Spurring or Blurring Professional Standards? The Role of Digital Technology in Implementing Journalistic Role Ideals in Contemporary Newsrooms

Cornelia Mothes; Claudia Mellado; Sandrine Boudana; Marju Himma; David Nolan; Karen McIntyre; Claudia Kozman; Daniel C. Hallin; Pauline Amiel; Colette Brin; Yi Ning Katherine Chen; Sergey Davydov; Mariana De Maio; Filip Dingerkus; Rasha El-Ibiary; Maximiliano Frías Vázquez; Antje Glück; Miguel Garcés-Prettel; María Luisa Humanes; Sophie Lecheler; Misook Lee; Christi I-Hsuan Lin; Mireya Márquez-Ramírez; Jorge Maza-Córdova; Marco Mazzoni; Jacques Mick; Ana Milojevic; Cristina Navarro; Dasniel Olivera Pérez; Marcela Pizarro; Fergal Quinn; Gonzalo Sarasqueta; Terje Skjerdal; Agnieszka Stępińska; Gabriella Szabó; Sarah Van Leuven

doi:10.1177/10776990241246692

Spurring or Blurring Professional Standards? The Role of Digital Technology in Implementing Journalistic Role Ideals in Contemporary Newsrooms

Cornelia Mothes^*, Claudia Mellado, Sandrine Boudana, Marju Himma, David Nolan, Karen McIntyre, Claudia Kozman, Daniel C. Hallin, Pauline Amiel, Colette Brin, Yi Ning Katherine Chen, Sergey Davydov, Mariana De Maio, Filip Dingerkus, Rasha El-Ibiary, Maximiliano Frías Vázquez, Antje Glück, Miguel Garcés-Prettel, María Luisa Humanes, Sophie LechelerMisook Lee, Christi I-Hsuan Lin, Mireya Márquez-Ramírez, Jorge Maza-Córdova, Marco Mazzoni, Jacques Mick, Ana Milojevic, Cristina Navarro, Dasniel Olivera Pérez, Marcela Pizarro, Fergal Quinn, Gonzalo Sarasqueta, Terje Skjerdal, Agnieszka Stępińska, Gabriella Szabó, Sarah Van Leuven

^*Corresponding author for this work

NUQ Journalism Program

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

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study examines the perceived relevance and implementation of competing normative ideals in journalism in times of increasing use of digital technology in newsrooms. Based on survey and content analysis data from 37 countries, we found a small positive relationship between the use of digital research tools and “watchdog” performance. However, a stronger and negative relationship emerged between the use of digital audience analytics and the performance of “watchdog” and “civic” roles, leading to an overall increase in conception–performance gaps on both roles. Moreover, journalists’ use of digital community tools was more strongly and positively associated with “infotainment” and “interventionism.”.

Original language	English (US)
Journal	Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990241246692
State	Accepted/In press - 2024

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was funded in Brazil by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development/Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient\u00EDfico e Tecnol\u00F3gico (CNPq, 316093/2021-1 and 422609/2021-8) and Santa Catarina State Research and Innovation Support Foundation/Funda\u00E7\u00E3o de Amparo \u00E0 Pesquisa e Inova\u00E7\u00E3o do Estado de Santa Catarina (FAPESC, 2023TR000392), 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, in Chile by the Pontificia Universidad Cat\u00F3lica de Valpara\u00EDso and the Fondecyt Grant n\u00BA 1220698, in Hungary by the National Research Development and Innovation Office under agreement No. 131990, in Mexico by the Division of Research and Postgraduate Studies, Universidad Iberoamericana Mexico City (Excepcional Standard Grant 2019\u20132022, in Qatar by the Northwestern University in Qatar, in Rwanda by the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences (SEED Award), in Spain by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Competitiveness (CSO2017-82816-P), and in Switzerland by the Institute of Applied Media Studies (IAM) at the Zurich University of Applied Studies (ZHAW).

Keywords

audience metrics
news quality
role conception
role performance
social media

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Communication

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10.1177/10776990241246692

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Mothes, C., Mellado, C., Boudana, S., Himma, M., Nolan, D., McIntyre, K., Kozman, C., Hallin, D. C., Amiel, P., Brin, C., Katherine Chen, Y. N., Davydov, S., De Maio, M., Dingerkus, F., El-Ibiary, R., Frías Vázquez, M., Glück, A., Garcés-Prettel, M., Luisa Humanes, M., ... Van Leuven, S. (Accepted/In press). Spurring or Blurring Professional Standards? The Role of Digital Technology in Implementing Journalistic Role Ideals in Contemporary Newsrooms. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990241246692

