On the interplay between journalism, audience(s) and technology

1. Technical artifacts as intermediaries
On the interplay between journalism, audience(s) and technology
Nele Heise, M. A.
Hans Bredow Institute, July 26th 2012

2. Outline
1. About me
2. Perspectives on the ermergence and role of (media) technology
3. Technical artifacts as intermediaries?!
4. What now?
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3. About me
Education
– 2005-2011: Study of Communication Sciences and History at Erfurt University
– since October 2011: Junior Researcher at the Hans Bredow Institute
– PhD candidate and associated member of the Graduate School Media and
Communication
Research
– Main interests (at the moment): online communication, practices and prerequisites
of online participation, appropriation of technology
– previous research on World of Warcraft, Wikipedia, GayRomeo, muslim blogs, social
movements and cyber activism, ethics of internet research, social aspects of
technological change
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4. Where to start?
research context: DFG funded project „(Re-)Discovery of the Audience“,
together with Wiebke, Jan & Julius
initial ideas for my PhD: „active audience(s)“  what is activity?
Dissertation project: media appropriation and participation via technical artifacts
as a mode of audience activity, specifically: „radio activity“
 I will carry out case studies regarding the radio/broadcasting „dispositif“ and
different levels of participation, i.e. conventional radio stations, web radio,
community radio, podcasts and amateur radio operators
Today: focus on my presentation „Making and Shaping the News“ @ Internet
Research 13.0 (October 2012)
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5. Theoretical perspectives
The role of technical artifacts in (media) communication
Shortcomings of previous research on the emergence of technology
 Technological vs. Social Determinism
 Diffusion of Innovation vs. Social Shaping of Technology
integrative approaches:
 „mutual shaping“ perspective (Boczkowski): simultaneous pursuit of interdependent
technological and social transformations, the ongoing character of this process,
importance of the historical context in which it unfolds
 „molding forces“ of media (Hepp): media exert a certain „pressure“ on the way we
communicate – effects of the material structure and the potentiality of action offered by
media aren„t direct, they become concrete via certain forms of communication
 (technological) objects and things as „actors“ and „participants“ (Latour) – media as
„mediators“, to some extent shaping processes of communication
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6. Technical artifacts as intermediaries?
original meaning:
“An intermediary (or go-between) is a third party that offers intermediation services between
two trading parties. … Typically the intermediary offers some added value to the transaction
that may not be possible by direct trading.”
some functions of (electronic) intermediaries: information aggregating,
facilitating and matching, scanning and information processing, gatekeeping and
brokering, knowledge processing and combination/recombination
What if we understand technical artifacts as intermediaries between
journalism and audience(s)?
And what role do these intermediaries play in the processes of producing,
distributing, perceiving and processing journalistic content?
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7. Technical artifacts as intermediaries!
Journalism Audience(s)
producing stories e.g. via crowd- Generating content actively
sourcing, gathering of audience Technical Artifacts with regard to journalistic
material or data-driven storytelling Interfaces products, e.g. discussion
Infrastructure boards, re-mixing and mash-
distributing content ups or commenting media
e.g. via social media channels and Hardware (devices)
content in SNS
search engines Software (programs)
Algorithms processing of news as a social
monitoring / quantifying audiences experience, e.g. sharing
e.g. user rankings on news sites activities, shared spaces
Design
mutual observation and imitation Function perceiving journalistic products:
among media organizations Purpose social navigation, interactive
tools, personalized news
e.g. RSS-feeds, newsletters
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8. An Example
The good old „Tagesschau“: From „Ivory Tower“ …
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9. An Example
… to „Getting in Touch“ and „sharing spaces“ with the News
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10. What now?
Refining and extending the model and applying it to a case study 
presentation at this year„s „Internet Research 13.0“ in Manchester
 Is „intermediary“ the adequate notion?
 Are technical artifacts able to „act“? (autonomy of technical artifacts)
 Consequences of technical intermediaries remaining „black boxes“ for both,
journalists and users
 How are technical intermediaries shaping the role of the audience (as
consumer, producer, citizen) and participatory practices?  this question is
central to my PhD project with its focus on „radio activity“
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11. References
• Anderson, Chris W. (2011). Between creative and quantified audiences: Web metrics and changing patterns of newswork in local US newsrooms. Journalism
12 (5), pp. 550-566.
• Boczkowski, Pablo J. (2004). The Mutual Shaping of Technology and Society in Videotex Newspapers: Beyond the Diffusion and Social Shaping Perspectives.
The Information Society, 20 (4), pp. 255-267.
• Boczkowski, Pablo J. (2009). Technology, Monitoring, and Imitation in Contemporary News Work. Communication, Culture & Critique, Vol. 2., pp. 39-59.
• Hepp, Andreas (2012). Mediatization and the „Molding Force‟ of the Media. Communications, 37 (1), pp. 1-28.
• Howells, Jeremy (2006): Intermediation and the role of intermediaries in innovation. Research Policy, 35 (5), pp. 715-728.
• MacKenzie, D., Wajcman, J. (Eds.) (1999). The Social Shaping of Technology. 2nd ed. Buckingham/Philadelphia: Open University Press.
• Nielsen, Rasmus K. (2012): How Newspapers Began to Blog. Recognizing the Role of Technologists in Old Media Organizations‟ development of New Media
Technologies. Information, Communication & Society, 15 (6), pp. 959-978.
• Sarkar, Mitra Barun / Butler, Brian / Steinfield, Charles (1995): Intermediaries and Cybermediaries: A Continuing Role for Mediating Players in the Electronic
Marketplace. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 1 (3). Available at: http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol1/issue3/sarkar.html (25 July 2012).
• Sarrica, Mauro (2010): ICTs Meanings and Practices: Contributions from the Social Representations Approach. The Journal of Community Informatics, 6 (3).
Available at: http://ci-journal.net/index.php/ciej/article/view/731/612 (25 July 2012).
• Schmidt, J. (2011). Das neue Netz. Merkmale, Praktiken und Folgen des Web 2.0 [The New Net. Characteristics, Practices and Consequences of Web 2.0].
2nd ed. Konstanz: UVK Verlag.
• Silverstone, Roger / Haddon, Leslie (1996). Design and the domestication of information and communication technologies: Technical change and Everyday
Life. In R. Mansell & R. Silverstone (Eds.). Communication by design. The politics of information and communication technologies (pp. 44-74). Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
• Thurman, Neil (2011). Making „The Daily Me‟: Technology, economics and habit in the mainstream assimilation of personalized news. Journalism 12 (4), pp.
395-415.
• Wehner, Josef (2010). „Numerische Inklusion“ – Wie die Medien ihr Publikum beobachten [“Numerical Inclusion“ – How Media Observe Their Audience]. In T.
Sutter & A. Mehler (Eds.). Medienwandel als Wandel von Interaktionsformen [Media Change As Change in Forms of Interaction] (pp. 183-210). Wiesbaden:
VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
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12. Thanks for your attention!
Nele Heise, M. A.
Hans Bredow Institute
Warburgstraße 8-10
20354 Hamburg
n.heise@hans-bredow-institut.de
@neleheise
@jpub20team
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13. First steps
An extended model on social aspects of technological change which I elaborated in 2009
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