What Does Digital Journalism Studies Look Like?

Abstract

This article analyses the characteristics of digital journalism studies through an empirical investigation of all articles published in the journal Digital Journalism, from its launch in 2013 to issue 6, 2018. The aim of the analysis is to identify dominant themes and degrees of diversity and interdisciplinary in digital journalism studies, and to identify biases and blind spots. The article is based on analysis of keywords, abstracts and references used in all articles published in the journal. The findings suggest that while the research published in Digital Journalism is firmly situated within journalism studies, it has a stronger emphasis on technology, platforms, audience and the present. The article also finds that digital journalism studies, as seen in Digital Journalism, is dominated by perspectives from the social sciences, while largely ignoring digital journalism as a meaning-making system, and that the field of research could benefit from the application of theories and perspectives from the humanities and to some extent from theoretical computer science and informatics. Finally, the article argues that digital journalism studies suffers from a lack of connections between empirical research and the many conceptual discussions that dominate the (sub)field.

Navigating the Scholarly Terrain: Introducing the Digital Journalism Studies Compass

“…This issue of Digital Journalism has sought to further advance the debate and understanding of digital journalism, and has offered us a specific opportunity to engage with the questions surrounding these two fields to further our understanding and definition of both digital journalism and Digital Journalism Studies. In order to advance this, we offer some reflexive insight into the types of articles that this very journal has published from its inception in 2013 until mid-2018 (Steensen et al 2019). This research reveals a strong emphasis on the changing nature of digital platforms and a dominant social science perspective, at the expense of articles that explore, for example, history and context or which would build new and novel theories drawing on interdisciplinary knowledge.…”

“…This research reveals a strong emphasis on the changing nature of digital platforms and a dominant social science perspective, at the expense of articles that explore, for example, history and context or which would build new and novel theories drawing on interdisciplinary knowledge. Steensen et al (2019) also highlight that current definitions of digital journalism-when based on this literature-need to further consider the types of knowledge that digital journalism creates, its role as a meaning-making system, and its relationship to other social institutions and issues of power. This brings us to the second debut within this issue: the rich and diverse array of conceptual articles, each focusing on digital journalism as a key concept.…”

“…Burgess and Hurcombe (2019) argue as much in their contribution within this issue, highlighting the ways digitization has had an impact on news gathering processes. This is further reflected in the definitions provided by Steensen et al (2019) from an extensive review of the literature, and in the conceptual definition proposed by Robinson, Lewis, and Carlson (2019). Their definitions point towards work which has documented how various stages of news production, for example, have been affected by digitization, and how new technologies, data, and analytics have brought about changes in both news routines as well as in how journalists conceive of their audiences (Linden 2017).…”

A future of journalism beyond the objectivity–dialogue divide? Hybridity in the news of entrepreneurial journalists

“…This is exemplified in how digital (public) news streams are blended with audiences' personal and affective reactions to them (Papacharissi, 2015). The increasingly symbiotic and intimate relationship between digital journalism and audiences (Steensen et al, 2019) arguably applies specifically to entrepreneurial journalism and sets it apart from legacy media (e.g. Siapera & Papadopoulou, 2016).…”

Media Health: An Introduction to the Collection

“…The collection contributes not only to media research, but also to academic disciplines such as health and welfare, psychology, sociology, policy, and culture. It therefore addresses concerns that humanistic approaches are lacking in related studies (Steensen et al, 2019) as anti-hermeneutic approaches again increasingly come to the forefront (Malmberg & Nordenstreng, 2017).…”