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Publication

New Forms of Gatekeeping in the Age of Computational Journalism

Book Contribution - Chapter

This chapter examines the changing role of gatekeeping of newsworkers as they interact with computational journalistic tools (CJTs) in news distribution and moderation. As these CJTs get more in charge of gatekeeping over the last years, these tools can alter how daily decisions are made, in both how news is distributed and how comments of the audience are moderated. To advance our understanding of this newsworker–CJT interaction, this study conducted expert interviews with 15 Belgian journalists who interact with CJTs on a weekly basis. Results show that the CJTs assist the newsworker in the gatekeeping process, resulting in ‘shared decision-making.’ Regarding the audience relation, the newsworkers mention that the connection with the audience has been transformed and has become more constructive over the years. However, when CJTs get more in charge of the gatekeeping, an ‘audience paradox’ emerges, as the newsworker is less connected with the audience via these CJTs.
Book: Futures of Journalism: Technology-stimulated Evolution in the Audience-News Media Relationship
Pages: 161 - 175
ISBN:978-3-030-95073-6
Publication year:2022
Accessibility:Closed