance and system feature overload (r = 0.182).

Characteristics of Interviews in Local Online Media in Southern Serbia

Tamara Tasić — 2025-12-13

The interview, as a journalistic genre, according to Dušan Slavković, can be classical, improvised and combined (Slavković, 1988). This classification of interviews was created in the era of dominant print, radio and television media. In the context of the growing number of online media, the question arises whether the traditional classification of interviews is also applied in digital journalism. In this paper, we deal with the analysis of interviews as a journalistic genre in local online media in the south of Serbia, through a multiple case study. The analysis includes three media outlets that have an “Interview” section: Slobodna reč from Vranje, Jugmedia from Leskovac and Pirotske vesti from Pirot. The aim of this paper is to investigate the frequency of publishing interviews in the local online media, dominant topics and types of interviews, as well as who the most frequent interviewees are and their areas of expertise. The time frame of the research is from January 1, 2023 to December 31,2023. The unit of research analysis is each individually published interview in the mentioned local online media. The corpus of analyzed interviews is 22 (Slobodna reč- 8; Jugmedia - 9; Pirotske vesti - 5). The findings of the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the case study show that in the analyzed period, local online media varied in the frequency of publishing interviews, as well as that the classic interview is the most represented type. The dominant topics in the interviews of the online media Slobodna reč and Pirotske vesti are topics about culture, while Jugmedia has the most interviews related to education. The interlocutors in these interviews mostly come from the same fields as the topics being discussed.

Respecting the Journalistic Code in Reporting: A Case Study of EuroPride

Aleksandar Đokić — 2025-12-13

The Code of Journalists of Serbia prescribes the appropriate manner that is necessary to report on particularly sensitive social groups, while respecting ethical principles and professional norms (Article V, paragraph 4). Relying on the Code, the aim of this paper is to answer the research questions dealing with the way daily newspapers in Serbia report on EuroPride 2022 and the differences in reporting on sensitive social groups in relation to the quality of newspapers (serious daily, semi-tabloid and tabloid). A total of 23 texts were analyzed, the subject of which was EuroPride, published in the daily newspapers Danas, Večernje novosti and Informer during the manifestation, from September 12 to 18, 2022. The results of the analysis showed that the newspapers Danas and Večernje novosti adhered to the Code of ethics, while Informer violated the Code of Journalists in 100% of published articles (N = 4) and reported discriminatorily about the LGBT+ community.

Practicing Journalism Between Legal Controls and Ethical Responsibility Under Media Legislation in Algeria

Farek Said — 2025-12-13

This research paper seeks to clarify the legal controls and ethical responsibility forpracticing journalism under Algerian media legislation. Journalists are granted rights in exchange for their commitment to adhering to journalistic ethics. They are also required to implement the provisions of the law, which stipulates that the general principles of the state, public order, and society must not be violated, and that the rights and freedoms of individuals must be respected. Meanwhile, regulatory texts stipulate that journalists must adhere to the principles of ethical responsibility stemming from their moral and professional conscience and adhere to social responsibility toward their community. Through our reading of Media Law 12-05, the study concludes that the practice of journalism and the right to expression are constitutionally and legally guaranteed. This guarantees the protection of media activity, which is contingent upon journalists’ implementation of the provisions of the 2012 Media Law. The articles and clauses of the law reveal the means and tools of the journalistic profession and its ethics, ensuring journalists’ freedom and regulating their journalistic practice to achieve honest journalistic performance.

Photography in the Media (Book Review)

Emilija Petrović — 2025-12-13

Photography is one of the major technological phenomena of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. However, it is often viewed as a type of visual content that can be misused or interpreted contrary to ethical standards. Due to the fact that today’s scientific world does not devote enough attention to resistance to manipulation and to “reading between the lines,”photography, whether as an artistic or amateur work, or as a contribution to contemporary journalism, is often perceived in opposition to the author’s intention. This leads to misinterpretations, criminal misuse, violations of copyright, and endangerment through deepfake technology and artificial intelligence. For this reason, it is essential to be information-literate in order to handle modern information and communication systems skillfully, to recognize various types of manipulation, and to remain immune to the deceptions that are increasingly common in the media.