My presentation at the Internet Research 13.0 on October 21, 2012, in Salford (UK)

1. Making and Shaping the News
Theoretical Perspectives on the Role of Technical Artifacts as
Intermediaries Between Journalism and its Audience(s)
Nele Heise, M. A.
Internet Research 13.0, Salford (UK)
October 21, 2012

2. Outline
1. Intro
2. On the interplay between journalism, audience(s) and technology
3. Technical artifacts as intermediaries?!
4. OpenQuestions
Heise | Technical intermedaries 2

3. Intro
Something about me
• Junior Researcher @ Hans-Bredow-Institute (Hamburg/Germany)
• member of the Graduate School Media & Communication (GMaC)
• Dissertation project on „radio activity“ (role of technical artifacts and
technical agency/competence for participation in radio communication)
 Focus today: “spin-off” project on technical intermediaries
Heise | Technical intermedaries 3

4. Technik matters?
Perspectives on technology and the media
• Previous shortcomings: Technological vs. Social Determinism
• “mutual shaping” perspective (Boczkowski 2004):
… ongoing interdependent technological and social transformations
• “molding forces” of media (Hepp):
… media exert a certain „pressure“ on the way we communicate
• Actor-Network-Theory (Latour/Callon; Couldry 2006; Plesner 2009):
… (technological) objects and non-humans as „actors“ in networks
• Structuration Theory (Larsson 2012)
… agency (situated use, facilities, norms & interpretive schemes) and its relation
to structure (“Technologies-of-practice” aka rules and norms instantiated in use)
Heise | Technical intermedaries 4

5. Technik matters!
„Materialism“ in journalism studies & audience research
• Journalism studies
on the production of content and journalistic routines (e.g. Nielsen 2012)
on newsroom cultures, role conceptions etc. (e.g. Domingo 2008; Schmitz
Weiss/Domingo 2010; Singer 2010)
• Audience research
on interactivity, and its impact on consumption, “influence” and distribution
(e.g. Carpentier 2011; Himelboim/McCreery 2012)
on affordances of new ICTs and impact on media appropriation and active
participation (e.g. King/He 2006; Correa 2010; Siles/Boczkowski 2012)
on social representations of ICTs and familiarisation (e.g. Sarrica 2010)
Heise | Technical intermedaries 5

6. The „place“ of technology
Theories on interrelations of journalism and audience, for example
• dynamic-transactional approach (cf. Wünsch et al. 2008)
• Inclusion concept in systems theory (cf. Schmidt/Loosen 2012)
• Critical concepts of appropriation of media content (cf. Renger 2004)
 focus on cognitive, normative aspects or production of content and
meaning; but: influences of technical artifacts remain untouched
Where is the “place” of (media) technology in the interplay of
journalism and audiences?
Heise | Technical intermedaries 6

7. The missing link*
?
Journalism Audience
?
*technical artifacts: infrastructure (cable, satellite, server structures), hardware
(devices), software (programs, algorithms) and (user) interfaces
Heise | Technical intermedaries 7

8. :: exemplified ::
The good old Tagesschau: From “Ivory Tower” and “Proclamation” …
Heise | Technical intermedaries 8

9. :: exemplified ::
… to “Getting in Touch“ and “Sharing Spaces“ with the News
Heise | Technical intermedaries 9

10. What if we see technical artifacts as intermediaries
between journalism and audience(s)?
Heise | Technical intermedaries 10

11. Intermediaries?
• original meaning
third parties, offering intermediation between two trading parties (e.g. producer
& consumer) that create some added value to the “transaction”
• Intermediaries as actors
organizations, companies etc.; in the internet: “Cybermediaries” (e.g. search
engines, publishers, forums) or „digital intermediaries“ (e.g. content platforms,
social networks)
• Intermediation as process
functions such as information aggregating, matching, scanning, “gatekeeping”,
(re-)combination of knowledge, integration of consumer and producer needs
Heise | Technical intermedaries 11

12. And what role do intermediaries play in the
production, distribution and consumption
of journalistic content?
Heise | Technical intermedaries 12

13. Technical artifacts as intermediaries
Journalism Audience(s)
producing stories Generating content actively with
e.g. via crowd-sourcing, audience regard to journalistic products,
material or data-driven e.g. discussion boards, re-mixing
storytelling and mash-ups or commenting
media content in SNS
distributing content Technical
e.g. via social media channels processing of news
and search engines Artifacts as a social experience, e.g.
sharing activities, social
monitoring & quantifying navigation
audiences / “numerical inclusion”
e.g. user rankings on news sites consuming journalistic products:
interactive tools, personalized
mutual observation and imitation news, mobile media use,
among media organizations e.g. RSS-feeds, newsletters
Heise | Technical intermedaries 13

14. :: again exemplified ::
Intermediaries Functions Examples
Search engines & Aggregators Searching, selecting, aggregation, “gatekeeping” Google News, Rivva, reddit, netvibes
Tagging-& Social Bookmarking Information processing, distribution Mr. Wong, Delicious
observation, investigation, distribution/content passing,
Twitter, Facebook, Google+ (+
Social networks consumption, follow-up communication, “shared spaces”
interfaces on media websites)
for opinion exchange and interpretation
observation, investigation, distribution/content passing,
Content platforms YouTube, Vimeo, flickr, Bambuser
consumption, follow-up communication
Google Analytics, Omniture Site
Observation (customer information) and surveillance,
Web analytics Catalyst, Rankings („most
presentation, aggregation
read/commented/emailed“)
Crowdsourcing-/Crowdfunding- investigation, examination, presentation, processing & Spot.us, emphas.is, flattr, Open
Tools combination of knowledge, financing, collaboration Platform Guardian, storify, ProPublica
20min.ch, BILD Leser-Reporter, Die
Uploading Tools investigation, observation, combination of knowledge
ZEIT Leserartikel
Distribution, consumption, observation (user statistics), Push messages, Updates, breaking
Mobile Apps
presentation news
Subscription services Personalization (customer needs), consumption RSS-Feeds, newsletters
ARD-Mediathek, BBC iPlayer, Catch
On-Demand platforms Distribution, consumption, observation (user statistics)
Up TV, IPTV, VOD
Heise | Technical intermedaries 14

15. Technical artifacts as intermediaries
Webmasters
Designers &
Journalism Audience(s)
Implementation Domestication
Practices Practices
Social Representations Design Social Representations
Function(ality)
Purpose
Providers &
Companies
Heise | Technical intermedaries 15

16. OpenQuestions
Implications?
• irritations and conflicts with normative, professional, social positions of
journalism, as seen with non-use of interactive features on both sides
(see Larsson 2012; Nielsen 2012)
• technical artifacts as “black boxes” for both, journalists and users
• “Autonomy” of technical artifacts; Substitution of journalistic functions
• Power and dependency: the role of big players like Google or Facebook
• The mutual shaping of technical artifacts, the role of the audience (as
consumer, producer, citizen) and participatory practices
Heise | Technical intermedaries 16

17. Thanks for your attention!
Nele Heise, M. A.
Hans Bredow Institute
Warburgstraße 8-10
20354 Hamburg
n.heise@hans-bredow-institut.de
@neleheise

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