Technological dependence and outsourcing for innovation in journalism
in Spanish media outlets (2014-2021)
Dependencia y externalización tecnológica en las innovaciones periodísticas de
los medios españoles (2014-2021)
doxa.comunicación |
nº 37, pp. 453-478
| 453
July-December of 2023
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
How to cite this article:
Arias-Robles, F.; Valero-Pastor, J. M. and Carvajal, M. (2023). Technological dependence and outsourcing for innovation in journalism in Spanish
media outlets (2014-2021).
Doxa Comunicación
, 37, pp. 453-478.
https://doi.org/10.31921/doxacom.n37a1834
Félix Arias-Robles
. Associate Professor, Vice Dean of the Degree in Journalism and Deputy Director of the Master’s
Degree in Innovation in Journalism at Miguel Hernández University (UMH), where he also coordinates modules on
technology, new narratives, data journalism and social media. His research now focuses on the intersection between
articial intelligence, data journalism and local information. He has published in journals such as
Journalism Studies,
Journalism Practice,
El Profesional de la Información
and
e Journal of Media Innovations
. He has been a visiting
professor at the School of Journalism at the University of Sheeld and the University of Leeds (UK), and has trained
journalists from groups such as
La Voz de Galicia, Vocento
and
Onda Regional
. He also coordinates the projects
periodistasdedatos.com
and
localdatalab.umh.es
. He holds a PhD in New Journalistic Models from UMH (2015), a
Master’s Degree in Journalism Research from Universidad Complutense de Madrid (2011) and a Bachelor’s Degree in
Journalism from UMH (2010).
University Miguel Hernández, Spain
[email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0001-5910-1541
José M. Valero-Pasto
r. Journalism professor at the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH). He holds a PhD in Social
and Legal Sciences and a Master’s degree in Journalism Innovation, and his research focuses on journalism innovation,
particularly from an organizational perspective. He has published scientic works in various impactful journals such
as
Journalism Studies, Journalism Practice, El Profesional de la Información,
and
Revista Latina de Comunicación,
among others, and in prestigious publishing houses such as Routledge. He has been a visiting researcher at CEU San
Pablo (Madrid) and Fordham University (New York). Currently, he is working on the international project Journalism
Innovations in Democratic Societies and is part of the European project on disinformation Iberier. He teaches
courses on journalism entrepreneurship and writing in the Journalism Bachelor’s degree program, and coordinates the
Advanced Web Design module in the Journalism Innovation Master’s degree program at Miguel Hernández University.
University Miguel Hernández, Spain
[email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-6210-2761
is content is published under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License. International License
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
454|
nº 37, pp. 453-478
July-December of 2023
Technological dependence and outsourcing for innovation in journalism in Spanish media outlets (2014-2021)
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| doxa.comunicación
Abstract:
Journalism and technology have always gone hand in hand, but the
growth of technological progress and the resulting fascination have
led to a lack of critical perspective. is study combines quantitative
and qualitative methodologies to shed light on this intersection, with
innovation at its core. First, the most prominent news organizations
in the Spanish ecosystem in recent years (2014-2021) were identied.
Next, all the innovations they implemented during that period were
tracked. Lastly, the weight of technology in their innovations was
analyzed using three variables: creator, change over time, and the
nature of the organizations. e results reveal that approximately two-
thirds of the innovations implemented are linked to technology, thereby
corroborating its importance for progress in journalism. However, the
results also conrm the existence of many initiatives independent of
technological progress, particularly in the organizational sphere. In
terms of the creators, third-party technologies predominate, with a
spike in 2020 in response to the health crisis. ese ndings allow us to
delve into the correlation between technological innovation, the social
context and the reliance on big tech.
Keywords:
Technology; innovation; journalism; platformization; media ecology.
Resumen:
Periodismo y tecnología siempre han ido de la mano, pero el creciente
avance técnico y su consiguiente fascinación ha degenerado en una falta
de perspectiva crítica. Este estudio combina metodologías cuantitativas
y cualitativas para arrojar luz sobre esta intersección, con la innovación
como eje central. En primer lugar, se identicaron las organizaciones
periodísticas más destacadas en el ecosistema español en los últimos años
(2014-2021). A continuación, se rastrearon todas las innovaciones que
habían implementado en ese periodo. Finalmente, se analizó el peso de
la tecnología en sus innovaciones a partir de tres variables: la autoría, la
evolución temporal y la naturaleza de las organizaciones. Los resultados
revelan que aproximadamente dos terceras partes de las innovaciones
adoptadas tienen relación con la tecnología, lo que corrobora su
importancia para el avance del periodismo. Sin embargo, se conrma la
existencia de un gran número de iniciativas independientes del progreso
técnico, sobre todo en el ámbito organizacional. En cuanto a la autoría,
predominan las tecnologías ajenas, que presentan un pico en el año 2020
como respuesta a la crisis sanitaria. Estos hallazgos permiten ahondar en
la interrelación entre la innovación tecnológica y el contexto social y en la
dependencia de los gigantes tecnológicos.
