Electronic NewsPub Date : 2021-10-20DOI: 10.1177/19312431211045741
Carey Lynne Higgins-Dobney
{"title":"Not on air, but Online: The Labor Conditions of the Digital Journalist in U.S. Local Television Newsrooms","authors":"Carey Lynne Higgins-Dobney","doi":"10.1177/19312431211045741","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19312431211045741","url":null,"abstract":"As American news preferences shift from broadcast to digital platforms, corporate-owned local television stations have hired digital teams to keep a growing array of mobile, social, web, and over-the-top platforms updated with revenue-generating and audience-friendly information. Yet, these workers are currently missing from the labor literature. Therefore, this exploratory study uses a political economy framework with a labor focus to begin to understand the day-to-day working conditions of these employees. Interviews outline workload issues including long hours of multitasking and nearly-constant connectivity even when off the clock, sped-up production expectations with a commodified information focus, and limited worker protections. The findings here aim to provide a starting point for digital journalism labor studies moving forward.","PeriodicalId":29929,"journal":{"name":"Electronic News","volume":"15 1","pages":"95 - 108"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42974765","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Electronic NewsPub Date : 2021-09-23DOI: 10.1177/19312431211039500
Ivanka Pjesivac, Bartosz W. Wojdynski, Nick Geidner
{"title":"Television Infographics as Orienting Response: An Eye-Tracking Study of the Role of Visuospatial Attention in Processing of Television News","authors":"Ivanka Pjesivac, Bartosz W. Wojdynski, Nick Geidner","doi":"10.1177/19312431211039500","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19312431211039500","url":null,"abstract":"This experimental study (N = 77) examined the role of infographics in orienting viewer's attention in television news. The results of pupil dilation measurements using the eye-tracking method showed that when used in the over-the-shoulder format, visual representation of numerical data triggers an orienting response and directs the viewer's attention to that part of the screen. The study also showed that bar graphs were more successful in holding viewer's attention than the simple tabular presentation of information, with a significant covariate of video viewer size, and that the presence of infographics and individuals’ quantitative ability both positively predicted information recall.","PeriodicalId":29929,"journal":{"name":"Electronic News","volume":"15 1","pages":"159 - 178"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47746893","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Electronic NewsPub Date : 2021-08-31DOI: 10.1177/19312431211042892
David Staton
{"title":"Book Review","authors":"David Staton","doi":"10.1177/19312431211042892","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19312431211042892","url":null,"abstract":"What if there were no rhetorical questions? My classes would be a lot shorter and so would Kate Nash’s new book, “Interactive documentary: Theory and debate” (Routledge, 2022). To her great credit, the book’s provocations are given depth and dimension by emulating the polysemic form of interactive documentary itself; the user/reader may exert her own agency in a move toward expansiveness or conclusion amid a kaleidoscope of liminal possibility spaces. This is appropriate, and ultimately rewarding, in examining a process becoming. Nash takes up the “challenge” of exploration and definition thrust on documentarian– scholar–theorists–playful-human-beings by Aston et al. (2017) in their seminal examination of the form, “I-Docs: The Evolving Practices of Interactive Documentary” (Wallflower Press, 2017, reviewed in EN, 12 vol. 1). In that edited volume, the then-nascent interactive documentary form was described as “...any project that starts with the intention to engage with the real, and that uses digital interactive technology to realize this intention” (p. 2). Such parameters are broad, sweeping, and, because of that, inclusive. With deft skill, Nash points toward patterns and rhythms (not hierarchies) that add to a fuller understanding of this collaborative process/product and the way in which its creators and users are implicated. She begins to offer structure, appropriately, in the beginning, the place from which the form springs—the database. It is a system of organization with (at least) two lofty ideals at its center: “the desire to escape narrative as a dominant mode of organization for documentary and, flowing from this, a desire to foster polyvocality, producing a space in which multiple voices might speak” (p. 17). By interrogating the database as a sort of agnostic entity (but, is it?), she questions the building blocks of narrative; is it friend or foe, colonizing or inclusive, apolitical or authoritarian? Again, those rhetorical questions. But, herein, Nash suggests answers or possibilities that fundamentally Book Review","PeriodicalId":29929,"journal":{"name":"Electronic News","volume":"15 1","pages":"185 - 186"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49393824","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Electronic NewsPub Date : 2021-08-27DOI: 10.1177/19312431211041694
D. Wenger
{"title":"Membership has its Privileges: Local TV Effort to Control Data and Destiny","authors":"D. Wenger","doi":"10.1177/19312431211041694","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19312431211041694","url":null,"abstract":"Graham Media has developed the Membership for Broadcast Project, which received grant funding last year as part of the Google News Initiative Innovation Challenge. The goal within Graham’s stations is to identify and engage with as many viewers as possible on a scale seldom seen in local TV news. The process involves a new way of thinking about data, who should own it and who should control it. Electronic News explores the initiative to offer a roadmap for other stations that may want to try something similar.","PeriodicalId":29929,"journal":{"name":"Electronic News","volume":"15 1","pages":"179 - 184"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45250429","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Electronic NewsPub Date : 2021-08-23DOI: 10.1177/19312431211037681
Natalee Seely, Mary Spillman
{"title":"Email Newsletters: An Analysis of Content From Nine Top News Organizations","authors":"Natalee Seely, Mary Spillman","doi":"10.1177/19312431211037681","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19312431211037681","url":null,"abstract":"Email newsletters are increasingly popular delivery systems for legacy and digital-native news outlets. The newsletter embodies another level of gatekeeping, but little research has explored which stories make it through the email newsletter “gate” and into the subscriber's inbox. This content analysis of newsletter items (N = 1,231) from select broadcast, cable, print, and digital-native news outlets provides a snapshot of the focus, subject matter, and style of daily newsletters. Newsletter subscribers generally are encouraged to link to the outlet's full-length online content on its website; however, not all outlets attempt to make personal connections with their newsletter readers. In general, the newsletters are largely filled with nationally focused stories on politics and government and mimic the style of their full-length counterparts.","PeriodicalId":29929,"journal":{"name":"Electronic News","volume":"15 1","pages":"123 - 138"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48396917","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Electronic NewsPub Date : 2021-07-23DOI: 10.1177/19312431211035129
