Raul Ferrer Conill

Camouflaging Church as State: An exploratory study of journalism’s native advertising

This paper explores the increasing trend of adopting native advertising in the digital editions of traditional news media outlets. Native advertising is defined here as a form of paid media where the commercial content is delivered within the design and form of editorial content, as an attempt to recreate the user experience of reading news instead of advertising content. Methodologically, this study examines 12 news websites of legacy newspapers from Sweden, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and analyzes the adoption of native advertising during the span of January 2015. Subsequently, these advertisements are analyzed in terms of type, form, function, integration, measurement, disclosure, and authorship. The results show that while the degree of implementation is still modest, the way in which it is implemented is uneven across countries.This paper explores the increasing trend of adopting native advertising in the digital editions of traditional news media outlets. Native advertising is defined here as a form of paid media where the commercial content is delivered within the design and form of editorial content, as an attempt to recreate the user experience of reading news instead of advertising content. Methodologically, this study examines 12 news websites of legacy newspapers from Sweden, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and analyzes the adoption of native advertising during the span of January 2015. Subsequently, these advertisements are analyzed in terms of type, form, function, integration, measurement, disclosure, and authorship. The results show that while the degree of implementation is still modest, the way in which it is implemented is uneven across countries.

Camouflaging church as state : A study of journalism’s native advertising

This paper explores the increasing trend of adopting native advertising in the digital editions of traditional news media outlets. Native advertising is defined here as a form of paid media where the commercial content is delivered within the design and form of editorial content, as an attempt to recreate the user experience of reading news instead of advertising content. Methodologically, this study examines 12 news websites of legacy newspapers from Sweden, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and analyzes the adoption of native advertising during the span of January 2015. Subsequently, these advertisements are analyzed in terms of type, form, function, integration, measurement, disclosure, and authorship. The results show that while the degree of implementation is still modest, the way in which it is implemented is uneven across countries.This paper explores the increasing trend of adopting native advertising in the digital editions of traditional news media outlets. Native advertising is defined here as a form of paid media where the commercial content is delivered within the design and form of editorial content, as an attempt to recreate the user experience of reading news instead of advertising content. Methodologically, this study examines 12 news websites of legacy newspapers from Sweden, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and analyzes the adoption of native advertising during the span of January 2015. Subsequently, these advertisements are analyzed in terms of type, form, function, integration, measurement, disclosure, and authorship. The results show that while the degree of implementation is still modest, the way in which it is implemented is uneven across countries.

Open Data, Crowdsourcing and Game Mechanics. A case study on civic participation in the digital age

The aim of this paper is to shed light on the dynamics of civic participation, media agency, and data practices. To do so we analyse an investigative journalism story run by The Guardian that combined open data, crowdsourcing and game mechanics with the purpose of engaging readers. The case study highlights how data can be made accessible to people who usually do not have access; how game mechanics can be deployed in order to foster civic participation by offering users a sense of autonomy, competence and relatedness; and how crowdsourcing can organise a large group of people into achieving a common goal. The combination of these three elements resulted in a case for civic participation in the digital era.

Boundaries of Journalism : Professionalism, practices and participation

Journalism as a profession, as a commercial endeavour, and as a sociotechnical phenomenon has long been evolving, leading to a multifaceted journalism shaped by these many transformations. In the last two decades the acceleration of change has been outstanding, affecting and affected by several practices of everyday life. Against this backdrop, a thorough reflection going beyond a simplistic study of change is needed to identify the essence of the “what”, “who”, and “how” of journalism. This is precisely what Matt Carlson and Seth Lewis attempt in their new edited volume, Boundaries of Journalism: Professionalism, Practices and Participation. Bringing together 16 scholars, this book reflects upon a diverse range of journalistic boundaries. Exploring intersections and interactions of newswork across increasingly blurred edges of journalism, this book explores tensions between journalistic norms and values, as well as with the performance of news-related actors. Only by looking at these boundaries, Carlson and Lewis suggest, can we make sense of what journalism is and understand who we can call journalists. Formally, the book is structured into an introductory chapter, 12 chapters, and a final epilogue. Carlson’s introduction provides an explanatory view on how the boundaries in journalism are conceptualized; based on Thomas Gieryn’s generic types of boundary work—expansion, expulsion, and protection—and three areas of journalism around which boundary work occurs—participants, practices, and professionalism (p. 9). The first part, titled “Professionalism, Norms, and Values”, contains seven chapters that delve into the core of journalism as a trade, discussing the increasingly difficult task of delineating what journalism is and what it is supposed to be, approaching this consideration of journalism studies from various angles. In Chapter 1, Jane Singer illustrates how journalists herald professional norms as boundary devices to legitimize their professional authority against the challenge posed by new forms of practice such as social journalism or entrepreneurial journalism. Similar totems of journalistic values and their use as boundary markers are discussed in chapters on verification and allegiance to the truth by Alfred Hermida, and by Adriana Amado and Silvio Waisbord who write about the lack of a homogenized professional culture in the Argentinian media system (leading to a weak boundary that does not provide adequate defence against the incursions of political powers). Also included in this section are chapters by Mark Coddington, who revisits the editorial and commercial divide of journalism and how contemporary approaches such as native advertising are increasingly eroding this boundary, and by Mike Ananny on the ways “Google Glass” and forms of witnessing are used as proxies for journalists and how the constant evolution of technology

Points, badges, and news. A study of the introduction of gamification into journalism practice

As the use of mobile phones spreads through society, traditional news consumption is steadily being substituted by innovative environments and behaviors, sparking new ritual forms of media consumpt ...