Innovation in a volatile field: An analysis of judges’ comments from journalism awards

Abstract

Journalism faces increased uncertainty from an ever-shifting digital environment, fragmenting audiences and failing business models. Innovation has been touted as the only way to remain viable and the field now offers a range of professional awards for journalism innovation. This article investigates how the industry is navigating the uncertainty associated with innovation by analysing the judges’ comments from innovation awards. By analysing 45 judges’ comments from five Anglo-American award programmes and one international programme, this article finds that judges praised socially oriented themes, while technological and digital innovations are celebrated in relation to how well they support traditional journalism principles such as serving the public interest. This suggests that, in an uncertain environment, judges of innovation awards construct innovation in relation to traditional journalism principles.