Susan Keith's research
MEDIA ETHICS Keith, S., Schwalbe, C. B., & Silcock, B. W. (forthcoming, 2006). Images in ethics codes in an era of violence and tragedy. Journal of Mass Media Ethics 21 (4). An analysis of forty-seven U.S. journalism ethics codes found that although most consider images, only ten address a gripping issue: how to treat images of tragedy and violence, such as those produced on the battlefields of Iraq, in the 2004 Madrid bombings, and in the 2005 London bombings. Among codes that consider violent and tragic images, there is agreement on what images are problematic and a move toward “green light” considerations of ethical responsibilities, especially in guidelines produced by RTNDF. But the special problems of violence and truth-telling in wartime and issues of how to handle graphic images in converged environments receive virtually no attention. Keith, S. (2005, winter). Newspaper copy editors’ perceptions of their ideal and real ethics roles.  Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 82 (4): 930-951. This study examines the ethics role conceptions of newspaper copy editors, who have long been viewed as “the last line of defense” against errors but sometimes battle for respect in their newsrooms. Survey responses from 470 copy desk workers at 100 daily newspapers indicate that most copy editors think their jobs should have an ethics-watchdog component. They also perceive, however, that there is little newsroom support for their raising questions about potential ethics-related problems. This conflict between perceptions about ideal and real roles was associated with lower job satisfaction across five measures. Newton, L.H., Hodges, L.W., & Keith, S. (2004, fall). Accountability in the professions; accountability in journalism. Journal of Mass Media Ethics 19 (3/4), 166-190. Keith, S. (2000). The existential copy editor. Journal of Mass Media Ethics 15 (1), 43-57.
EDITING AND EDITING PROCESSES Silcock, B. W. & Keith, S. (forthcoming in 2006). Translating the Tower of Babel? Issues of definition, language, and culture in converged newsrooms. Journalism Studies 7 (4). This study sought to determine how convergence is defined by journalists involved in it and to identify areas where news operations that adopt convergence encounter language- and culture-based challenges. It draws on the developing literature of convergence and interviews with journalists and managers working at two convergence partnerships: the Tampa Tribune and WFLA-TV in Tampa, Florida, and the Arizona Republic and KPNX-TV in Phoenix, Arizona.  The research, based in the Shoemaker and Reese theory of a hierarchy of influences on media content, showed that convergence was redefined in Phoenix, creating a less-integrated “co-(re)-recreating” model not previously described in the literature. In addition, it demonstrated that though language differences do not hamper convergence cooperation, different broadcast and print newsroom cultures can prove detrimental. Keith, S. (2005, winter). Newspaper copy editors’ perceptions of their ideal and real ethics roles.  Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 82 (4): 930-951. This national study of copy desk workers at 100 U.S. daily newspapers with circulations above 25,000 found that 70 percent were at least somewhat satisfied. Copy editors found little pleasure, however, in their prospects for advancement, which appeared bleakest to those at newspapers with circulations below 50,000. Frederick Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory helps explain why copy desk discontent persists despite increased industry attention to copy editing.