The ethnographic methodology is particularly relevant to the development of the ReMeD project. This methodology makes it possible to explore many elements at once and to sketch a general picture of the interaction between the media and the people who consume and produce news. In addition, the application of the techniques and tools of the ethnographic method produces results that are very close to the everyday life of the people concerned.
Because of its novelty and the potential of its findings to open up new avenues and questions for research, the study of the media ecosystem using this ethnographic approach is a remarkable element of the ReMeD project.
The correct development of this methodology is fundamental to obtaining good results from the research. For this reason, during the first year of the project, the researchers dedicated themselves to understanding, clarifying the main objectives and organizing the steps for the application of this methodology.
Consideration of the successful development of ethnographic techniques has included some tasks during the first 12 months of the project:
• Discussion on ethnographic methodology conceptualisation during kick-off meeting (31 March 2023)
• Creation of the Methodology Coordination Group: a group of ReMeD researchers responsible for developing guidelines for the application of ethnographic techniques and resolving methodological issues during the project (April 2023).
• Individual meetings with the Methodology Coordination Group and each WP leader. These meetings focused on the implementation of the methodology according to the objectives of each WP (June 2023).
• Online training season with the participation of all WP members and the Methodology Coordination Group to clarify and adapt the correct implementation of the ethnographic tool (February 2024).
• Workshop or physical training session: open to all members of the project, this session provides a space to discuss the details of the ethnographic techniques and to answer questions about their immediate implementation.
• During the first year, the Methodology Coordination Group produced a handbook containing key concepts related to ethnographic research, previous experience in applying these techniques and a bibliography. This document also includes guidelines for sample selection and the development of in-depth interview and observation techniques. This document was circulated among ReMeD members and its content was expanded with the collaboration of some researchers. This handbook which will guide the mini-ethnographies that are the main cross-cutting data collection task in Phase 2 of the methodology (starting from the beginning of the 2nd year of the project).
In addition to all regarding to methodology, during the first year ReMeD researchers were mapping and comparing the legislation of ReMeD member countries. A questionnaire was distributed among the project partners for collecting the data. The result was an information about differences and notable aspects found between the legal frameworks of ReMeD's participating countries. This document is available to all project members. This is related to WP4.
We designed another questionnaire for WP2 to assess the difference between standard and evolving journalistic work in digital media. This typology has been catalogued as "Peripherical Journalist", which includes workers of digital news media, native digital journalists, fact checkers and content creators of media not related to traditional media. The questionnaire will be administered over the next few months.
