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Prelims

Jingrong Tong (The University of Sheffield, UK)

Journalism, Economic Uncertainty and Political Irregularity in the Digital and Data Era

ISBN: 978-1-80043-559-9, eISBN: 978-1-80043-558-2

Publication date: 15 November 2022

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Citation

Tong, J. (2022), "Prelims", Journalism, Economic Uncertainty and Political Irregularity in the Digital and Data Era, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. i-ix. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80043-558-220221009

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2023 Jingrong Tong

Half Title Page

Journalism, Economic Uncertainty and Political Irregularity in the Digital and Data Era

Title Page

Journalism, Economic Uncertainty and Political Irregularity in the Digital and Data Era

BY

JINGRONG TONG

The University of Sheffield, UK

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2023

Copyright © 2023 Jingrong Tong.

Published under exclusive license by Emerald Publishing Limited.

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No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. Any opinions expressed in the chapters are those of the authors. Whilst Emerald makes every effort to ensure the quality and accuracy of its content, Emerald makes no representation implied or otherwise, as to the chapters’ suitability and application and disclaims any warranties, express or implied, to their use.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-80043-559-9 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-80043-558-2 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-80043-560-5 (Epub)

Contents

List of Figures and Tables vii
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction 1
Chapter 1: The News Business in Trouble 5
The Collapse of Traditional Funding Models 6
The Reasons That Explain the Trouble 8
The Importance But the Peril of (Measurable) Attention 13
Competing with Multiple Players for Attention 17
Striving to Win Over Digital Audiences 20
New Funding Strategies 23
Chapter 2: Algorithms, Cloud Computing and Journalism 29
A Continuity of Digital Transformation of Newsrooms 29
Different Scenarios of Using Algorithms for Journalism 30
Moving onto the Cloud 33
What Is Cloud Computing? 33
The Adoption of Cloud Computing by News Media 35
Potential Issues of Using Cloud Computing for Journalism 39
Implications for Journalism 42
Chapter 3: Revisiting the Importance of Data Journalism 47
The Rise of Data Journalism 47
The Importance of Data Journalism 50
The Limitations of Data Journalism 53
The Promise and Problems of Data Reporting: A Case Study of Data Journalism During the COVID-19 Pandemic 57
Chapter 4: The Tabloidisation of Journalism as Digital Logic 61
The Concept of Tabloidisation and Existing Views 61
Tabloidisation as Digital Logic 63
Tabloidisation of Online Content 63
The Importance of Human Interest 64
Tabloidisation But Clear Boundaries 67
Tabloidisation in the Tweets of Seven British News Media’s Twitter Handles 69
Conclusion 73
Chapter 5: Tensions Between Journalism and Politicians 75
Journalists and Politicians: Friends or Foes? 75
The Boom of Leaks 81
Leaks and Exposés Seen as a Threat to National Security and Privacy 82
Governments and Politicians: Endeavouring to Control News Media 85
The Responses of News Media 89
Conclusion 91
Chapter 6: The Rise of Partisan Journalism and the Crisis of Objective Journalism 93
Introduction 93
The Crisis of Objective Journalism 94
The Concept of Objective Journalism 94
Criticism About Objectivity in Journalism 95
Intense Disputes Over Objective Journalism Today 95
The Proliferation of Partisan News Media 103
The Values and Problems of Partisan Journalism 106
Conclusion 107
Conclusion: The Transformation of Quality Journalism 109
Bibliography 111
Index 135

List of Figures and Tables

Figures

Fig. 1. UK Daily Newspaper Average Circulation Per Issue by Month, 2000 – 2020 (1st January 2021) (m) (Data Extracted from Tobitt & Majid, 2021). 7
Fig. 2. Overtime Spread of the Number of Tweets Sent by the Seven British News Media Between 10th and 15th January 2022. 70
Fig. 3. Mapping Prominent Topics in the Tweets Published by the Seven British News Media’s Twitter Handles. 71

Tables

Table 1. Statistics of Tweets Sent by the Seven British News Media Between 10th and 15th January 2022. 71

Acknowledgements

Thanks go to all of the interviewees who generously shared their experiences, views and insights about data and/or journalism with me. I would like to thank Brunel University London and the University of Sheffield for their funding, which has allowed me to carry out the research. Thanks also to Jen McCall and Kimberley Chadwick of Emerald Publishing for their support with this book project and patience with me. Finally, I thank my family for their love and encouragement.

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