Internet in the Daily Life of Journalists: Explaining the use of the Internet by Work-Related Characteristics and Professional Opinions

摘要

Over the last 10 years there has been much debate about the impact of the risenof the Internet and other digital technologies on traditional news media, such asnnewspapers. The influence of the Internet on news reporting is often formulatednin terms of threats to existing, traditional journalism, as well as new opportunitiesnfor revitalizing journalistic routines. One dominant focus in earlier studies is thentechnology-driven approach. These studies (e.g., Pavlik, 2000) suggest that newsncontent is crucially determined by the available technologies. Hence, changes innjournalism can be explained predominantly by technological developments. Despitentheir valuable insights, these earlier studies contributed little to our understanding ofnhow adoption processes of digital technologies may evolve in different user-contextsn(Boczkowski, 2004).Amore fruitful approach in this respect stems fromthe integratednperspective of social constructivism. Here, the adoption of innovations is seen asna complex interaction process between professional, organizational, and economicnfactors (Boczkowski, 2004; Paulussen & Ugille, 2008). With this in mind, the rolenof social context factors, such as working conditions, workplace organization, andnprofessional values, should be taken into consideration when studying the adoptionnof technological innovations in news media. So far, and despite the growing bodynof research on these social context factors shaping the impact of digital technology in journalism, the majority of the existing research is based upon small samplesnof journalists working with one platform only (often within online newsrooms)n(Paulussen & Ugille, 2008; Thurman, 2008), or concentrates on either organizationalnstructures or professional attitudes (Boczkowski, 2004; Singer, 2004). Our study isnan attempt to examine how the use of Internet applications by journalists working innmainstream news media is influenced by social context factors, such as backgroundncharacteristics, work-related factors, and the perceived utility of Internet use as partnof the daily journalistic routines. We suggest that implementation of technologicalninnovations not only leads to changes in the daily routines of journalists, but alsonleads to redefining notions about themselves as professionals (cf. Deuze, 2004).nTherefore this study also looks into the relation between journalists’ professionalnopinions about the impact of the Internet on journalistic values on the one hand, andntheir actual use patterns on the other. It adds empirical insights to the often morencontemplative discussions of the impact of the Internet on journalism.