Does News Platform Matter? Comparing Online Journalistic Role Performance to Newspaper, Radio, and Television

Claudia Mellado; Nicole Blanchett; Agnieszka Stępińska; Cornelia Mothes; Sophie Lecheler; David Blanco-Herrero; Yi Ning Katherine Chen; Akiba A. Cohen; Sergey Davydov; Mariana De Maio; Filip Dingerkus; Hassam Elhamy; Miguel Garcés-Prettel; Cyriac Gousset; Daniel C. Hallin; María Luisa Humanes; Marju Himma-Kadakas; Claudia Kozman; Misook Lee; Christi I.Hsuan Lin; Mireya Márquez-Ramírez; Jorge Maza-Córdova; Kieran McGuinness; Karen McIntyre; Jacques Mick; Ana Milojevic; Cristina Navarro; Dasniel Olivera; Marcela Pizarro; Gonzalo Sarasqueta; Henry Silke; Terje Skjerdal; Anna Stanziano; Gabriella Szabó; Sarah VanLeuven; Xin Zhao

doi:10.1080/21670811.2023.2191332

Does News Platform Matter? Comparing Online Journalistic Role Performance to Newspaper, Radio, and Television

Claudia Mellado^*, Nicole Blanchett, Agnieszka Stępińska, Cornelia Mothes, Sophie Lecheler, David Blanco-Herrero, Yi Ning Katherine Chen, Akiba A. Cohen, Sergey Davydov, Mariana De Maio, Filip Dingerkus, Hassam Elhamy, Miguel Garcés-Prettel, Cyriac Gousset, Daniel C. Hallin, María Luisa Humanes, Marju Himma-Kadakas, Claudia Kozman, Misook Lee, Christi I.Hsuan LinMireya Márquez-Ramírez, Jorge Maza-Córdova, Kieran McGuinness, Karen McIntyre, Jacques Mick, Ana Milojevic, Cristina Navarro, Dasniel Olivera, Marcela Pizarro, Gonzalo Sarasqueta, Henry Silke, Terje Skjerdal, Anna Stanziano, Gabriella Szabó, Sarah VanLeuven, Xin Zhao

^*Corresponding author for this work

NUQ Journalism Program

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

The shifting role of journalism in a digital age has affected long-standing journalistic norms across media platforms. This has reinvigorated discussion on how work in online newsrooms compares to other platforms that differ in media affordances and forms. Still, more studies are needed on whether those differences translate into distinct practices, especially when examining cross-national studies. Based on the second wave of the Journalistic Role Performance (JRP) project, this article reports the findings of a content analysis of 148,474 stories produced by 365 media organizations from 37 countries, comparing the performance of journalistic roles in online newsrooms to three other types of media—TV, radio, and print. The paper analyzes if journalistic roles present themselves differently across platforms, and if these differences are constant or they vary across countries. Results show that there are measurable differences in role performance in online journalism compared to other platforms. Platform had a significant impact, particularly in terms of service and infotainment orientation, while the implementation of roles oriented toward public service was more similar. Additionally, country differences in the relationship between role performance and platforms mainly emerged for roles that enable political influence on news coverage, with differences in the relationship between online vs. traditional platforms appearing to be distinct features of the specific political system.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	376-399
Number of pages	24
Journal	Digital Journalism
Volume	12
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2023.2191332
State	Published - 2024

Funding

This study has been funded in Switzerland by the Institute of Applied Media Studies (IAM) at the Zurich University of Applied Studies (ZHAW); in Spain by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Competitiveness. Project \u201CJournalism models in the multiplatform context\u201D; in Mexico by the Division of Research and Postgraduate Studies, Universidad Iberoamericana Mexico City, Excepcional Standard Grant 2019\u20132022; in Chile by the Pontificia Universidad Cat\u00F3lica de Valpara\u00EDso; in Brazil by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development/Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient\u00EDfico e Tecnol\u00F3gico (CNPq); in Qatar by Northwestern University in Qatar; in Hungary by the National Research Development and Research Office; in Rwanda by the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences SEED Award, and in Canada by Mitacs, Centre d\u2019\u00E9tudes sur les m\u00E9dias, The Journalism Research Centre at Toronto Metropolitan University, The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University, and Toronto Metropolitan University.

