Journalism in the Digital Age

The digitalization of everyday communication is impacting journalism, too. In fact, journalism in particular is affected by both the advantages and disadvantages of the technology-driven changes that digitalization entails. The third-party funded project Journalism in the Digital Age, which was supported by the Media Authority of North Rhine-Westphalia and carried out jointly with the Macromedia University of Applied Sciences, was devoted to two developments that the digitalization of journalism implies: media users are increasingly involved in journalistic products, and new, innovative special forms of digital journalism are emerging. In the first case, the research focused on the consequences of participatory elements for the quality of journalistic products and how they can be incorporated beneficially. In the second, the investigations concentrated on which innovative forms are emerging in digital journalism and how they can potentially improve the quality of journalism overall in the future.

The study consisted of six modules, each of which was concerned with a different subject area:

• Quantitative content analysis of online journalistic offerings: which participatory elements are included in the online services of full-scale editorial departments in Germany?
• Qualitative content analysis of selected online journalistic offerings: what is the contribution of participatory elements to improve the quality of selected services?
• Network analysis and content analysis of selected participatory services: which quality expectations on the part of users do selected participatory journalistic formats fulfill?
• Guided interviews with high-level editors: which quality expectations and requirements do managing editors and desk editors have when integrating user posts?
• Vignette analysis with high-level editors: which selection processes and quality assurance procedures are used when dealing with user posts?
• Observation and survey of selected, innovative editorial departments: which innovative forms can be identified in selected editorial departments, and how do they contribute to enhancing product quality, in the departments’ opinion?

The study had four goals. Firstly, it was to provide an overview of the extent of participatory forms of (online) journalism in Germany; secondly, the participatory content and its creators as well as the editorial department’s selection processes in relation to them were to be studied in more depth; and thirdly, innovative forms of journalistic production were to be described. Finally, the consequences these developments might have for the quality of journalism overall were to be reflected.

The project, which ended on 31 March 2014, was headed by:

Prof. Dr. Volker Lilienthal, holder of the Rudolf Augstein Endowed Professorship for Quality Journalism at Universität Hamburg and
Prof. Dr. Stephan Weichert, then [SA1] Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication, MHMK — Macromedia Hochschule für Medien und Kommunikation, Hamburg and Academic Director, master’s degree program in digital Journalism, Hamburg Media School.
Dennis Reineck, M.A. (Universität Hamburg), Dr. phil. Annika Sehl (TU Dortmund), and Silvia Worm, M.A. (Universität Hamburg) were also involved in the research project.
Duration: 2012 — 2014
Project directors: Prof. Dr. Volker Lilienthal, Prof. Dr. Stephan Weichert
Third-party funder: Media Authority of North Rhine-Westphalia