R. C. Nee, L. C. Chacón
{"title":"Live From My Living Room: Perceived Organizational Support Among TV News Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic","authors":"R. C. Nee, L. C. Chacón","doi":"10.1177/19312431211035129","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19312431211035129","url":null,"abstract":"As members of the media, TV news workers were considered essential employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many employees went into the field to cover stories related to the pandemic, which included anti-mask and lock-down protests. This mixed-methods study explored the extent to which TV news workers perceived organizational support from their news organizations during the crisis. Findings of a national survey of TV news employees (N = 173) show market size (larger), membership in professional organizations, access to counseling services, and resources on best practices of covering COVID-19 correlated with positive perceptions of employers during the pandemic. In turn, these positive perceptions, as well as manageable job demands and high decision authority each correlated with overall job satisfaction. Qualitative findings further illustrated the varying steps TV news managers took to support and protect their employees’ health and safety during the crisis.","PeriodicalId":29929,"journal":{"name":"Electronic News","volume":"15 1","pages":"75 - 94"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/19312431211035129","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47400190","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Electronic NewsPub Date : 2021-03-01DOI: 10.1177/19312431211020282
Marquita Smith
{"title":"Social Justice Dialogue Powers Diversity and Innovation in Electronic Media","authors":"Marquita Smith","doi":"10.1177/19312431211020282","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19312431211020282","url":null,"abstract":"For media organizations, the clarion call for more diversity in newsrooms to report and cover the complexities of racial inequality and unrest in the nation dates back more than 50 years. The Kerner Commission Report of 1968 challenged newsrooms to do more than the right thing in terms of hiring so that newsrooms reflect the diversity in their communities. This invited essay explores the progress made and the opportunities yet to be explored in today’s electronic media. The author makes the case for diversity, equity and inclusion as an essential part of any organization trying innovate, grow and retain audiences.","PeriodicalId":29929,"journal":{"name":"Electronic News","volume":"15 1","pages":"50 - 56"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/19312431211020282","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41572309","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Electronic NewsPub Date : 2021-03-01DOI: 10.1177/19312431211019780
M. Wadud
{"title":"Book Review: McQuail’s media & mass communication theory","authors":"M. Wadud","doi":"10.1177/19312431211019780","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19312431211019780","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":29929,"journal":{"name":"Electronic News","volume":"15 1","pages":"67 - 70"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/19312431211019780","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42253143","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Electronic NewsPub Date : 2021-03-01DOI: 10.1177/19312431211020635
D. Wenger
{"title":"Cutting Edge: Innovation and Improvement in Local TV News","authors":"D. Wenger","doi":"10.1177/19312431211020635","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19312431211020635","url":null,"abstract":"Innovation in local television news is hard to quantify but urgently required according to Andrew Heyward, one of the country’s leading experts on the topic. The former president of CBS News now directs a major research initiative at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The research project, funded by the Knight Foundation, is focused on identifying best practices in local TV news and on collaborating with stations to develop new strategies to ensure sustainability.","PeriodicalId":29929,"journal":{"name":"Electronic News","volume":"15 1","pages":"43 - 49"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/19312431211020635","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42363300","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Electronic NewsPub Date : 2021-03-01DOI: 10.1177/19312431211018141
Kenza Lamot, Steve Paulussen, Peter van Aelst
{"title":"Do Metrics Drive News Decisions? Political News Journalists’ Exposure and Attitudes Toward Web Analytics","authors":"Kenza Lamot, Steve Paulussen, Peter van Aelst","doi":"10.1177/19312431211018141","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19312431211018141","url":null,"abstract":"As newsrooms are increasingly using web analytics to monitor news behavior, journalism is likely to become increasingly “metrics-driven.” Research suggests that analytics are commonly used by web editors to decide on the distribution and promotion of news stories, but how does this affect the news practices of journalists? To what extent are audience metrics taken into account by individual journalists and reporters who work in a specific news beat? This paper explores this question through a survey of political journalists in Belgium. The study examines the level of access that political news journalists have to audience metrics, and to what extent their level of exposure to and use of metrics affects their attitudes toward analytics in news work. Results show that while three quarters of the political news journalists are nowadays exposed to audience metrics on a regular basis, more than half of them report to never make direct use of web metrics in their daily work. Younger journalists are more likely to be exposed and to use web metrics than their senior colleagues, but journalists working for commercial media do not use metrics more intensely than journalists from public service media. Journalists who actively use metrics themselves tend to hold more positive attitudes toward web metrics, whereas the passive exposure to metrics seems to make journalists more skeptical or negative about them.","PeriodicalId":29929,"journal":{"name":"Electronic News","volume":"15 1","pages":"3 - 20"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/19312431211018141","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42155212","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}