heise; loosen; reimer; schmidt: comparing attitudes and expectations towards audience participation...

“What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!?”

Comparing a+tudes and expecta3ons of journalists and users towards audience par3cipa3on in news journalism

Nele Heise, Wiebke Loosen, Julius Reimer, Jan-‐Hinrik Schmidt @jpub20team

ICA | London | June 21st 2013

Source: Loosen & Schmidt 2012: 874

Audience par:cipa:on in journalism

Audience Inclusion performance

Inclusion expecta:ons

Inclusion performance Features f. audience par3cipa3on

Work process/rou3nes

Journalis3c output/products

Inclusion expecta:ons Journalis3c role concep3on

Images of the audience

Strategic ra3onales

Journalists

Par3cipatory prac3ces

Degree of community orienta3on

Mo3va3ons for pa3cipa3on

Expecta3ons concerning impact/influence of audience par3cipa3on on journalism

2



Audience Inclusion performance

Inclusion expecta:ons

Inclusion performance Features f. audience par3cipa3on

Work process/rou3nes

Journalis3c output/products

Inclusion expecta:ons Journalis3c role concep3on

Images of the audience

Strategic ra3onales

Journalists

Par3cipatory prac3ces

Degree of community orienta3on

Mo3va3ons for pa3cipa3on

Expecta3ons concerning impact/influence of audience par3cipa3on on journalism

3

Inclusion distance

Inclusion level



Audience Inclusion performance Inclusion performance

(Expected) inclusion expecta:ons

Journalists

Inclusion level

Inclusion distance

4

Inclusion level

(Expected) inclusion expecta:ons

3. Assumed importance of par1cipatory func1ons

Importance of par3cipatory func3ons

2. Self image of journalis3c role External image of journalis1c role

1. Assumed mo1va1ons

Mo3va3ons for par3cipa3on

4. General assessment of part.: •  Strategic ra3onales •  Impact on journalism

General assessment of part.: •  Strategic ra3onales •  Impact on journalism

In-‐depth interviews Standardized online surveys

Content/feature analyses

Journalists n = 10 leading editors TV / online 2x TV / 2x online managing editor 2x social media editor 2x „mul3media assistant“ [= community manager]

n = 63 out of 130 people in editorial staff of Tagesschau and tagesschau.de

Par3cipatory features & social media profiles Integra3on of UGC & audience in 8 p.m. newscast (n=8) User comments on Meta, Facebook, blog (n=350)

Audience n = 6 with varying degrees of engagement

n = 4.686 random sample of tagesschau.de users; nth-‐visitor method

Methods

5

Example here: 1st case study at the Tagesschau (newscast)

4 case studies: TV Print

Informa:on oriented daily newscast daily newscast

Debate oriented weekly poli1cal TV talk weekly poli1cal TV talk

Case study 1 of 4: the Tagesschau

6

• Main German evening newscast • Up to 10 mio. viewers (33% market share) • Since 1952 • Produced by public service broadcaster

tagesschau.de 1996

YouTube 2006

TwiXer 2007

Blog 2008

Comment. sec:on “Meta” 2009

Facebook 2010

Google+ 2012

Discussion boards 2004

+ non-‐public features: audience mail (leners, e-‐mail), viewers‘ calls

1.  To have journalists be present (and responsive) on social media

2.  To be able to provide own material (text, pictures, videos) for news repor3ng

3.  To have a plaporm for discussing the quality of news repor3ng (agenda, form, tone etc.)

4.  To get informa3on on editorial rou3nes/prac3ces/decisions

5.  To be able to forward/recommend journalis3c content fast and easily to friends and family

6.  To be able to suggest topics for repor3ng 7.  To be able to comment/rate journalis3c items 8.  To make transparent how many other people

view/comment certain stories*** 9.  To be able to contact/discuss with editorial staff

directly 10.  To discuss the topics of news repor3ng*** 11.  To publicly show their/my anachment to the

Tagesschau*** 12.  To get addi3onal informa3on on the sources of a

journalis3c item*** 13.  To be taken seriously by journalists*** 14.  To have editorial staff introduced to them/me*** 15.  To be able to interact and/or make contact with

other viewers/users (and exchange opinions)*** 5-‐point-‐Likert-‐scale with 1 = ”Completely unimportant” to 5 = ”Very important”; 6 = ”Don’t know / Can’t say” (excluded for calcula1on of mean). // *** p < .001 (t-‐test)

7

Findings: (assumed) importance of par:cipatory func:ons

15

14

13

12

11

10 9

8

7 6 5 4

3

2

1

1

1,5

2

2,5

3

3,5

4

4,5

5

1 1,5 2 2,5 3 3,5 4 4,5 5

Actu

al im

porta

nce f

or u

sers

Importance for users as assumed by journalists












8


15

14

13

12

11

10 9

8

7 6 5 4

3

2

1

1

1,5

2

2,5

3

3,5

4

4,5

5

1 1,5 2 2,5 3 3,5 4 4,5 5

Actu

al im

porta

nce f

or u

sers













9


15

14

13

12

11

10 9

8

7 6 5 4

3

2

1

1

1,5

2

2,5

3

3,5

4

4,5

5

1 1,5 2 2,5 3 3,5 4 4,5 5

Actu

al im

porta

nce f

or u

sers













10


15

14

13

12

11

10 9

8

7 6 5 4

3

2

1

1

1,5

2

2,5

3

3,5

4

4,5

5

1 1,5 2 2,5 3 3,5 4 4,5 5

Actu

al im

porta

nce f

or u

sers


11

15

14

13

12

11

10 9

8

7 6 5 4

3

2

1

1

1,5

2

2,5

3

3,5

4

4,5

5

1 1,5 2 2,5 3 3,5 4 4,5 5

Actu

al im

porta

nce f

or u

sers
























other viewers/users (and exchange opinions)***

12

15

14

13

12

11

10 9

8

7 6 5 4

3

2

1

1

1,5

2

2,5

3

3,5

4

4,5

5

1 1,5 2 2,5 3 3,5 4 4,5 5

Actu

al im

porta

nce f

or u

sers



5-‐point-‐Likert-‐scale with 1 = ”Completely unimportant” to 5 = ”Very important”; 6 = ”Don’t know / Can’t say” (excluded for calcula1on of mean). // *** p < .001 (t-‐test)











