Data beyond the newsroom. Exploring the impact of data work in news media organizations

Abstract

In recent years, the role of data at digital news publishers has expanded beyond the applications of editorial analytics and data journalism—yet research on data in journalism mostly centers around editorial concerns. Starting from this observation, I look outside the newsroom to explore the overall impact of data and data work in the field. With this thesis, I aim to understand how metrics, data and data-driven thinking contribute to organizational and structural transformation and how they might redefine professional boundaries within news organizations. Based on a comprehensive theoretical framework that encompasses data work as an analytical category, I employ a qualitative research design with expert interviews from six case studies conducted at publishers in Germany.

Among my findings, I conclude how fundamental changes in data practices, organizational structure, and management culture at these organizations took place in recent years. New roles have emerged, creating a novel professional class of data workers organized into newly established data departments that operate independently from editorial. This shift in data practices can be attributed to a re-orientation towards subscriptions and individual customers. As the organizations experiment with various data approaches and metrics, neither the metrics nor the associated strategies have stabilized, yet the practices among individual data workers remain relatively consistent across the sample. A normative shift could be considered complete in the recreation of analytics infrastructure, dashboarding, and reporting affordances, and the “making up” of metrics by the publishers, two functions which were formerly handled by external analytics providers. I also show how artifacts such as dashboards, reports and metrics are not neutral either as they marginalize editorial power through the renegotiation of boundaries.

On the question of organizational isomorphism, a certain degree of uniformity of outcomes can be observed across the sample. There are indicators of normative pressure in the shape of data bureaucratization, with data workers at the news organizations establishing a cognitive basis for their occupational autonomy through metrics and measurement infrastructure, while mimetic and coercive isomorphisms are found to a lesser extent. I also demonstrate that experimentation with data and data infrastructure takes place regardless of company size. Furthermore, the particular data imaginary adopted by an organization bears no clear correlation (either positive or inverse) with editorial power.

Overall, I point out the emergence of a new class of data professionals who are certainly influential within their organizations and are able to shape key metrics, provide analytical insights, and justify managerial decisions. While these developments underscore a broader transformation within the field, the effects of their work remain somewhat unclear. With this thesis, I hope to not only identify current trends and changes in journalism but also provide input for future research into the pervasive role of data work in other industries.