How Covid-19 is Revamping Journalism

Newsroom Practices and Innovations in a Crisis Context

Bibliographic Data

ID12908997
AuthorsJosé Alberto García Avilés (0000-0001-7854-3476, Universitat de Miguel Hernández d'Elx, corresponding author), Félix Arias Robles (0000-0001-5910-1541, Universitat de Miguel Hernández d'Elx), Alicia De Lara González (0000-0001-5556-6317, Universitat de Miguel Hernández d'Elx), Miguel Carvajal Prieto (0000-0001-6547-6171, Universitat de Miguel Hernández d'Elx), José María Valero-Pastor (0000-0002-6210-2761, Universitat de Miguel Hernández d'Elx), Dámaso Mondéjar (0000-0001-9503-0445, Universitat de Miguel Hernández d'Elx)
Year2022
Volume18
Issue1
Pages181-199
Publication date2022-11-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournalism Practice (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1751-2786 • E-ISSN: 1751-2794
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17512786.2022.2139744
OpenAlexW4308145126
LanguageEN
Citations received19
References cited58

Worldwide audiences became interested in COVID-19-related news, as the health emergency generated a sharp increase in information consumption. Drawing on the literature of crisis innovation, this study aims to understand the transformations that have taken place in the Spanish journalistic industry and the innovations implemented during the pandemic. The research questions are: How has COVID-19 fostered innovation in work organisation in the Spanish newsrooms? What other innovations were launched by the Spanish media during the pandemic? The methodology is based on semi-structured interviews conducted with a purposive sample of 20 media practitioners and 20 experts on journalism innovation (academics and journalists) in Spain. Results show that newsroom practices have evolved through telework, collaboration and other factors, and that digital transformation was accelerated in legacy media. In many outlets, the science section was increasingly relevant, working in a coordinated way with the areas of data visualisation and design to produce relevant content. Also, fact-checkers played an important role in fighting misinformation. The pandemic has speeded up some ongoing innovations in news production, newsroom organisation, distribution, and commercialisation in a significant way. Thus, COVID-19 understood as a crisis situation has had an impact on news products and it has affected journalistic culture

Context (archaeology · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Geography · Journalism · Media studies · Misinformation · Pandemic · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · Technical Journalism · Work (physics · Communication and COVID-19 Impact · Engineering · Media Influence and Health · Medicine · Public Relations and Crisis Communication

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