Journalism in the digital age Traditional news media are under threat in today’s digital environment, with many people used to accessing content for free and major digital platforms dominating the online advertising market. Researchers in the JOLT project are investigating how to harness digital and data technologies to support the journalism sector, as Professor Jane Suiter explains. The development of
new digital and data technologies is having a dramatic impact on the traditional media industry, as more and more people go online and to social media platforms for their news fix, challenging the established media business model. At the same time the emergence of new digital and data technologies also opens up new opportunities, yet this requires effective communication and collaboration between editorial teams and technical specialists, which is not always the case at the moment. “A lot of studies have shown that technical staff tend to be quite isolated from editorial and news staff. And among researchers there is often a lack of common understanding between technologists and social scientists,” outlines Prof Jane Suiter, Professor in the School of Communications at Dublin City University and director of the Institute for Future Media, Democracy and Society. This issue is at the heart of JOLT, an EU-funded
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project which brings journalism and social science researchers together with people from technology and data backgrounds to develop an understanding of each others’ needs. “The JOLT network brings together different disciplines that don’t normally interact,” says Prof Suiter. “It is a collaboration between five universities - Dublin City University, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University of Amsterdam, University of Navarra, and University of Toulouse III – and two media companies – BBC and Samsa.”
JOLT project The project includes technology and databased researchers, working in areas like engineering and data science, as well as others researching the business, political, and ethical dimensions of new journalism practices. Within JOLT as a whole, 16 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) are examining different aspects of digital and data
journalism, part of the wider goal of ensuring the long-term future of the news media sector. “The European Commission recently launched a Media and Audiovisual Action Plan. The concern is that the media’s ability to play its key democratic role, of holding government to account and explaining issues to the public, is under threat,” explains Dr Eileen Culloty from Dublin City University and the JOLT management board. One of the reasons for this is the nature of today’s digital environment, in which Prof Suiter says audiences have grown accustomed to getting content for free and the major digital platforms dominate the online advertising market. “The money that used to go to the media is now eaten up by Facebook and Google, so there’s a huge black hole where the money used to be,” she continues. Through a PhD training programme, the aim of the project is to advance research
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