Media criticism starts from self-criticism, i.e., the ability and willingness to critically question and further develop one's own practices and products of media production (Perrin, 2020).
This presentation shows how such self-criticism in media editorial offices can be fostered by transdisciplinary research. In this context, transdisciplinarity means: doing research on, for, and with practitioners to sustainably solve societal problems in which language plays a key role (Perrin & Kramsch, 2018).
Empirically, the article draws on large data corpora from over two decades of text production research in media workplaces, focusing on problems of linguistic recycling while transforming sources' spoken language into media language (Haapanen & Perrin, 2020).
Findings show that with increasing globalization, localization, and digital networking of the news business, translating has become more and more important, and that with social media, the recycling of others' statements accelerates. So there are good reasons to encourage journalists' ability to self-critique their linguistic recycling practices.
This is exactly what can be achieved by choosing and implementing a transdisciplinary research framework. It includes recognizing the subject matter in its theoretical and practical significance, building mutual trust across stakeholder groups, and contributing to the further development of all the fields involved.
Haapanen, L., & Perrin, D. (2020). Linguistic recycling. The process of quoting in increasingly mediatized settings. Introduction. AILA Review, 2020(33), 1–20.
Perrin, D. (2020). "Das ist jetzt nicht mehr so gut, weil ich habe es erfunden". Journalistische Selbstkritik in der Medienproduktion. In H.-J. r. Bucher (Ed.), Medienkritik. Zwischen ideologischer Instrumentalisierung und kritischer Aufklärung. Grundlagen, Fallanalysen, Problemfelder(pp. 107–130). Köln: Halem.
Perrin, D., & Kramsch, C. (2018). Transdisciplinarity in applied linguistics. Introduction to the special issue. AILA Review, 31, 1–13.
