Actors, Actants, Audiences, and Activities in Cross-Media News Work

In contemporary journalism, there is a need for better conceptualizing the changing nature of human actors, nonhuman technological actants, and diverse representations of audiences—and the activities of news production, distribution, and interpretation through which actors, actants, and audiences are inter-related. This article explicates each of these elements—the Four A’s—in the context of cross-media news work, a perspective that lends equal emphasis to editorial, business, and technology as key sites for studying the organizational influences shaping journalism. We argue for developing a sociotechnical emphasis for the study of institutional news production: a holistic framework through which to make sense of and conduct research about the full range of actors, actants, and audiences engaged in cross-media news work activities. This emphasis addresses two shortcomings in the journalism studies literature: a relative neglect about (1) the interplay of humans and technology, or manual and computational modes of orientation and operation, and (2) the interplay of editorial, business, and technology in news organizations. This article’s ultimate contribution is a cross-media news work matrix that illustrates the interconnections among the Four A’s and reveals where opportunities remain for empirical study.

Westlund, Oscar,1979Gothenburg University,Göteborgs universitet,Institutionen för journalistik, medier och kommunikation (JMG),Department of Journalism, Media and Communication (JMG)(Swepub:gu)xwesos (author)
Göteborgs universitetInstitutionen för journalistik, medier och kommunikation (JMG) (creator_code:org_t)

About the subject

SOCIAL SCIENCES: SOCIAL SCIENCES; and Media and Commun ...; and Information Syst ...

SOCIAL SCIENCES: SOCIAL SCIENCES; and Media and Commun ...; and Human Aspects of ...

SOCIAL SCIENCES: SOCIAL SCIENCES; and Media and Commun ...; and Communication St ...

SOCIAL SCIENCES: SOCIAL SCIENCES; and Media and Commun ...; and Media Studies

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