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Literature Review
Edson Tandoc (2014, pp. 559-560) used the term “twerking” to describe how journalism has shifted its norms in news judgment due to capital instability. Capital, as specified by Tandoc (2014, p. 562), comes in four main forms under field theory: economic, cultural, social and symbolic. Economic capital pertains to money-convertible assets and is typically regarded in journalism in the form of the audience, revenues in advertising and rates of news circulation. Cultural capital stands for the “possession of competence in a socially valued area” (Tandoc, 2014, p. 562), which is justified by mechanisms of recognition granted by reputable institutions in given fields – the Pulitzer Prize, in the case of journalism. Social capital emphasizes on the social connections mainly through social networks, which are crucial to journalism as possible sources of information or audience. Symbolic capital, finally, indicates the degree of prestige or reputation of a practice or industry – in journalism, newsworthiness and reliability (Tandoc, 2014, p. 562). Traditionally, journalism has since distanced itself from the feedback given to them by the audience, regardless of available mechanisms in the form of feedback channels, (Tandoc, 2014, p. 562). Yet, capital instability, specifically through the lack of economic capital, has since urged journalists to deviate from the foregoing norms towards being more susceptible to audience feedback. The emergence of information technologies, within which journalism has since established itself mainly in the form of news websites and with emphasis on the extensive use of social media networks, has opened journalists to a more audience-centered approach through the use of web analytics programs. Given the plummeting economic capital of traditional journalism, the concept of looking for news that are “trending” in social media networks has become popular to contemporary journalists. News networks, as a result, has since started to feel the prospects of downsizing, as numerous employment positions previously available in traditional journalism has since been rendered unnecessary due to the presence of web analytics programs – gatekeeping mechanisms in online journalism that depart from the traditional selection of news, that has led journalists to consider the kind of news audiences want to read and know from them (Tandoc, 2014, pp. 571-572). Therefore, Tandoc (2014, p. 572) noted that such a move serves as a way for journalism, in general to maintain its survival as an industry.
Cooper (2013, pp. 1-2) noted that market failure in contemporary commercial mass media has since threatened traditional journalism. Market failure, defined by Cooper (2013, pp. 1-2) in the context of his study, stresses on the mismatch between journalistic resources and the failure to take into account the preferences of the audience in terms of content. Technological change, as Cooper (2013, p. 22) noted, has been the turning point of the 20th century industrial and commercial model for mass media, given that its traditional autonomy from its audience has been challenged by the relatively easier access afforded by digital platforms such as news websites and social media networks. Nevertheless, technological change along the lines of the foregoing may usher in the creation of a new form of journalism, which may run well within a smaller revenue stream through the use of digital platforms, which in turn may cut production costs – constituted by printing materials and compensating employees, on industrial and commercial output via downsizing operations. Moreover, Cooper (2013, p. 22) advocated for the expansion of public media to address market failures in contemporary mass media via the following: publicly-funded public goods, quality journalism through elimination of conflict of interest and benchmarking for commercial media, and solving the problem of concentration. Nevertheless, Cooper (2013, p. 22) emphasized that public media does not entirely solve all kinds of market failures. Overall, the importance of maintaining quality journalism using digital platforms prevails from the understanding imparted by Cooper (2013, p. 22) on preventing market failure.
Page One: Inside The New York Times, a movie directed by Andrew Rossi, directly tackles the difficulties of The New York Times – one of the most reputed newspapers in the United States (US), in adjusting to the demands of the digital age. The Internet, having emerged as the main source of information by several people, has since posed a formidable challenge against the publication of newspapers, which is the traditional format of The New York Times. As shown, much of the people working for The New York Times have expressed great anxiety over the future of their operations, since the possibility that competition provided by the Internet might impinge them looms. Much of the concerns of The New York Times revolve around several themes directly pertaining to emerging platforms on the Internet such as the prevalence of Twitter as a source of breaking news and the constant release of sensitive classified state information by WikiLeaks. At the same time, worries over the future of major news bureaus, such as NBC Universal by Comcast, the decision of ABC to downsize its operations at the cost of around 400 employees subject to layoffs and the bold prediction of The Atlantic that the New York Times might run out of business after four months also characterize the anxiety shown (Rossi). Nevertheless, one could see that The New York Times has successfully diffused its rather difficult situation as it remains active as a newspaper – this time even more with its successful usage of the Internet.
