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Assistance or Resistance? Evaluating the Intersection of Automated Journalism and Journalistic Role Conceptions

Author

Listed:
  • Aljosha Karim Schapals

    (Digital Media Research Centre, School of Communication, Queensland University of Technology, Australia)

  • Colin Porlezza

    (Department of Journalism, School of Arts and Social Sciences, University of London, UK)

Abstract

Newsrooms are a social context in which numerous relationships exist and influence news work—be it with other journalists, the audience, and technology. As some of these relations change due to technological innovations, new hybrid contexts—technologies that are interwoven with newsroom values, routines, and socio-cultural experiences—can emerge. One key question is how journalists conceptualise and interact with such technologies, and to what degree they retain (creative) agency in the process. Therefore, this study evaluates the intersection of automated journalism and journalistic role conceptions. Using Hanitzsch’s and Vos’s circular model of journalistic roles (2017) and Deuze’s understanding of journalism as an ideology (2005) as a theoretical framework, this study examines some of the discursive aspects of automated journalism by asking: To what extent are journalistic roles (a) challenged or (b) advanced as a result of automated journalism? Our findings more closely align with the latter, pointing to a strong sense of discursive maintenance of journalists’ roles and their core skillset and thus suggesting a high degree of ideological continuity in the face of industrial disruption. It concludes with an agenda for future research and stresses that at times when journalism and automation intersect, the field would benefit from incorporating emerging conceptual frameworks such as human–machine communication.

Suggested Citation

  • Aljosha Karim Schapals & Colin Porlezza, 2020. "Assistance or Resistance? Evaluating the Intersection of Automated Journalism and Journalistic Role Conceptions," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(3), pages 16-26.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v:8:y:2020:i:3:p:16-26
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Rodrigo Zamith & Mario Haim, 2020. "Algorithmic Actants in Practice, Theory, and Method," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(3), pages 1-4.
    2. Stefanie Sirén‐Heikel & Martin Kjellman & Carl‐Gustav Lindén, 2023. "At the crossroads of logics: Automating newswork with artificial intelligence—(Re)defining journalistic logics from the perspective of technologists," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 74(3), pages 354-366, March.
    3. Tuti Widiastuti, 2021. "The Commodification of Virtual Community Content in Increasing Media Traffic," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(2), pages 98-109.

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