Technological transformation in journalism: Journalists’ techno-cultural experiences from actor-network perspective

Abstract

Objective: Technological transformations have profoundly changed the journalism professions. These transformational processes have been experienced by journalists in a techno-cultural environment where their personal and collective memories were shaped. This study employs oral history as the data collection technique in order to explore the details of this techno-cultural change from the actor-network theory (ANT) perspective. Research methods: A sample of 28 senior Turkish journalists were interviewed about their experiences on the technological transformations in their professional life. The transcribed text from these narrations were qualitatively analyzed by NVivo. Results: Journalists agreed that their work was more satisfactory during their past career, and they had faced some difficulties in new forms of technical practices. They also remembered how they were able to tackle some unexpected technical problems by introducing creative inventions. They generally acknowledged the negative effects of technology on the job cuts. Cognitive value: Interviewees’ narrations display the details of the change in journalism professions.