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This book identifies discourses of digital communication through observations of online and offline newsroom interactions, interviews, and text analysis to provide insights into how journalists use digital technologies in story production and the impact this has on their journalism practice. Through discursive analysis of 300 hours of video-ethnographic material gathered in three newsrooms, the authors apply groundbreaking qualitative methodological approaches in unravelling the complex interactions of journalists. Incorporating a Social Media Critical Discourse Studies paradigm to journalism studies, they detail ways in which new technologies have affected both daily newsroom operations and the identities of newsworkers. Rare empirical insights are offered that enable a clearer understanding of the changing media landscape, the newsroom power relationships that emerge and the discourses surrounding the use of digital technologies that have become normalised in journalistic ''talk''. The book clearly demonstrates how the techno-discursive architecture of the internet has not only impacted the production and style of news, but has also led to an acceleration of work intensification that pushes the boundaries of journalism practice and journalist identity. It will appeal to those interested in the workings of the contemporary news media and news discourse, and who are concerned about the future of news production.
List of contents
1. Introduction: The Socially Networked Newsroom
2. News Production, Newsworkers and Technology: A Bourdieuan Perspective
3. Social Media Critical Discourse Studies Meets Video-ethnography: New Approaches to Digital Discourse
4. Discourses of News Gathering: Challenges of Digital Adoption
5. Discourses of Storytelling: The Multi-platform Journalist
6. Conclusion: Journalists, the Networked Audience and the Future of News
About the author
Helen Sissons is an Associate Professor of Journalism at Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand, and a former BBC reporter with almost two decades of newsroom experience. Her research explores how journalists adapt to digital technologies and changing work routines, drawing on her expertise as a video ethnographer and sociolinguist. Helen has published on newsroom practice, digital transformation and media literacy. She is a co-director of the Toroa Centre for Communication Research and has advised industry and government on journalism education and misinformation. Her teaching and scholarship are grounded in a commitment to practice-informed research and inclusive, future-facing journalism.Philippa Smith is an independent researcher with a PhD in Language and Communication, grounded in a previous career as a journalist in New Zealand. Her work explores the intersection of language, media, and digital communication, with publications on news discourse, counterspeech, reality television, and the visual framing of political crises. A former Associate Professor lecturing in critical media studies at Auckland University of Technology, she has also been a Visiting Scholar at the Oxford Internet Institute. She is deputy director of the Toroa Centre, an honorary research fellow at the University of Auckland, and contributes to research on online harm and digital safety.
