Journalism and Personalised Distribution

Abstract

With the active presence of algorithms as intermediaries between journalism andthe public, the news industry is once again facing challenges that call for a newtype of literacy. This article focuses on the concept of personalized distribution onthe basis of mediation of information and provides a knowledge-base to identify anddiscuss key aspects of the inner working of algorithms. This analysis builds on theeconomical crisis of the news industry and remaps the revenue and valuediscussion for the news industry at the intersection of algorithmic intelligence andcontrol. In order to capture capture the full range of challenges the news industryfaces, the article combines the reflection of scholars (e.g. Nicholas Carr, MichaelLatzer et al. and Michael A. DeVito) about the potential risks and biases thatemerge from the increased use of algorithms with professional inputs (e.g. JackFuller, Mathew Ingram, Robert H. Giles and John Huey) about the recurrent slowreaction of the news industry to the emerging technological innovations. Thisreasoning is then complemented with a reflection that derives from the potential ofalgorithmic literacy. As a result, this papers uncovers new economical challengesand shifts of responsibility in the news industry at the levels of value, control andskills.