Keywords

Professional roles
TV
comparative studies
news platforms
online media
print
radio
role performance

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Communication

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10.1080/21670811.2023.2191332

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Mellado, C., Blanchett, N., Stępińska, A., Mothes, C., Lecheler, S., Blanco-Herrero, D., Chen, Y. N. K., A. Cohen, A., Davydov, S., De Maio, M., Dingerkus, F., Elhamy, H., Garcés-Prettel, M., Gousset, C., C. Hallin, D., Humanes, M. L., Himma-Kadakas, M., Kozman, C., Lee, M., ... Zhao, X. (2024). Does News Platform Matter? Comparing Online Journalistic Role Performance to Newspaper, Radio, and Television. Digital Journalism, 12(3), 376-399. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2023.2191332

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abstract = "The shifting role of journalism in a digital age has affected long-standing journalistic norms across media platforms. This has reinvigorated discussion on how work in online newsrooms compares to other platforms that differ in media affordances and forms. Still, more studies are needed on whether those differences translate into distinct practices, especially when examining cross-national studies. Based on the second wave of the Journalistic Role Performance (JRP) project, this article reports the findings of a content analysis of 148,474 stories produced by 365 media organizations from 37 countries, comparing the performance of journalistic roles in online newsrooms to three other types of media—TV, radio, and print. The paper analyzes if journalistic roles present themselves differently across platforms, and if these differences are constant or they vary across countries. Results show that there are measurable differences in role performance in online journalism compared to other platforms. Platform had a significant impact, particularly in terms of service and infotainment orientation, while the implementation of roles oriented toward public service was more similar. Additionally, country differences in the relationship between role performance and platforms mainly emerged for roles that enable political influence on news coverage, with differences in the relationship between online vs. traditional platforms appearing to be distinct features of the specific political system.",

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author = "Claudia Mellado and Nicole Blanchett and Agnieszka St{\c e}pi{\'n}ska and Cornelia Mothes and Sophie Lecheler and David Blanco-Herrero and Chen, {Yi Ning Katherine} and {A. Cohen}, Akiba and Sergey Davydov and {De Maio}, Mariana and Filip Dingerkus and Hassam Elhamy and Miguel Garc{\'e}s-Prettel and Cyriac Gousset and {C. Hallin}, Daniel and Humanes, {Mar{\'i}a Luisa} and Marju Himma-Kadakas and Claudia Kozman and Misook Lee and Lin, {Christi I.Hsuan} and Mireya M{\'a}rquez-Ram{\'i}rez and Jorge Maza-C{\'o}rdova and Kieran McGuinness and Karen McIntyre and Jacques Mick and Ana Milojevic and Cristina Navarro and Dasniel Olivera and Marcela Pizarro and Gonzalo Sarasqueta and Henry Silke and Terje Skjerdal and Anna Stanziano and Gabriella Szab{\'o} and Sarah VanLeuven and Xin Zhao",

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year = "2024",

doi = "10.1080/21670811.2023.2191332",

language = "English (US)",

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Mellado, C, Blanchett, N, Stępińska, A, Mothes, C, Lecheler, S, Blanco-Herrero, D, Chen, YNK, A. Cohen, A, Davydov, S, De Maio, M, Dingerkus, F, Elhamy, H, Garcés-Prettel, M, Gousset, C, C. Hallin, D, Humanes, ML, Himma-Kadakas, M, Kozman, C, Lee, M, Lin, CIH, Márquez-Ramírez, M, Maza-Córdova, J, McGuinness, K, McIntyre, K, Mick, J, Milojevic, A, Navarro, C, Olivera, D, Pizarro, M, Sarasqueta, G, Silke, H, Skjerdal, T, Stanziano, A, Szabó, G, VanLeuven, S & Zhao, X 2024, 'Does News Platform Matter? Comparing Online Journalistic Role Performance to Newspaper, Radio, and Television', Digital Journalism, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 376-399. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2023.2191332