Critical Reflection
Herman-Chomsky Propaganda Model
My reflections for the literature review is characterized by my impressions concerning changes in journalism, particularly in terms of three of the five filters of the Herman-Chomsky propaganda model: advertising, sourcing, and flak coming from the audience in social media networks. The digital revolution, with the Internet as its impetus for changing journalism, provides for an example to Herman-Chomsky propaganda model, which asserts that specific influences – in this case, advertising, open possibilities for propaganda that runs against public interest. As will be further discussed later on, online journalism, with its priority on gaining economic capital through traffic, clicks and views on articles, conflicts with the virtues of traditional journalism leading to the production of newsworthy material (Tandoc, 2014, pp. 559-560). The easily customizable and accessible platforms made available by the Internet has since made it vastly popular, hence undermining the power of what many would refer to as “traditional journalism” primarily symbolized by news television channels and newspapers. Traditional media has since posited itself for its credibility and no-nonsense approach to delivering news people need to hear, as opposed to the attitude promoted by the Internet, wherein people have the opportunity to demand for what they want to read. Yet, given the effects of capital instability, in the words of Tandoc (2014, pp. 559-560) and market failure, according to Cooper (2013, pp. 1-2), it has become necessary for journalists to employ feedback-based news delivery in order to compensate for losses on economic capital. Media power, therefore, has been swayed by the reality of the political economy of the digital revolution, wherein checks on journalism – traditionally rejected because journalists contend their need for autonomy, has grown stronger through the empowerment of media monitors from the audience – the fifth estate, through increased accessibility of feedback mechanisms afforded by the Internet, especially social media networks. As per further evaluation of the implications of the digital revolution on journalism, the following sections will analyze three of the five filters of the Herman-Chomsky Propaganda Model – advertising, sourcing and flak (Cooper, 2013, p. 22; Tandoc, 2014, p. 572).
Advertising. The audience paradox in journalism is necessitated by the emergence of digital media as an important platform for journalists to spread the latest news. Journalists traditionally see themselves as the main authorities when it comes to providing the latest news on a variety of sections – headline news, local and domestic news, sports and even lifestyle sections. Being trained in the rubrics of journalistic research and writing while positing as agents of neutrality (although politically and corporately-connoted biased involving public personalities tend to be common), journalists have since seen their audience as people needing reliable information from them. In other words, traditional journalism imparts the treatment of the audience as a group that needs to be fed with information by reliable sources – journalists. However, the emergence and expansion of the Internet and its usage has since empowered people with regard to access to information, hence giving journalists the challenge to see them as revenue sources, hence paving way for the advertising filter. The Internet, being a large resource pool in itself, has given people the freedom to look for the kinds of information they want, inevitably leaving all others that do not capture their interest. Newspapers and other traditional forms of news media, on the other hand, does not provide such a flexibility since those traditionally relay what they think are the most important updates people need. Now, the Internet has empowered people to demand the information they want and as a competitor against traditional media, journalists have been urged to keep in mind the audience paradox should they decide to bring their news platforms online (Tandoc, 2014, pp. 562-563), lest market failure would arise (Cooper, 2013, p. 1-2). In return, advertising revenues via online journalism – under models different from traditional media, would flow not just based on readily-presented exposure as in the case of newspapers and news on television, but on the dynamic effects of using web analytics – targeted audience on specific news stories, for instance, would allow advertisers to advertise relevant content (Tandoc, 2014, pp. 559-575).
Sourcing. With the Internet growing in significance for journalists as a conduit of reliable information for people comes the emergence of new roles as well. Such has become the characteristic of online journalism under the sourcing filter, where social media has become a source of journalists for information on the latest news, henceforth requiring new roles otherwise not present in traditional journalism. With that, I have taken into account the study of Allyson Beutke DeVito (2014, pp. 41-74) on the role of the social media editor – tasked by news bureaus to take on journalistic roles via management of news content in social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Findings from interviewing 23 social media editors revealed several innovations on gatekeeping urged by social media networks, in that those interviewed are seen as authorities that can tell what the latest news are in social media. When a particular piece of news or information becomes “viral” – a social media term pertaining to the popularity of a certain content based on the number of times people have shared it on their social media profiles, social media editors become the experts in telling their respective media bureaus on the kinds of stories they can possibly write, publish and post using web analytics. Apart from studying the flow of content in social media networks, social media editors also hold the task of creating content, training people and interaction with the audience in social media. Hard and soft content – serious news and features or relatively trivial but nonetheless interesting content, respectively, are dealt by social media editors according through their knowledge on gatekeeping in online journalism, primarily influenced by web analytics (DeVito, 2014, pp. 75-89). In my impression social media editors are justified in their specialized roles in that they are not influenced at all by the rubrics of traditional journalism – in that they see their audience as not just consumers of news, but also as drivers of journalistic revenue. Moreover, adjustment towards online journalism would require sourcing reliable newspapers and news bureaus such as the New York Times vis-à-vis using social media networks as sources. Cyclically, such makes the institutional strength of newspapers and news bureaus such as The New York Times important for online journalists, hence discounting notions that those would succumb to online journalism, as those move forward to using social media networks as sources at the same time (Tandoc, 2014, pp. 559-575).
