Pregledni rad
https://doi.org/10.22572/mi.30.2.5
Datafication of Journalism: key themes and Concepts
Antonija Čuvalo
; Fakultet političkih znanosti, Sveučilište u Zagrebu
Paula Čatipović
orcid.org/0009-0002-7589-8874
; Fakultet političkih znanosti, Sveučilište u Zagrebu
Sažetak
The paper provides an overview of trends in journalism related to the processes of datafication and platformisation, and identifies the key topics of research and theorising about the datafication of journalism in academic literature. Datafication implies the quantification of social life, which is closely related to the rise of digital platforms. Platformisation thus brings about the penetration of digital systems into the social ecosystem, which has a significant effect on changes in the cultural content, and goes hand in hand with the dominance of platform companies. Platformisation and datafication are interconnected processes that have a major impact on the nature of everyday life and social reality, but they have not been researched enough, which has rendered them neglected in media sociology and communication studies in Croatia. The objective of this paper is to put the mentioned topics and processes on the agenda of research interests. The paper identifies five thematic units around which interest is structured, primarily from Western European and North American academic communities, in relation to the datafication of journalism. The datafication of journalism is thus explored through a focus on different genres of data journalism, the skills and competencies it requires, as well as the discussion about the ways in which it reflects on journalistic roles. Digital audience
analytics and its role in the transformation of journalism represents another important aspect of the datafication of journalism, and a topic of scientific interest. The third topic explores how the audiences respond to and perceive data-generated products, so a part of the present paper is dedicated to the analysis of the audiences’ interactions with data-generated content and algorithms, as well as their reception and effects. The fourth thematic unit includes new pressures and influences on journalists and journalism with respect to datafication and platformisation, where journalists must increasingly consider the perspective of computer analysts and data specialists, as well as that of the audience, and new areas of technology watch of journalistic work are opening up. The fifth topic of scientific interest related to the datafication of journalism includes the emergence of new forms of power in the context of platformisation and the rise of data economy, exploring the sociocultural impacts of datafication in general and the datafication of journalism. In Croatia, there is almost no scientific literature dealing with this topic, so this paper serves
as an introduction to the field in which this topic will continue to be addressed as a subject of theoretical and research interest.
Ključne riječi
datafication; platformisation; automated journalism; algorithmic journalism; digital analytics; cultural production
Hrčak ID:
325158
URI
Datum izdavanja:
19.12.2024.
Posjeta: 91 *