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Porlezza_2023_Sage_Journalism_The datafication of digital
Journal article

The datafication of digital journalism : a history of everlasting challenges between ethical issues and regulation

  • Porlezza, Colin ORCID Istituto Media e Giornalismo (IMeG), Facoltà di comunicazione, cultura e società, Università della Svizzera italiana, Svizzera ; Department of Journalism, School of Communication and Creativity, City, University of London, England
  • 2024
Published in:
  • Journalism. - 2024, vol. 25, no. 5, p. 1167–1185
Journalism
Datafication
Algorithms
Automation
Artificial intelligence
Big data
Self-regulation
Ethics
English Data permeates nearly all spheres of society, and journalism is no exception to this since data has become a cornerstone of reality construction and perception. This contribution sets out to historicize the datafication processes in digital journalism and the way in which European institutions of media (self-)regulation have dealt with ethical issues regarding the use of data in algorithmic journalism in three areas: accountability, transparency, and privacy. The article shows that the process of datafication in journalism cannot be observed and analyzed in isolation, given that there is a double reflexivity between data driven societal transformation processes and what happens in journalism. However, almost all press councils in Europe have so far ignored data-driven phenomena like algorithms or news automation. As a consequence, if self-regulators do not regulate, other institutions will, with the risk of news organizations being forced to make decisions on the grounds of regulatory frameworks that are not primarily intended for journalism.
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Language
  • English
Classification
Information, communication and media sciences
License
CC BY-NC
Open access status
hybrid
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://n2t.net/ark:/12658/srd1330451
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