IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/meanco/v8y2020i3p270-280.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

In the Service of Good Journalism and Audience Interests? How Audience Metrics Affect News Quality

Author

Listed:
  • Silke Fürst

    (IKMZ—Department of Communication and Media Research, University of Zurich, Switzerland)

Abstract

A large and growing body of literature shows that audience metrics exert a significant influence in many newsrooms around the world. Scholars assume that this might affect the quality of news, but findings on how audience metrics influence news quality and media performance are scattered. Based on a widely used set of news quality criteria, this article is the first to focus on this question. It reviews and discusses the existing findings by considering the influence of audience metrics across four analytical dimensions: A) the allocation of resources and recognition; B) the volume, practices and rhythms of news production; C) the selection and placement of topics; and D) the formats and styles of news presentation. The analysis reveals that journalists’ use of audience metrics has a mainly negative impact on news quality. This effect is the result of both the growing economic pressures on newsrooms and a dominant rhetoric that equates measures of audience size with audience interests and good journalistic work.

Suggested Citation

  • Silke Fürst, 2020. "In the Service of Good Journalism and Audience Interests? How Audience Metrics Affect News Quality," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(3), pages 270-280.
  • Handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v8:y:2020:i:3:p:270-280
    DOI: 10.17645/mac.v8i3.3228
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/3228
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17645/mac.v8i3.3228?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sherwin Chua & Oscar Westlund, 2019. "Audience-Centric Engagement, Collaboration Culture and Platform Counterbalancing: A Longitudinal Study of Ongoing Sensemaking of Emerging Technologies," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(1), pages 153-165.
    2. Nick Hagar & Nicholas Diakopoulos, 2019. "Optimizing Content with A/B Headline Testing: Changing Newsroom Practices," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(1), pages 117-127.
    3. Nick Hagar & Nicholas Diakopoulos, 2019. "Optimizing Content with A/B Headline Testing: Changing Newsroom Practices," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(1), pages 117-127.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Silke Fürst, 2020. "In the Service of Good Journalism and Audience Interests? How Audience Metrics Affect News Quality," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(3), pages 270-280.
    2. Antonio Mendez & Bella Palomo & Agustin Rivera, 2020. "Managing Social Networks in Online-Native Newsrooms: When Less Means More," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(2), pages 124-134.
    3. Joan Calzada & Nestor Duch-Brown & Ricard Gil, 2021. "Do search engines increase concentration in media markets?," UB School of Economics Working Papers 2021/415, University of Barcelona School of Economics.
    4. Sherwin Chua & Andrew Duffy, 2019. "Friend, Foe or Frenemy? Traditional Journalism Actors’ Changing Attitudes towards Peripheral Players and Their Innovations," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(4), pages 112-122.
    5. Constanza Gajardo & Irene Costera Meijer & David Domingo, 2021. "From Abstract News Users to Living Citizens: Assessing Audience Engagement Through a Professional Lens," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/323596, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    6. Kristina Gligorić & George Lifchits & Robert West & Ashton Anderson, 2021. "Linguistic effects on news headline success: Evidence from thousands of online field experiments (Registered Report Protocol)," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(9), pages 1-14, September.
    7. Ivar John Erdal & Kjetil Vaage Øie & Brett Oppegaard & Oscar Westlund, 2019. "Invisible Locative Media: Key Considerations at the Nexus of Place and Digital Journalism," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(1), pages 166-178.
    8. Mats Ekström & Oscar Westlund, 2019. "The Dislocation of News Journalism: A Conceptual Framework for the Study of Epistemologies of Digital Journalism," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(1), pages 259-270.
    9. Ivar John Erdal & Kjetil Vaage Øie & Brett Oppegaard & Oscar Westlund, 2019. "Invisible Locative Media: Key Considerations at the Nexus of Place and Digital Journalism," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(1), pages 166-178.
    10. Miroslav Mandić & Iva Gregurec & UgljeÅ¡a Vujović, 2023. "Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Sales by Conducting A/B Testing," Tržište/Market, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb, vol. 35(2), pages 223-249.
    11. Antonio Mendez & Bella Palomo & Agustin Rivera, 2020. "Managing Social Networks in Online-Native Newsrooms: When Less Means More," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(2), pages 124-134.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v8:y:2020:i:3:p:270-280. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira or IT Department (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.