Paper short abstract:

Making a conceptual provocation about the “worlds” of journalism, we argue that, to understand technological change, it is useful to bring into focus the collective nature of journalism—including ambient, data, and algorithmic forms—and the relative status afforded to certain actors and activities.

Paper long abstract:

This paper makes a broad conceptual provocation about what we call the "worlds" of journalism. We argue that, to understand the nature of technological change in journalism, it is important to adopt a lens that brings into focus the collective nature of journalism—its interconnected people, processes, and products—as well as the relative status, or valuation, afforded to certain actors and activities. Drawing on symbolic interactionism as a theoretical framework, and in particular Becker's (1982/2008) application of its ideas to the study of "art worlds," we call for considering journalism and specifically ambient, data, and algorithmic journalism as a series of distinct but intersecting "worlds." These worlds represent networks of social actors, labor activities, material infrastructures, and patterns of production that collectively enable and legitimize particular forms of journalism. Seeing journalism in light of worlds, we argue, accentuates at least three things: (1) the heterogeneity that exists among social actors (humans) and technological actants (machines) and their activities; (2) the development and negotiation of various conventions that give shape to certain creative works; and (3) the resulting arrangements that, while constantly in flux, lend distinctive value (and thus status) to certain people, practices, and products. Such valuations matter ultimately in shaping understandings of and expectations for journalism as a social enterprise that is increasingly technological in orientation.