The Unified Framework of Media Diversity: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

How to study media diversity has become a major concern in today's media landscape. Many expect that algorithmic filtering and a shift of audiences from legacy media to new intermediaries decrease the diversity of news diets, leading to fragmented societies, polarization and spread of misinformation. Different fields, from journalism research to law and computer science, are involved in the study of media diversity. They operate, however, with vastly different vocabularies, frameworks, and measurements. To overcome this fragmentation, this study provides an extensive overview of conceptualizations and operationalizations of media diversity in different fields using a systematic literature review (1999-2018). This showed a lack of theorizing and linking of conceptual with empirical work in media diversity research. Based on this, we develop a framework on how to move forward: Regarding conceptualization, we call for focusing on different places in the journalistic information chain instead of the classical exposure-supply distinction. Methodologically, automated approaches (e.g., analyzing digital traces) and qualitative approaches (e.g., capturing perceptions of diversity) should receive more attention. For analysis, matters of balance and disparity need to be stressed more, especially discussing possible limits to diversity. Overall, research into media diversity thus needs to be addressed in interdisciplinary collaboration.

Operationalizing exposure diversity

“…Furthermore, exposure is not determined only by availability but also by broader structural, positional and individual factors that influence media use. To identify these factors and possible policy recommendations, we concur with the conclusions of Loecherbach et al (2020) who argue that research into media diversity needs differentiated approaches focusing on different points in the information chain, and interdisciplinary collaboration involving a range of approaches including more qualitative approaches that can explain the findings in more detail and help build further normative interpretations.…”

“…Karppinen, 2013: 3, 2018; Napoli, 1999; Sjøvaag, 2016). As Loecherbach et al (2020) note in their review of the media diversity literature, work in this area has often suffered from a lack of conceptual clarity and, in particular, a gap between theoretical and empirical research. Many studies also use the terms ‘pluralism’ and ‘diversity’ interchangeably, depending on the political context or academic discipline.…”

“…For example, media pluralism is the umbrella term used in European Union (EU) media policies, while American media policy debates mostly refer to media diversity. Pluralism also tends to be used in political science and law, while diversity is used more in communication and computational sciences (Loecherbach et al, 2020). In order to avoid conflating the empirical measures of diversity with the broader political and ideological frameworks of pluralism, we adopt here a distinction where media diversity is understood as a more descriptive term that can be empirically operationalized, while pluralism as a more abstract notion refers to the normative recognition of diversity and multiplicity as desirable (Karppinen, 2018, also Raeijmaekers and Maeseele, 2015).…”

Recommenders with a Mission

“…However, what they win in generalizability, they lose in specificity. They are not grounded in, and do not refer back to the normative understanding of diversity in the media law, fundamental rights law, democratic theory and media studies/communication science literature, as is also demonstrated in Loecherbach et al [31].…”

“…But what exactly does diverse mean, and how much diversity is 'enough'? As central as diversity (or pluralism, a notion that is often used interchangeably) is to many debates about the optimal design of news recommenders, as unclear it is what diverse recommender design actually entails [31]. In the growing literature that tries to conceptualise and translate diversity into specific design requirements, a gap between the computer science and the normative literature can be observed.…”