TY - JOUR

T1 - Does News Platform Matter? Comparing Online Journalistic Role Performance to Newspaper, Radio, and Television

AU - Mellado, Claudia

AU - Blanchett, Nicole

AU - Stępińska, Agnieszka

AU - Mothes, Cornelia

AU - Lecheler, Sophie

AU - Blanco-Herrero, David

AU - Chen, Yi Ning Katherine

AU - A. Cohen, Akiba

AU - Davydov, Sergey

AU - De Maio, Mariana

AU - Dingerkus, Filip

AU - Elhamy, Hassam

AU - Garcés-Prettel, Miguel

AU - Gousset, Cyriac

AU - C. Hallin, Daniel

AU - Humanes, María Luisa

AU - Himma-Kadakas, Marju

AU - Kozman, Claudia

AU - Lee, Misook

AU - Lin, Christi I.Hsuan

AU - Márquez-Ramírez, Mireya

AU - Maza-Córdova, Jorge

AU - McGuinness, Kieran

AU - McIntyre, Karen

AU - Mick, Jacques

AU - Milojevic, Ana

AU - Navarro, Cristina

AU - Olivera, Dasniel

AU - Pizarro, Marcela

AU - Sarasqueta, Gonzalo

AU - Silke, Henry

AU - Skjerdal, Terje

AU - Stanziano, Anna

AU - Szabó, Gabriella

AU - VanLeuven, Sarah

AU - Zhao, Xin

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - The shifting role of journalism in a digital age has affected long-standing journalistic norms across media platforms. This has reinvigorated discussion on how work in online newsrooms compares to other platforms that differ in media affordances and forms. Still, more studies are needed on whether those differences translate into distinct practices, especially when examining cross-national studies. Based on the second wave of the Journalistic Role Performance (JRP) project, this article reports the findings of a content analysis of 148,474 stories produced by 365 media organizations from 37 countries, comparing the performance of journalistic roles in online newsrooms to three other types of media—TV, radio, and print. The paper analyzes if journalistic roles present themselves differently across platforms, and if these differences are constant or they vary across countries. Results show that there are measurable differences in role performance in online journalism compared to other platforms. Platform had a significant impact, particularly in terms of service and infotainment orientation, while the implementation of roles oriented toward public service was more similar. Additionally, country differences in the relationship between role performance and platforms mainly emerged for roles that enable political influence on news coverage, with differences in the relationship between online vs. traditional platforms appearing to be distinct features of the specific political system.

AB - The shifting role of journalism in a digital age has affected long-standing journalistic norms across media platforms. This has reinvigorated discussion on how work in online newsrooms compares to other platforms that differ in media affordances and forms. Still, more studies are needed on whether those differences translate into distinct practices, especially when examining cross-national studies. Based on the second wave of the Journalistic Role Performance (JRP) project, this article reports the findings of a content analysis of 148,474 stories produced by 365 media organizations from 37 countries, comparing the performance of journalistic roles in online newsrooms to three other types of media—TV, radio, and print. The paper analyzes if journalistic roles present themselves differently across platforms, and if these differences are constant or they vary across countries. Results show that there are measurable differences in role performance in online journalism compared to other platforms. Platform had a significant impact, particularly in terms of service and infotainment orientation, while the implementation of roles oriented toward public service was more similar. Additionally, country differences in the relationship between role performance and platforms mainly emerged for roles that enable political influence on news coverage, with differences in the relationship between online vs. traditional platforms appearing to be distinct features of the specific political system.

KW - Professional roles

KW - TV

KW - comparative studies

KW - news platforms

KW - online media

KW - print

KW - radio

KW - role performance

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DO - 10.1080/21670811.2023.2191332

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JO - Digital Journalism

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ER -

Does News Platform Matter? Comparing Online Journalistic Role Performance to Newspaper, Radio, and Television

Abstract

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ASJC Scopus subject areas

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