Library and the Media – Analysis of How Libraries Are Presented in the Print Media

JOVIČIĆ, Stanka and KUNDAČINA, Bojan (2019) Library and the Media – Analysis of How Libraries Are Presented in the Print Media. Paper presented at: IFLA WLIC 2019 - Athens, Greece - Libraries: dialogue for change in Session S09 - Management and Marketing. In: Recruiting and managing the new generation of employees to attract new markets and create new services, 22-23 August 2019, Pythagoreion, Samos, Greece.

Bookmark or cite this item: https://library.ifla.org/id/eprint/2706
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Language: English (Original)
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Abstract

Library and the Media – Analysis of How Libraries Are Presented in the Print Media

This analysis encompasses the articles on the topic of libraries in the time period from 2003 to 2018, published across five daily print media (the Politika daily, the Danas daily, the Blic daily, the Vecernje novosti daily and the Kurir daily) as well as two weekly news magazines (Vreme and NIN). The above mentioned print media were selected for the analysis as having the most readers in Serbia and also as the media that were continuously published in the given time period. Besides, taking into consideration all the differences among the editorial policies, ownership structures and the versatile social structure of the readership the above mentioned media were addressing, we have tried to include the widest possible range of reporting on libraries, and in doing so, to provide a more detailed overview of the media coverage on libraries. The method of quantitative-qualitative analysis of the media discourse was used as the research method. For the purpose of the analysis the following eight categories were created: 1) exact print media, 2) the year of publication, 3) cause\occasion, 3) location\venue, 5) authorship of the article, 6) value context, 7) value context of the journalist towards the text and 8) the number of readers’ comments and reactions. The research is to be seen from two perspectives; the first part encompassing the analysis of the press releases created by the libraries themselves which are then distributed to the print media for their transmission as well as discussion on what approach the libraries adopt to the cooperation with and understanding of the media. The initial assumption is that the libraries are not taking full advantage of the media space they have and that they should be more proactive and more visible in that domain. The other research perspective is the one the media themselves adopt by selecting the most frequent topics related to the libraries they want to cover and how they decide to deal with them. When these two perspectives are compared and considered in terms of their mutual relationship, it transpires that the libraries should by all means present themselves more actively and creatively, and also should come to understand the importance of the media visibility not only for the purpose of promoting their activities, but also their general existence in the society as well as to help promote accessibility to culture and education for all social structures of the population. The conclusion is that libraries (as well as culture and humanism) in the marketable media environment cannot rely only on their own strengths without a broader social and state-enabled affirmation and strategy.

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