Examining the Most Relevant Journalism Innovations: A Comparative Analysis of Five European Countries from 2010 to 2020

Abstract

Research on journalism innovation has become increasingly relevant for science and practice. The literature shows a great variety of innovations in a wide range of media fields. However, the question of what the most important innovations in different media systems are has not been addressed. This article attempts to fill this research gap by providing a theoretical framework that deals with the function of journalism in society as well as with the multifaceted meaning of innovation in a time of constant media change. We identify and analyze the most important journalistic innovations in Austria, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom in the last decade. Interviews with 100 experts reveal diverse innovation efforts. From a total of around 1000 mentions, 50 different types of innovations could be identified; from them, 34 made it into the selection of the 20 most relevant innovations in the countries. Different innovations were found to be of varying importance for journalism development in each country. However, some innovations were ranked high everywhere including data journalism, collaborative and investigative networks, audience participation, journalism in social media and the establishment of paywalls. Further comparative analysis of the media policy frameworks, journalism cultures and contexts for the contribution of journalism to democracy is required.

The datafication of digital journalism: A history of everlasting challenges between ethical issues and regulation

“…This shows yet another element of the datafication process of journalism: it is also about journalism's own fixation on data that fosters the use as well as the implementation of algorithms and AI technology in news work. As Meier et al (2022) demonstrate, many of the most important journalistic innovations in the last decade in five European countries (Austria, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom) are linked to data. Among the top 10 spots of innovations in all analyzed countries the researchers identified innovations such as data journalism (the top-ranked innovation), collaborative investigative journalism (ranked 2 nd ), user data to foster engagement (ranked 3 rd ), and automation (ranked 7 th ).…”

Periodismo e innovación

“…n un artículo publicado hace poco en la revista de acceso abierto Journalism and Media, los autores hacen un análisis comparativo de las innovaciones que han tenido lugar dentro del periodismo, entre 2010 y 2020, en cinco países europeos: Austria, Alemania, España, Suiza y Reino Unido (Meier et al, 2022). Cada uno de estos países tiene realidades periodísticas diferentes entre sí y todas ellas, obviamente, difieren de las que se viven en países como el nuestro.…”