Journalism Design: The NewsCube, Interactive Technologies and Practice Skye Doherty Bachelor of Business (Journalism) Diploma in Digital Media Management A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2017 School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering ! ! Abstract Journalism is in a period of transition. Disrupted by social and mobile technologies, practitioners need new ways to create stories and engage audiences if they hope to remain relevant and viable. Yet journalists’ relationship with technology is fraught. Weighed down by legacy production processes and entrenched ideas about what journalism is, newsrooms have failed to fully exploit the potential of new platforms. But as technology becomes more interwoven in our lives, and interactions move out of the computer and into the everyday world, those practices will need to change. The question is how. This thesis is concerned with the practice of journalism, the practice of design, and what one can learn from the other. In order to argue its central proposition — that design methods are central to the future of journalism practice — the thesis documents and evaluates a design-led approach to addressing a journalistic issue. It does this via the NewsCube: a digital artefact that uses space and shape to tell news stories. The NewsCube is a unique storytelling format. Through a transparent process of concept development, design, prototyping and evaluation, the project detailed in the following pages reveals new possibilities for journalism practice: that stories could be tactile, fun and designed for distributed control. Physicality and playfulness are not values readily associated with journalism, but the work here suggests that such qualities could inform new forms of engagement. The contribution of this thesis is, in the first instance, to journalism: that it is through design that journalism can innovate. That the practice-led, future-focused methods of design research can be used to generate new ideas for journalism that exploit technology and embody core journalistic values. But there is a contribution to design also. The design process revealed a distinctly journalistic way of thinking, which, when combined with design methods, led to a new concept of news interaction. The application of design research methods to a journalistic dilemma is arguably original in journalism research and this thesis proposes Journalism Design as an emerging area of research and practice that not only addresses the technological possibilities for journalism, but the journalistic possibilities for technology. i ! Declaration by author This thesis is composed of my original work, and contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference has been made in the text. I have clearly stated the contribution by others to jointly-authored works that I have included in my thesis. I have clearly stated the contribution of others to my thesis as a whole, including statistical assistance, survey design, data analysis, significant technical procedures, professional editorial advice, and any other original research work used or reported in my thesis. The content of my thesis is the result of work I have carried out since the commencement of my research higher degree candidature and does not include a substantial part of work that has been submitted to qualify for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution. I have clearly stated which parts of my thesis, if any, have been submitted to qualify for another award. I acknowledge that an electronic copy of my thesis must be lodged with the University Library and, subject to the policy and procedures of The University of Queensland, the thesis be made available for research and study in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968 unless a period of embargo has been approved by the Dean of the Graduate School. I acknowledge that copyright of all material contained in my thesis resides with the copyright holder(s) of that material. Where appropriate I have obtained copyright permission from the copyright holder to reproduce material in this thesis. ii ! Publications during candidature Journal articles Doherty, S. (2015). NewsCubed: journalism through design. Journalism Practice, 10(5), 569–588. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2015.1049645 Angus, D., & Doherty, S. (2015). Journalism meets interaction design: an interdisciplinary undergraduate teaching initiative. Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, 70(1), 44–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1077695814563981 Doherty, S. (2014). Hypertext and journalism: Paths for future research. Digital Journalism, 2(2), 124–139. http://dx.doi/10.1080/21670811.2013.821323 Doherty, S. (2012). Will the geeks inherit the newsroom? Reflections on why journalists should learn computer science. International Journal of Technology, Knowledge and Society, 8(2), 111–121. Creative Works Doherty, S., Epifani, A., Lloyd, D., Harrison, J., & Viller, S. (2015). NewsCube. Brisbane, Australia: NewsCubed Pty Ltd. Presentations and talks Doherty, S. (2016, July). Journalism + Design: a new paradigm for the digital age. Paper presented at the Australia and New Zealand Communication Association Conference. Newcastle, Australia. Doherty, S. (2016, June). Documenting journalism design. Workshop paper presented at the ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems. Brisbane. Doherty, S. (2016, March). NewsCube: It’s about the future. Australian Science Communicators Conference. Brisbane. Doherty, S. (2015, November). Designing new journalism practice. Theorising digital change conference. Brisbane. Doherty, S. (2015, October). NewsCube. Texture [exhibition]. The Edge, State Library of Queensland Brisbane. Doherty, S. (2015, August). Journalism and the power of design. Speech at Walkley Freelance Focus. Brisbane. Doherty, S. (2015, March). NewsCubed: Journalism through design. University of Queensland School of Communication and Arts research seminar series. Brisbane. iii ! Doherty, S. (2014, December). Australian innovators share lessons learnt. Panel discussion, Storyology. Sydney. Doherty, S. (2014, December). The NewsCube. Presentation in New Adventures in Storytelling, Storyology. Sydney. Doherty, S. (2012, January). Will the geeks inherit the newsroom? Reflections on why journalists should learn computer science. Paper presented at the eighth international conference on technology, knowledge and society. Los Angeles. Reports Doherty, S. (2015). NewsCube: Report on Walkley grants for innovation in journalism. Delivered to the Walkley Foundation. NewsCubed, May 25. Doherty, S. (2013). Hypertext and news stories (ITEE Technical Report No. 2013-03, University of Queensland) Retrieved from http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/eserv/UQ: 313369/UQ313369_fulltext.pdf Doherty, S. (2011). Playing with the facts. The Walkley Magazine, 68, 40–40. iv ! Publications included in this thesis Doherty, S. (2014). Hypertext and journalism: Paths for future research. Digital journalism, 2(2), 124–139. http://dx.doi/10.1080/21670811.2013.821323 Chapter Three is a later version of this paper. Contributor Statement of contribution Author: Skye Doherty (Candidate) Surveyed literature (100%) Wrote paper (100%) Doherty, S. (2013). Hypertext and news stories (ITEE Technical Report No. 2013-03, University of Queensland) Retrieved from http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/eserv/UQ: 313369/UQ313369_fulltext.pdf Chapter Four is a later version of this paper. Contributor Statement of contribution Author: Skye Doherty (Candidate) Research design (100%) Data collection and analysis (100%) Wrote paper (100%) Doherty, S. (2015). NewsCubed: journalism through design. Journalism practice, 10(5), 569–588. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2015.1049645 Parts of Chapter Five and Chapter Six were included in this paper. Contributor Statement of contribution Author: Skye Doherty (Candidate) Research design (100%) Data collection and analysis (100%) Wrote paper (100%) v ! Contributions by others to the thesis No contributions by others. Parts of the thesis submitted to qualify for the award of another degree None. vi ! Acknowledgements Thanks must go to several people without whose support this project would not be complete. Firstly to my advisory team, Dr Stephen Viller and Dr John Harrison. I am grateful to you both for your sage advice and ongoing encouragement over several years. I hope we can continue to work together. The participants in this study deserve thanks for their time and enthusiasm for the project. Your willingness to use and reflect the prototype was vital to the research and its findings. Andrea Epifani and David Lloyd invested many hours developing the NewsCube beta version. You are both creative, inspiring and a pleasure to work with. I hope we can collaborate again. The creation of this tool was possible thanks to a Walkley Grant for Innovation in Journalism. Thanks goes to the team at the Walkley Foundation for their support. Similarly, the team at iLab provided valuable guidance on pitching and budgets. I have completed this research while working as a journalism lecturer at the University of Queensland and thanks must go to successive heads, and acting heads of school for their support in helping me to juggle work and study commitments. Thanks to Professor Jason Jacobs, Associate Professor Pradip Thomas, Dr Rhonda Breit and Professor Michael Bromley. The Interaction Design research group at the University of Queensland has