Inventing Online Journalism
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Inventing online journalism Development of the Internet as a news medium in four Catalan online newsrooms David Domingo Lecturer in Online Journalism Universitat Rovira i Virgili Tarragona, Catalonia [email protected] Director: Bernat López López Tutor: Jaume Soriano Clemente Memòria presentada per optar al grau de Doctor en Periodisme Departament de Periodisme i Ciències de la Comunicació Facultat de Ciències de la Comunicació Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Tarragona, maig 2006 Abstract Online journalism has developed in several directions and rhythms, taking different shapes in different online news projects. Scholars have offered empirical evidence that these directions are, in many occasions, far from the utopias envisioned in the 90s. We are still inventing online journalism. A comparative research focused on four case studies of Catalan online newsrooms traces the material and organizational constrains in the definition and use of hypertext, multimedia and interactivity –those hyped Internet features– by online journalists. Professional routines and values of the four online newsrooms are analyzed, with the aim of finding the similarities and divergences among different media traditions: a national newspaper (El Periódico), a public broadcasting corporation (CCRTV), a local newspaper (Diari de Tarragona) and a public-funded news portal (laMalla.net). Observation of the journalists at work and in-depth interviews provide a close look at the context and development of each case, interpreted with a constructivist approach to the social adoption of new technologies. Some of the findings of the study include: immediacy is the main value in three of the online newsrooms; the rest of the online journalism utopias are shaped by this decision; news wires are the main –and almost only– source for most of online news; small sized staffs and the culture of immediacy discourage online journalists from going out or contacting first-hand sources, specially in traditional media online newsrooms; online journalists in traditional media environments tend to downgrade the value of their work in regard to their offline mates; the online-only project overcomes some of the problems with a specialization strategy, having each journalist focused on particular topics, and they are more sensitive to explore utopias. The author argues that more comparative studies at an international level on the organizational and material structure of online newsrooms are needed to offer media companies a realistic stand point to continue the invention of the internet as a news medium. The Internet's identity as a communication medium was not inherent in the technology; it was constructed through a series of social choices. The ingenuity of the system's builders and the practices of its users have proved just as crucial as computers and telephone circuits in defining the structure and purpose of the Internet. (...) The Internet had to be invented—and constantly reinvented—at the same time as the technology itself. I hope that this perspective will prove useful to those of us, experts and users alike, who are even now engaged in reinventing the Internet. Inventing the Internet (Abbate, 1999:6) Acknowledgements Als periodistes digitals d’El Periódico, CCRTV, laMalla.net i Diari de Tarragona, que van obrir-me molt més que les portes de les seves redaccions. No puc més que agrair la vostra sinceritat i admirar l’esforç que feu inventant, a poc a poc, un nou mitjà de comunicació. David, a mig camí entre el professional i l’investigador, vas ser el millor aliat quan bussejava entre les meves notes buscant interpretacions per tot el que havia viscut. Al Bernat i el Jaume, que han sabut donar-me el consell més savi en els moments en què més ho he necessitat. To Ari, for his always challenging questions and the crucial opportunity of the stage in Tampere, where this dissertation started to take shape. Al John i l’Humberto, per una revisió lingüística de la tesi meticulosa i entusiasta. A Pablo, por esos e-mails cargados de sentido y un libro que me convenció que caminaba por terreno firme. To Nora, for turning methodological reflection into a central issue and letting me walk along in fostering the debate among Internet studies scholars. Al Miquel i el Joan Manuel, que em van ajudar a saber que volia ser investigador en confiar-me la responsabilitat de seguir l’evolució d’Internet a Catalunya. A Javier y Ramón, por haber impulsado desde sus inicios el ciberperiodismo como objeto de estudio científico y haber sabido aglutinar los esfuerzos de múltiples investigadores en un grupo de investigación modélico. A Héctor, por ir siempre un paso adelante en la utopía, provocando con futuro en los presentes más grises. Als amics de Vilanova, per creure en el projecte del Grup de Periodistes Digitals i convertir la ciutat en punt de trobada de projectes, d’intercanvi d’idees. Als companys de la Unitat de Comunicació de la URV, pel seu suport constant, i especialment a l’Enric, pels interminables debats sobre el present i el futur del periodisme digital. Als amics d’aquí, d’allà, del passeig vora el mar fins a la conversa virtual, sempre hi heu estat malgrat el meu permanent estat d’obnubilació: Internet atrapa, però una tesi més. A la Sílvia, per creure en nosaltres. 1. Introduction ...................................................................................... 15 1.1. Object of study.......................................................................... 22 1.2. Research questions and hypotheses........................................... 25 1.3. Dissertation outline ................................................................... 27 PART I: Theoretical and methodological background 2. Literature review............................................................................... 33 2.1. Innovation processes in media companies preceding the Internet............................................................................... 37 2.2. The Internet as a social product................................................. 46 2.3. The utopias of online journalism ................................................ 54 2.3.1. Hypertext utopias...................................................... 67 2.3.2. Multimedia utopias.................................................... 74 2.3.3. Interactivity utopias.................................................. 78 2.3.4. Utopias in the context of online media history ........ 86 2.4. Empirical results of online journali sm research........................... 93 2.4.1. Website analysis........................................................ 95 2.4.2. Surveying the journalists .........................................107 2.4.3. Surveying the users..................................................119 2.4.4. Constructivist approaches........................................122 2.5. Discussion: the challenges of online journali sm research ..........137 3. Theoretical framework.....................................................................141 3.1. Sociology of journalism ............................................................147 3.1.1. Limitations of the sociology of journalism for technological innovation research .....................................155 3.1.2. Technology in the sociology of newsmaking...........162 3.2. Constructivist research on technological innovation ..................169 3.2.1. Communication history ............................................172 3.2.2. Social construction of technology............................178 3.2.3. Anthropology of technology ....................................184 3.2.4. Actor network theory ..............................................187 3.2.5. Evolutionary economics ..........................................191 3.3. Discussion: a constructivist toolkit for online journalism research ..................................................................................196 4. Research design and methods.........................................................203 4.1. Case studies .............................................................................209 4.1.1. Rationale...................................................................209 4.1.2. Selected cases ..........................................................212 4.2. Methodological discussion ........................................................220 4.2.1. Newsroom observation ............................................222 4.2.2. Interviews.................................................................237 4.2.3. Complementary research methods..........................241 4.2.4. Qualitative data analysis..........................................243 PART II: Research results and discussion 5. History and evolution of the projects..............................................251 5.1. A decade of online journalism in Catalonia and Spain.................255 5.2. El Periódico Online....................................................................262 5.3. laMalla.net ...............................................................................280 5.4. CCRTV......................................................................................290 5.5. Diari de Tarragona....................................................................300 6. Production cultures in the online newsrooms.................................311 6.1. Newsroom roles, labour division and shifts ...............................316 6.2. News updating policy: the life-cycle of news stories ..................337 6.3. Homepage management