TY - JOUR

T1 - Autonomies and Dependencies

T2 - Shifting Configurations of Power in the Platformization of News

AU - Møller Hartley, Jannie

AU - Petre, Caitlin

AU - Bengtsson, Mette

AU - Kammer, Aske

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - In this introduction, we draw together the articles in the special issue on the platformization of news, highlighting that the articles contribute by answering two central questions. First, what is the extent of contemporary journalists and news organizations’ platform dependence, and how does this vary according to geographic context, organizational resources, and other factors? Second, what is the nature of journalism’s platform dependency? Platforms’ most overt editorial influence on news publishers (e.g., dictating areas of coverage, reshaping headlines, and so on) has arguably waned in recent years – and was never straightforward to begin with. The articles in this special issue encourage us to consider how the platform/publisher relationship is now defined by more subtle, or even hidden, dependencies that are nevertheless impactful. We further argue that various forms of power are at play in the shifting, contextual and embedded configurations of dependency and autonomy in the platform/publisher relationship. The forms of power, which we can observe across the articles, and which matter for dependence/autonomy configurations, are infrastructural, cultural, and geopolitical.

AB - In this introduction, we draw together the articles in the special issue on the platformization of news, highlighting that the articles contribute by answering two central questions. First, what is the extent of contemporary journalists and news organizations’ platform dependence, and how does this vary according to geographic context, organizational resources, and other factors? Second, what is the nature of journalism’s platform dependency? Platforms’ most overt editorial influence on news publishers (e.g., dictating areas of coverage, reshaping headlines, and so on) has arguably waned in recent years – and was never straightforward to begin with. The articles in this special issue encourage us to consider how the platform/publisher relationship is now defined by more subtle, or even hidden, dependencies that are nevertheless impactful. We further argue that various forms of power are at play in the shifting, contextual and embedded configurations of dependency and autonomy in the platform/publisher relationship. The forms of power, which we can observe across the articles, and which matter for dependence/autonomy configurations, are infrastructural, cultural, and geopolitical.

KW - Faculty of Humanities

KW - platformatization

KW - power

KW - publisher

KW - journalism

KW - dependence

KW - autonomy

U2 - 10.1080/21670811.2023.2257759

DO - 10.1080/21670811.2023.2257759

M3 - Journal article

VL - 11

SP - 1375

EP - 1390

JO - Digital Journalism

JF - Digital Journalism

SN - 2167-0811

IS - 8

ER -