ABSTRACT
Journalists operate amidst an institutionalized set of practices, norms, and conventions, but mass communication scholars have struggled to operationalize exactly what news is, and in the process offer clarification on concepts like accuracy, objectivity, advocacy, and balance. News does not happen in a vacuum and journalism is a practice with a definable milieu that manufactures a product shaped by a complex and subjective selection, organization, and dissemination of information. While the pandemic transpired well along into the special issue production schedule, these seven articles go beyond illuminating ways producers define news and set the news agenda. This research expands mass communication theory frameworks built since the 1970s to enable people to better operationalize and understand mass media’s role in defining, shaping, and amplifying news. The production of a special issue is a team effort and people could not have made it happen without the administrative guidance and support of Editor Fuyuan Shen and the assistance of Guolan Yang.
