Digitally Outsourced: The Limitations of Computer-Mediated Transparency

Abstract

The introduction of digital communication technologies has resulted in the emergence of transparency as a journalistic norm. Often termed the “new objectivity,” transparency has been viewed as central to restoring trust in journalism. Not surprisingly, news organizations have claimed they have introduced transparency measures that enable audiences to look behind the curtain of news production. We, however, argue that such efforts primarily involve technological features that are institutionally mandated with little involvement from journalists. That is, transparency in journalism has been digitally outsourced to technology, a development that disconnects journalists from considering and implementing transparency in their work.

Notes

1. While we recognize that journalists may be “pushed” or “made” to be transparent by audiences that question journalistic accounts, in this paper we focus on the extent to which daily news organizations and journalists have voluntarily undertaken to reveal aspects of how they work.

2. Within philosophical discourse, “ceremonial” values are more generally referred to as “moral” values. We have used the term “ceremonial” since that is used in the sociological literature that we cite.

3. Isomorphic practices in the news media describe the adoption of similar ways of conducting journalism across different organizations. The practices reflect a process of homogenization among organizations of an institution as they encounter similar environmental conditions. DiMaggio and Powell (1983) highlight the concept of institutional isomorphism as a key to “political power and institutional legitimacy” (p. 150).

4. Arguably this situation could be due to the fact that such transparency efforts have only been recently introduced and audiences have not developed an understanding of their significance; that is, it could be a simple question of audience media literacy.