ABSTRACT

This book explores ways in which the increasingly ‘measurable’ news audience has had an impact on journalistic practices, in an era when digital platforms provide real-time, individualizable, quantitative data about audience consumption practices.

Considering the combination of digital technology that makes measurable journalism possible, the contributors to this volume examine the work of various actors involved in aspects of measurable journalism both inside and outside the newsroom and confront the normative implications of the data-centric trends of measurable journalism. Including examples from across the globe, the book balances hopes for increased engagement or impact with fears that economic prioritization will hurt journalism’s standing in the public sphere.

This book will be of interest to those studying journalistic practices in the modern world, as well as those studying media consumption and emerging digital technologies. This book was originally published as a special issue of Digital Journalism.

chapter |12 pages

Introduction

Confronting Measurable Journalism
ByMatt Carlson

chapter |18 pages

Quantified Audiences in News Production

A synthesis and research agenda
ByRodrigo Zamith

chapter |18 pages

Open Access: The Audience-Oriented Editor

Making sense of the audience in the newsroom
ByRaul Ferrer-Conill, Edson C. Tandoc

chapter |18 pages

Selecting Metrics, Reflecting Norms

How journalists in local newsrooms define, measure, and discuss impact
ByElia Powers

chapter |20 pages

Dimensional Field Theory

The adoption of audience metrics in the journalistic field and cross-field influences
ByQun Wang

chapter |17 pages

Boundary Work, Interloper Media, And Analytics In Newsrooms

An analysis of the roles of web analytics companies in news production
ByValerie Belair-Gagnon, Avery E. Holton

chapter |19 pages

Engineering Consent

How the Design and Marketing of Newsroom Analytics Tools Rationalize Journalists’ Labor
ByCaitlin Petre

chapter |17 pages

The Elusive Engagement Metric

ByJacob L. Nelson