@article{4836c8b2b8074cea9e9e37ab1590b91e,

title = "Spurring or Blurring Professional Standards? The Role of Digital Technology in Implementing Journalistic Role Ideals in Contemporary Newsrooms",

abstract = "This study examines the perceived relevance and implementation of competing normative ideals in journalism in times of increasing use of digital technology in newsrooms. Based on survey and content analysis data from 37 countries, we found a small positive relationship between the use of digital research tools and “watchdog” performance. However, a stronger and negative relationship emerged between the use of digital audience analytics and the performance of “watchdog” and “civic” roles, leading to an overall increase in conception–performance gaps on both roles. Moreover, journalists{\textquoteright} use of digital community tools was more strongly and positively associated with “infotainment” and “interventionism.”.",

keywords = "audience metrics, news quality, role conception, role performance, social media",

author = "Cornelia Mothes and Claudia Mellado and Sandrine Boudana and Marju Himma and David Nolan and Karen McIntyre and Claudia Kozman and Hallin, {Daniel C.} and Pauline Amiel and Colette Brin and {Katherine Chen}, {Yi Ning} and Sergey Davydov and {De Maio}, Mariana and Filip Dingerkus and Rasha El-Ibiary and {Fr{\'i}as V{\'a}zquez}, Maximiliano and Antje Gl{\"u}ck and Miguel Garc{\'e}s-Prettel and {Luisa Humanes}, Mar{\'i}a and Sophie Lecheler and Misook Lee and {I-Hsuan Lin}, Christi and Mireya M{\'a}rquez-Ram{\'i}rez and Jorge Maza-C{\'o}rdova and Marco Mazzoni and Jacques Mick and Ana Milojevic and Cristina Navarro and {Olivera P{\'e}rez}, Dasniel and Marcela Pizarro and Fergal Quinn and Gonzalo Sarasqueta and Terje Skjerdal and Agnieszka St{\c e}pi{\'n}ska and Gabriella Szab{\'o} and {Van Leuven}, Sarah",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2024 AEJMC.",

year = "2024",

doi = "10.1177/10776990241246692",

language = "English (US)",

journal = "Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly",

issn = "1077-6990",

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Mothes, C, Mellado, C, Boudana, S, Himma, M, Nolan, D, McIntyre, K, Kozman, C, Hallin, DC, Amiel, P, Brin, C, Katherine Chen, YN, Davydov, S, De Maio, M, Dingerkus, F, El-Ibiary, R, Frías Vázquez, M, Glück, A, Garcés-Prettel, M, Luisa Humanes, M, Lecheler, S, Lee, M, I-Hsuan Lin, C, Márquez-Ramírez, M, Maza-Córdova, J, Mazzoni, M, Mick, J, Milojevic, A, Navarro, C, Olivera Pérez, D, Pizarro, M, Quinn, F, Sarasqueta, G, Skjerdal, T, Stępińska, A, Szabó, G & Van Leuven, S 2024, 'Spurring or Blurring Professional Standards? The Role of Digital Technology in Implementing Journalistic Role Ideals in Contemporary Newsrooms', Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990241246692

TY - JOUR

T1 - Spurring or Blurring Professional Standards? The Role of Digital Technology in Implementing Journalistic Role Ideals in Contemporary Newsrooms

AU - Mothes, Cornelia

AU - Mellado, Claudia

AU - Boudana, Sandrine

AU - Himma, Marju

AU - Nolan, David

AU - McIntyre, Karen

AU - Kozman, Claudia

AU - Hallin, Daniel C.

AU - Amiel, Pauline

AU - Brin, Colette

AU - Katherine Chen, Yi Ning

AU - Davydov, Sergey

AU - De Maio, Mariana

AU - Dingerkus, Filip

AU - El-Ibiary, Rasha

AU - Frías Vázquez, Maximiliano

AU - Glück, Antje

AU - Garcés-Prettel, Miguel

AU - Luisa Humanes, María

AU - Lecheler, Sophie

AU - Lee, Misook

AU - I-Hsuan Lin, Christi

AU - Márquez-Ramírez, Mireya

AU - Maza-Córdova, Jorge

AU - Mazzoni, Marco

AU - Mick, Jacques

AU - Milojevic, Ana

AU - Navarro, Cristina

AU - Olivera Pérez, Dasniel

AU - Pizarro, Marcela

AU - Quinn, Fergal

AU - Sarasqueta, Gonzalo

AU - Skjerdal, Terje

AU - Stępińska, Agnieszka

AU - Szabó, Gabriella

AU - Van Leuven, Sarah

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - This study examines the perceived relevance and implementation of competing normative ideals in journalism in times of increasing use of digital technology in newsrooms. Based on survey and content analysis data from 37 countries, we found a small positive relationship between the use of digital research tools and “watchdog” performance. However, a stronger and negative relationship emerged between the use of digital audience analytics and the performance of “watchdog” and “civic” roles, leading to an overall increase in conception–performance gaps on both roles. Moreover, journalists’ use of digital community tools was more strongly and positively associated with “infotainment” and “interventionism.”.

AB - This study examines the perceived relevance and implementation of competing normative ideals in journalism in times of increasing use of digital technology in newsrooms. Based on survey and content analysis data from 37 countries, we found a small positive relationship between the use of digital research tools and “watchdog” performance. However, a stronger and negative relationship emerged between the use of digital audience analytics and the performance of “watchdog” and “civic” roles, leading to an overall increase in conception–performance gaps on both roles. Moreover, journalists’ use of digital community tools was more strongly and positively associated with “infotainment” and “interventionism.”.

KW - audience metrics

KW - news quality

KW - role conception

KW - role performance

KW - social media

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DO - 10.1177/10776990241246692

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85196638440

SN - 1077-6990

JO - Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly

JF - Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly

ER -

Spurring or Blurring Professional Standards? The Role of Digital Technology in Implementing Journalistic Role Ideals in Contemporary Newsrooms

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