Digital Journalism

Haim, Mario; Karlsson, Michael; Ferrer-Conill, Raul; Kammer, Aske; Elgesem, Dag; Sjøvaag, Helle

doi: 10.1080/21670811.2021.1886861pmid: N/A

Abstract In order to reach its audiences, journalism regularly turns to social media to promote its articles. This study sets out to ascertain competing communicative logics of Facebook posts as opposed to article teasers on news outlets’ websites. We look at Scandinavian news outlets as a most-similar three-country case with at least a third of all news consumers regularly using Facebook for news. The study builds on an extensive data collection of all Scandinavian news outlets’ Facebook posts including their respective websites’ article teasers over the course of 11 months. We investigate the use of news text grammar (e.g., punctuation or the use of pronouns) and social media features (e.g., hashtags or the use of emojis) alongside structural influences from individual countries, outlet reach, and ownership. Findings show Facebook posts to include less punctuation while employing more calls to action through the use of question and exclamation marks. We conclude with a reinvigorated call for hierarchical considerations when investigating news outlets’ social media endeavours through editors’ experiences, available resources to a news outlet, and institutional willingness to align with audiences.

Hendrickx, Jonathan; Montero, Eladio; Ranaivoson, Heritiana; Ballon, Pieter

doi: 10.1080/21670811.2021.1890170pmid: N/A

Abstract In this article, we assess the interactions between user metrics and journalists, as newsrooms shift towards “data-informed” models in which the main online news performance indicator becomes the “time spent” metric, instead of the number of clicks. The paper at hand applies a mixed methods approach combining components of ethnographic participant observation inside the newsroom of a leading Belgian newspaper, and a quantitative analysis of the media company’s overarching internal data platform. This approach allows us to shed light on user data of not one, but four very differentiated newspapers. Our results confirm that (a) journalists tend to remain hesitant at best and fearful at worst in accepting user data as an integral part of their daily work, (b) attempts of increasing the “time spent” in articles only rarely seem to pay off, and (c) the relationship between journalism and metrics cannot be assessed without properly addressing and tackling other existing gaps and differences between (groups of) journalists and titles under the same company.

Di Salvo, Philip

doi: 10.1080/21670811.2021.1889384pmid: N/A

Abstract Information security tools have gained prominence and importance in the journalism field and are now being adopted more frequently by newsrooms and investigative journalists. SecureDrop, an open-source software for operating whistleblowing platforms, is now a common component of the toolboxes of journalists willing to work with stronger levels of security, especially in regard to source protection. By means of a content analysis of publicly available documents and semi-structured interviews with journalists using the software, this article looks at news organizations’ uses of SecureDrop, journalists’ perceptions of the software's strengths and limitations, and the accountability practices adopted by news organizations in regard to their use of SecureDrop. Overall, this article contributes to the understanding of how SecureDrop and information security in general are entering the journalistic field and becoming accepted journalistic practices.

Wenzel, Andrea D.

doi: 10.1080/21670811.2020.1810585pmid: N/A

Abstract This study looks at the “cultural competency” efforts of one U.S. public media station as it attempts to shift a culture of whiteness and increase the representation of people of color within both staffing and online and broadcast coverage. Using a field theory framework and a combination of ethnographic observation and interviews, it follows a project that seeks to change sourcing and community engagement practices. The study charts where colorblind ideology and traditions of journalistic objectivity are and are not disrupted—and the challenges of moving from a project to an institutionalized process of culture change that embraces reflexive journalism.

Ilan, Jonathan

doi: 10.1080/21670811.2021.1886862pmid: N/A

Abstract This article sets out to provide fresh insight into the case of liveness in news media by exploring a particular live-news technology—LiveU’s digital, cellular-based, live broadcast technology, and its implementation in professional TV news broadcasting. Based on a thematic analysis of in-depth interviews with nine TV news and LiveU’s professionals, the findings point to various interconnections between LiveU’s technology and certain professional actors through a variety of editorial, business and technological decision-making processes and activities that constitute live-news broadcasting. Essentially, the case of LiveU and its implementation in professional TV live-news broadcasting illustrate the intersection of news mobility and the production of news from a socio-technical standpoint.

Maares, Phoebe; Lind, Fabienne; Greussing, Esther

doi: 10.1080/21670811.2020.1835513pmid: N/A

Abstract Social media like Twitter have become critical tools for public discourse and journalistic practice as they are assumed to enable equal conversations and engagement between different societal actors. However, recent studies have found that Twitter reproduces existing networks and hierarchies, indicated through homophily where dominant journalistic users with high symbolic capital tend to amplify and engage more with colleagues of similar symbolic status, which legitimizes their authority and dominance in the public sphere. Still, an in-depth understanding of how this manifests and might be rectified is lacking. To fill this gap, we explore the tweeting behaviour of 356 journalists in Austria, as social capital and personal networks are especially relevant to be recognized by peers. Our findings show strong homophilous tweeting behaviour for those with high professional reputation and for men. New entrants aim more towards gaining visibility in these tight-knit groups.