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

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-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 languageEnglish
JournalJournalism and Mass Communication Quarterly
DOIs
StateAccepted/In press - 2024

Keywords

  • audience metrics
  • news quality
  • role conception
  • role performance
  • social media

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