Flak. The question of delivering quality news via the Internet has since led journalists to increasing tendencies to sensationalize or leave out important news in an effort to increase their traffic – a prospect which I have initially seen as problematic. Nonetheless, it now appears that the audience paradox has since been dealt with by journalists properly, all thanks to the proliferation of web analytic programs that connect them to the fifth estate – media monitors via their audience. In that way, online journalism is now more susceptible to a wider variety of communication tools media monitors can use to ensure that online newspapers and news services retain their integrity via the flak filter, which allows for options such as citizen journalism and extensive use of social media mechanisms. The use of web analytics has improved the integrity of media as the fourth estate through the collection of data from the audience based on their preferences and feedback. Such, in turn, has allowed the fifth estate – media monitors coming mostly from the audience, to monitor what journalists are writing online and render their feedback based on clicks, views and comments – mechanisms provided by platforms available in the Internet, such as social media networks (Tandoc, 2014, pp. 559-575). The creation of a new form of journalism now seems to be a necessity due to the Internet (Cooper, 2013, pp. 1-2), and from what I saw in the case of the New York Times, fears over the closure of newspapers and other traditionally-formatted news bureaus is not exactly imminent as long as the Internet is dealt with by journalists accordingly, mainly through viewing it as a source of flak, which provides details on what they need to change (Rossi). After all, I am of the view that while online news are highly effective when it comes to information dissemination and convenient in terms of access, people should nevertheless take note of the balance and accuracy of the content they are reading. Neil Thurman and Nic Newman (2014, pp. 655-667) emphasized in their study of journalist and user-contributed live blogs that people take high regard of balance and accuracy of the content in perhaps the same way as how online journalists place importance on web analytics. Nevertheless, Thurman and Newman (2014, pp. 655-667), like other authors in the literature, emphasize that there is a need to produce further studies on online journalism, given the factors involved in the transition from delivering news in print to online platforms. Even though people became more demanding from journalists in online journalism, many of them remained wary of the contents they are reading.
Research Scope
- Is online journalism considered the final frontier, or is it still possible that other developments would emerge?
- Up to what extent can web analytics be regarded as effective in targeting audiences in online journalism?
- Is newsworthiness now more heavily compromised in online journalism, compared to traditional news formats?
References
Cooper, M., 2011. The future of journalism and public media: Toward a comprehensive theory of market failure and policy responses. In: International Communication Association, Annual meeting of the International Communication Association. Boston, MA, 13 Oct. 2014. Washington, DC: International Communication Association.
DeVito, A. B. (2014). The role of social media editors in television newsrooms: An exploratory study (Doctoral dissertation). University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN.
Page one: Inside the New York Times. 2011. [video] Dallas, TX: Magnolia Pictures. (Directed by A. Rossi).
Tandoc, E., 2014. Journalism is twerking? How web analytics is changing the process of gatekeeping. New Media & Society, 16(4), pp.559-575.
Tandoc, E., 2014. Why web analytics click: Factors affecting the ways journalists use audience metrics. Journalism Studies, [online] Available at: <http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2014.946309> [Accessed 14 October 2014].
Tandoc, E., and Thomas, R., 2014. The ethics of web analytics: Implications of using audience metrics in news construction. Digital Journalism, [online] Available at: <http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1080/21670811.2014.909122> [Accessed 14 October 2014].
Thurman, N., and Newman, N., 2014. The future of breaking news online? A study of live blogs through surveys of their consumption, and of readers' attitudes and participation. Journalism Studies, [online] Available at: <http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1080/1461670X.2014.882080> [Accessed 14 October 2014].
