My name is Eloise Dayrat and in May of this year I concluded a research internship at Ethosfera.
I recently completed my first year of the dual degree program in Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of International Relations at IE University. I have always been drawn to research and journalism as I believe both are vital to critical thought and social conscience. In the US, the journalism industry finds itself largely under the corporate umbrella of American mass media companies, sometimes leading to the prioritization of profit over objective and quality journalism. This is a reason why I was drawn to Ethosfera; its impact and work is oriented towards fostering critical thought and ethical standards in the corporate and journalistic sectors, among others. Ethosfera actively takes steps towards a future where entrepreneurship, leadership, and workspaces can be synonymous with success and ethical behavior. Ethosfera is proving that good prevails in all the varieties of professional settings.
In my time as an intern at Ethosfera, I was tasked with investigating different American media companies, with the final goal of evaluating their editorial impact. The main purpose of news media companies is to produce quality journalism that can positively impact our democratic societies, by denouncing abuses of political and corporate power and covering issues of general interest. In order to evaluate this holistically, my research consisted of an analysis of five different indicators: (1) ratio of journalists to employees, (2) number of subscribers, (3) number of journalism awards received, (4) number of high-level reports and publications, (5.1) audience measurement system reports, and (5.2) social media reach. Companies which were transparent about these data points in their annual reports, or performed well in the indicators, were the ones linked to a higher editorial impact. Their compliance with the indicators is what I evaluated, shedding light on the behavior of the media outlets beyond the general biases associated with them.
I am thankful to have worked with the Ethosfera team and to have had the opportunity to carry out research on such an important topic. This professional experience led to me to expand my research abilities and truly grasp what academic investigation is all about. Ethosfera’s work ethos gives me hope that professional spaces and societies in general will seek to balance corporate will with good and ethical actions; these motives can coexist — must coexist even — for a world of more harmonious social relations.
