| Popis: |
To measure how audiences interact with the news on their websites nowadays, news media use audience analytics, such as Chartbeat, SmartOcto and Google Analytics. These are analytical tools that provide real-time data and statistics (so-called "metrics") on the number of times an article is clicked, shared or commented on. In recent years, news media in Flanders have embraced analytics as well. However, the way in which "metrics" are used and what impact they have on the editorial choices that journalists make has not yet been investigated. This dissertation questions how Flemish editors use analytics and what effects they have on choices journalists make during news selection and on the news offer itself. It wants to examine, among other things, whether the growing attention for click and reading figures could have the downside that the news supply shifts towards softer, trivial topics that are more appealing to the public. Based on the results of four empirical studies, we arrive at a number of insights and conclusions. In a first study, we distinguish six purposes for which analytics are used today in Flemish newsrooms. Analytics are used for content optimization such as (1) placement (2) packaging (3) planning and (4) imitation of an article, but also as (5) performance evaluation and for (6) audience conception. The digital editors that I have interviewed, expressed enthusiasm for the tools' capabilities, but they also put the impact it would have on news selection into perspective; in their view, editorial choices take precedence over user statistics. In a second study, based on a survey of political journalists, we showed that the use of analytics correlates positively with a positive attitude towards analytics. Those who actively use them, and these are often younger journalists, are less skeptical about the usefulness and impact of analytics on journalistic work than the (on average older) journalists who are mainly or only passively exposed to metrics. An experiment that we conducted with political journalists suggests that journalists, when faced with “rising” or “falling” metrics, also take them into account to determine the place of an article on the website. However, the effect of metrics on the journalists' selection choice was only seen for “soft” news headlines but disappeared for “hard” news headlines. In a final study, using a large-scale content analysis, we take a closer look at whether the use of analytics contributes to further "softening" of news headlines. We find that Facebook selection drives softer content based on analytics. The overall conclusion we draw from the study is that audience analytics help newsrooms keep their finger on the pulse of the public. It allows them to even better tailor news offerings to the interests and preferences expressed by audiences through clicks, shares and comments to news stories. Still, vigilance is needed, as our research also shows that the strong focus on metrics has an impact on the choices that journalists make during news selection and on the range of news offered online and through Facebook, which seems to "soften" in both topic selection and news style. |
