In a new article soon to be published in the journal Journalism Studies (online version available now), I argue that innovations in online newspapers are dependent upon five factors:
- Newsroom autonomy: Are innovative projects initiated and implemented within an autonomous newsroom and with relative autonomy within the online newsroom?
- Newsroom work culture: Does the online newsroom reproduce editorial gatekeeping or are alternative work cultures explored?
- The role of management: Is newsroom management able to secure stable routines for innovation?
- The relevance of new technology: Is new technology perceived as relevant, i.e. efficient and useful?
- Innovative individuals: Is innovation implemented and understood as part of the practice of journalism?
Here is the abstract of the article:
Findings in recent research suggest that online journalism is much less innovative than many researchers and scholars predicted a decade ago. Research into online journalism has, however, been biased towards a focus on online news journalism, thereby neglecting the magnitude of new styles and genres that are currently emerging online. In this paper the findings of a longitudinal ethnographic case study of the development of a section for feature journalism in the Norwegian online newspaper dagbladet.no is presented. The study is framed by an understanding of innovation as a process where organizational structures and individual agency interact. The findings suggest that individual action has been downplayed in previous research as a determinant for processes of innovation in online newsrooms, and that a substantive grounded theory of innovation in online newspapers is comprised of five factors: newsroom autonomy, newsroom work culture, the role of management, the relevance of new technology and innovative individuals.
The article will be published in print in issue 10(6) – December 2009.
Tags: innovation, online journalism
new journalism/new media 
10. November 2009 at 11:32 |
[…] post is a further elaboration of a previous post on this […]
6. February 2010 at 13:39 |
What about structural features such as copyright laws and bandwidth?
JAD
8. February 2010 at 10:27 |
Good point. I would say that bandwith is a matter of the relevance of new technology-factor. A technological asset might be considered irrelevant because it would demand to much bandwidth by the end-user. This was for instance the case with online video at least until 2000. I guess it was not until Flash offered video streaming that online video really became popular in online newspapers. Flash does not require much bandwidth, and is therefore considered a relevant technology.
Copyright legislation is off course a relevant factor, but I would say that it is one of many factors embedded in the newsroom work culture-factor. This factor, as I see it, embed all the standards, norms, practices, routines – and legislations – that a journalistic work culture adheres to.
steen