Conclusion

Abstract

This chapter explores the implications of web analytics for further studies of digital metrics beyond the case of journalism. At a time when nearly every domain is affected by analytics and algorithms, the chapter also provides an overview of what kinds of changes are to be expected and what should not be taken for granted whenever metrics take over. It describes how online media became a different place following the election of Donald Trump as the forty-fifth president of the United States in which news organizations and digital platforms entered into a political and economic maelstrom. It investigates the moral panic surrounding the uncovering of “content farms” and the stream of tweets from the White House labelling mainstream news organizations as “fake news” that caused the media ecosystem to become the center of new controversies about the future of information and democracy. The chapter also shows how news websites can bear some responsibility for problematic developments in journalism.