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The old-new epistemology of digital journalism: how algorithms and filter bubbles are (re)creating modern metanarratives

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  • Luca Serafini

    (University of Naples Federico II)

Abstract

In journalism studies, the advent of the World Wide Web and the rise of online journalism are generally associated with going beyond the objective, normative paradigm associated with the principles of philosophical and scientific modernity towards a postmodern paradigm centred on subjectivity and relativism. This article offers an alternative reading of the epistemology of online journalism: the fragmentation of audiences into homophilic networks, the formation of ideological bubbles, and the growing polarisation caused by algorithms make the contents circulating online a reintroduction of modernity’s metanarratives. These metanarratives in no way correspond to the principles typical of postmodernism, such as the equivalence of interpretations and openness to dialogue. Journalistic content also comes under this charge: although it conveys narratives that are subjective, they are perceived as absolute truths inside the information bubbles in which they circulate. This phenomenon is caused by “information platformization” processes. Based on these premises, a new definition of online journalism is proposed: rather than “postmodern”, it can be better understood as a fulfilment of the foundational principles of modernism, but in a subjective form.

Suggested Citation

  • Luca Serafini, 2023. "The old-new epistemology of digital journalism: how algorithms and filter bubbles are (re)creating modern metanarratives," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:10:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-023-01905-6
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-023-01905-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. 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.
    2. Ro'ee Levy, 2021. "Social Media, News Consumption, and Polarization: Evidence from a Field Experiment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(3), pages 831-870, March.
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