Web analytics, social media, and the journalistic doxa : the impact of audience feedback on the evolving gatekeeping process

New communication technologies have allowed not only new ways in which the audience interacts with the news but also new ways in which journalists can monitor online audience behavior. Through new audience information systems--web analytics and social media--the influence of the audience on the news construction process is increasing. This occurs as the journalistic field tries to survive a shrinking audience for news. In this mixed methods research, I argue that how journalists conceive of the audience as a form of capital influences the extent to which journalists integrate audience feedback from analytics and social media in their news work. I developed this theoretical framework through case studies of three online newsrooms that included a total of 150 hours of observations and 30 respondent interviews. I subsequently tested the theoretical framework refined through my qualitative analysis using structural equation modeling (SEM) based on survey data collected from 276 online editors. The findings showed a process of negotiation--between providing what audiences need and what they want, between editorial autonomy and audience influence, and between individual agency and organizational constraints--that should clarify how we understand gatekeeping in this age of a knowable and quantifiable audience.Includes bibliographical references (pages 205-223)

Journalism at the Periphery

The increasing influence of actors who might not fit into traditional definitions of a journalist but are taking part in processes that produce journalism has attracted scholarly attention. They have been called interlopers, strangers, new entrants, peripheral, and emergent actors, among others. As journalism scholars grapple with how to refer to these actors, it is important to reflect on the assumptions that underlie emerging labels. These include: 1) what journalistic tasks are involved; 2) how and why these journalistic tasks are performed; 3) who is making the definition; and 4) where and when these actors are located. However, journalism being the centre of our investigation should not automatically assume that it is at the centre of social life. So, it might also be that for the technological field, journalism is at the periphery; that for these technology-oriented actors whose influence across fields is increasing, journalists and what they do are at the periphery. For a field that supposedly plays an important role in public life, this has important implications

What Is (Fake) News? Analyzing News Values (and More) in Fake Stories

‘Fake news’ has been a topic of controversy during and following the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Much of the scholarship on it to date has focused on the ‘fakeness’ of fake news, illuminating the kinds of deception involved and the motivations of those who deceive. This study looks at the ‘newsness’ of fake news by examining the extent to which it imitates the characteristics and conventions of traditional journalism. Through a content analysis of 886 fake news articles, we find that in terms of news values, topic, and formats, articles published by fake news sites look very much like traditional—and real—news. Most of their articles included the news values of timeliness, negativity, and prominence; were about government and politics; and were written in an inverted pyramid format. However, one point of departure is in terms of objectivity, operationalized as the absence of the author’s personal opinion. The analysis found that the majority of articles analyzed included the opinion of their author or authors

A Black and White Game: Racial Stereotypes in Baseball

The current study experimentally tested stereotypes and credibility of messages associated with athletes. Participants were asked to rate photos of black and white baseball players based on stereotypes identified in previous literature. They were then given an anonymous paragraph from a newspaper that featured either a stereotype consistent or inconsistent message and asked to rate the author\u27s credibility. Black players were rated significantly higher in physical strength and natural ability, which is consistent with previous literature. However, inconsistent with previous literature, white players were not rated significantly higher in intelligence and leadership. Despite these results, when measuring credibility, this study found white-consistent stereotypes to be credible, whereas black-consistent ones were not. These results are interpreted in light of Devine\u27s model of stereotype processing and in-group, out-group bias

Foul Ball: Audience-Held Stereotypes of Baseball Players

This study experimentally tested whether participants held and/or applied stereotypes of baseball players. Participants were asked to rate white, black, and Latino baseball players based on stereotypes consistently identified in previous literature. Participants saw a photo of a player and an anonymous paragraph from a newspaper that highlighted a particular stereotype. They were then asked to rate the author\u27s credibility. Black players were rated as higher in physical strength and natural ability, consistent with previous literature concerning how athletes were described. However, white and Latin players were not stereotyped. But participants rated white-consistent descriptions as credible and Latin-consistent descriptions as less credible. These results are interpreted through the prism of social identity theory

Navigating the Scholarly Terrain:Introducing the Digital Journalism Studies Compass

This article by the Digital Journalism Editorial Team surfaces with the explicit ambition to reassess the field of Digital Journalism Studies and map a future editorial agenda for Digital Journalism. The article dissects two important and closely interrelated questions: “What is ‘digital journalism’?”, and “What is ‘digital journalism studies’?” Building on the commissioned conceptual articles and the review article also published in this issue, we define Digital Journalism Studies as a field which should strive to critically explore, document, and explain the interplay of digital and journalism, continuity and change, and further focus, conceptualize, and theorize tensions, configurations, power imbalances, and the debates these continue to raise for digital journalism and its futures. We also present a useful heuristic device—the Digital Journalism Studies Compass—anchored around digital and journalism, and continuity and change, as a guide for discussing the direction of the growing field and this journal

How is Fatherhood Framed Online in Singapore?

The proliferation of discussion about fatherhood in Singapore attests to its significance, indicating the need for an exploration of how fatherhood is framed, aiding policy-making around fatherhood in Singapore. Sound and holistic policy around fatherhood in Singapore may reduce stigma and apprehension around being a parent, critical to improving the nations flagging birth rate. We analyzed 15,705 articles and 56,221 posts to study how fatherhood is framed in Singapore across a range of online platforms (news outlets, parenting forums, Twitter). We used NLP techniques to understand these differences. While fatherhood was framed in a range of ways on the Singaporean online environment, it did not seem that fathers were framed as central to the Singaporean family unit. A strength of our work is how the different techniques we have applied validate each other

Tell me who your sources are : perceptions of news credibility on social media

This study found that while participants rated their own Facebook friend as more credible and more similar to them than a news organization, they rated news articles as more credible when they are shared on Facebook by a news organization than when they are shared by their own Facebook friend. Source, however, interacts with motivation. News articles shared by a news organization are rated more credible only when motivation is high. There were no significant differences between sources when motivation is low

Journalism is twerking? How web analytics is changing the process of gatekeeping

New communication technologies have allowed not only new ways in which the audience interacts with the news but also new ways in which journalists can monitor online audience behavior. Through new audience information systems, such as web analytics, the influence of the audience on the news construction process is increasing. This occurs as the journalistic field tries to survive a shrinking audience for news. In this study, I argue that how journalists conceive of the audience as a form of capital influences the extent to which journalists integrate audience feedback from web analytics in their news work. I developed this theoretical framework through case studies of three online newsrooms that included a total of 150 hours of observations and 30 respondent interviews. The findings showed the extent of influence of web analytics on traditional gatekeeping processes, and on a new gatekeeping practice online, which I call the process of deselection.Accepted versio

The roles of the game : the influence of news consumption patterns on the role conceptions of journalism students

This study is based on a survey of 364 undergraduate journalism students and looks at how news consumption patterns influence the journalistic role conceptions that students hold. This study finds that students rated the interpreter role as most important. Students who prioritized the interpreter role also tend to get their news from online sources and social media. The implications of these findings on college instruction are also discussed.Accepted versio