other viewers/users (and exchange opinions)***

13

15

14

13

12

11

10 9

8

7 6 5 4

3

2

1

1

1,5

2

2,5

3

3,5

4

4,5

5

1 1,5 2 2,5 3 3,5 4 4,5 5

Actu

al im

porta

nce f

or u

sers



5-‐point-‐Likert-‐scale with 1 = ”Completely unimportant” to 5 = ”Very important”; 6 = ”Don’t know / Can’t say” (excluded for calcula1on of mean). // *** p < .001 (t-‐test)

14

15

14

13

12

11

10 9

8

7 6 5 4

3

2

1

1

1,5

2

2,5

3

3,5

4

4,5

5

1 1,5 2 2,5 3 3,5 4 4,5 5

Actu

al im

porta

nce f

or u

sers














•  Dimension „journalis:c role concep:on“ •  J & A: audience par3cipa3on not good for much, since Tagesschau supposed to

disseminate precise informa3on as fast as possible & explain complex topics and events (tradi3onal role)

•  J & A: ac3ve users & new newsroom roles (e.g. social media editors) anach more importance to new tasks like dialogue & making the journalis3c process transparent

•  Dimension „(assumed) mo:va:ons for par:cipa:on“ •  J: good for users to fulfil affec3ve, self-‐centered mo3va3ons •  A: good for widening knowledge & contact with others •  J & A: good for users to publicly state opinion

•  Dimension „general assessment of par:cipa:on“ •  J & A: good for reaching new target groups; not good for reducing costs, increasing

entertainment value, changing power rela3ons (journalists keep upper hand in selec3ng/producing news)

•  J: good for Tagesschau, since dialogue & exchange are considered essen3al element •  A: does not experience dialogue & exchange being an essen3al element

Findings: “What is it good for?”

15

•  Comparing •  groups of different homogeneity and size (editorial staff vs. disperse audience) •  online-‐ and TV-‐journalists and online-‐only audience •  individual self-‐assessment with assessment of groups of others

•  Taking into considera:on •  absolute differences of means •  posi3ons of means compared on the scale •  rela3ve rankings of one banery‘s items

•  Missing reference values à More case studies needed to compare inclusion distances at different

journalis:c media

16

Challenges of comparing adtudes and expecta:ons

(Re-‐)discovering the audience. Journalism under social media condi3ons.

Project funded by the German Research Founda3on (DFG)

a.k.a. jpub 2.0

Team: Nele Heise, Wiebke Loosen, Julius Reimer, Jan-‐Hinrik Schmidt Blog: hnp://jpub20.hans-‐bredow-‐ins3tut.de/

TwiXer: @jpub20team

Literatur

•  Früh, W., & Schönbach, K. (2005): Der dynamisch-‐transak3onale Ansatz III: Eine Zwischenbilanz. In: Publizis1k 50(1), pp. 4-‐20.

•  Heinonen, A. (2011): The journalist’s rela3onship with users. New dimensions to conven3onal roles. In: Singer, J. B. et al. (Hrsg.): Par1cipatory journalism. Guarding open gates at online newspapers. Chichester: Wiley-‐Blackwell, pp. 34-‐55.

•  Himelboim, I., & McCreery, S. (2012): New technology, old prac3ces: Examining news websites from a professional perspec3ve. In: Convergence: The Interna1onal Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, published online February 2, 2012. Retrieved from hnp://con.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/01/30/1354856511429648 (October 9, 2012).

•  Jeffres, L., & Scheufele, D. (2009): What is the field of communica3on? Seeking answers from a survey of scholars … and – more importantly – from Klaus Schönbach.” In: Holtz-‐Bacha, C., Reus, G., & Becker, L. B. (Hrsg.): Wissenscha[ mit Wirkung. Beiträge zu Journalismus-‐ und Medienwirkungsforschung. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag, pp. 73-‐84.

•  Meikle, G., & Young, S. (2012): Media convergence. Networked digital media in everyday life. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

•  Neuberger, C. (2009): Internet, Journalismus und Öffentlichkeit: Analyse des Medienumbruchs. In: Neuberger, C., Nuernbergk, C., & Rischke, M. (Eds.): Journalismus im Internet: Profession, Par1zipa1on, Technisierung. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag, pp. 19-‐105.

•  Loosen, W., & Schmidt, J.-‐H. (2012): (Re-‐)Discovering the audience: The rela3onship between journalism and audience in networked digital media. In: Informa1on, Communica1on & Society, 15(6), pp. 867-‐887.

•  Loosen, W., Schmidt, J.-‐H., Heise, N., Reimer, J., & Scheler, M. (2013): Publikumsinklusion bei der Tagesschau. Fallstudienbericht aus dem DFG-‐Projekt „Die (Wieder-‐)Entdeckung des Publikums“ (Arbeitspapiere des Hans-‐Bredow-‐Ins3tuts Nr. 26). Available online: hnp://www.hans-‐bredow-‐ins3tut.de/webfm_send/709.

•  Singer, J. B., Hermida, A., Domingo, D., Heinonen, A., Paulussen, S., & Quandt, T. (Eds.), (2011): Par1cipatory journalism: Guarding open gates at online newspapers. Chichester: Wiley-‐Blackwell.

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