Palabras clave:
Tecnología; innovación; periodismo; plataformización; media ecology.
Received: 27/10/2022 - Accepted: 06/02/2023 - Early access: 23/03/2023 - Published: 01/07/2023
Recibido: 27/10/2022 - Aceptado: 06/02/2023 - En edición:23/03/2023 - Publicado: 01/07/2023
Miguel Carvajal.
Associate Professor at the Miguel Hernández University (UMH). He holds a PhD in Communication
from the University of Navarra (2006) and currently leads the Master’s programme in Innovation in Journalism at the
UMH. His research career has focused on the transformation of journalism and its industry, with particular emphasis
on innovation processes and the pursuit of sustainable business models. Over the years, he has published more than 50
scientic papers in various high-impact journals, such as
Digital Journalism, Journalism Studies, Journalism Practice,
El Profesional de la Información,
and
Revista Latina de Comunicación
. In 2010, he was a visiting research fellow at the
Donald McGannon Centre at Fordham University (New York), during a stay funded by the José Castillejo Programme.
He has been awarded two CNEAI research periods (2007-2012, 2013-2018) and one transfer period (2013-2018). He has
been part of the team for eight research projects funded by national (4) and European (4) public institutions. Currently,
he leads the Journalism Research Group at the UMH.
University Miguel Hernández, Spain
[email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0001-6547-6171
1. Introduction
Technology is part of journalism’s essence (López-García and Vizoso, 2021). From the mass distribution of printed paper
(Primo and Zago, 2015) to the automated and personalized generation of news (Jones and Jones, 2019; Lindgren, 2021),
professionals have harnessed technological progress to oer a better product and expand its scope (Schapals and Porlezza,
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
doxa.comunicación |
nº 37, pp. 453-478
July-December of 2023
Félix Arias-Robles, José M. Valero-Pastor and Miguel Carvajal
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| 455
2020). Additionally, digital media outlets have expanded the impact of technology on all aspects of journalism (Manovich,
2002: 64). Technology is viewed as “essential” for innovation in any activity, including journalism (Moreira Flores, 2017: 160).
However, in recent decades, its nature and evolution have become the subject of constant debate (Smith, 1983: 47; García
Avilés, 2021: 2).
Technological innovation pushes the boundaries of journalism (Lewis, 2012) and invites journalists to reconsider their
professional identity (Deuze, 2005). According to certain authors, the importance and interdependence of technology in the
profession can be exaggerated. For years, critique of technological determinism and “technomyopia,” as referred to by Paul
Sao (cited in Fidler, 1997: 11), has noted that the persuasive appeal of new technologies fosters the creation of utopias and
hinders reection on more fruitful lines of research (Almirón and Jarque, 2008: 103). is matter has also been addressed
through research on innovation in journalism, within the context of
media ecology
. It would be necessary to look beyond
specic practices and evaluate the impact of technology on spheres such as social change (García Avilés, 2021: 4) because it
signicantly alters journalists’ work and the quality of the resulting product (Franciscato, 2010).
In any case, once a technology becomes widespread, understanding its conguration and development is extremely useful
(Postman, 1992: 7). A technology’s history shapes the design of the industrial structures linked to it (Dosi, 1982: 147). According
to the so-called
platformization
of cultural industries, media outlets become excessively reliant on companies that are solely
technology-based, and this ultimately has socioeconomic impacts on the industry, organizations and audiences (Simon,
2022; Steensen and Westlund, 2020; Nieborg and Poell, 2019). is phenomenon poses an increasingly greater challenge,
and media outlets use dierent approaches in response to it, from adopting third-party technologies to investing in in-house
technological developments (Simon, 2022).
e study of technological progress is of broad interest to journalism but requires a focus that prevents technological
determinism and the denial of technology’s inuence. From this perspective, and through the theoretical framework of
media
ecology
and the
platformization
of news, this article aims to analyze the presence of technology in journalism innovation. In
addition to analyzing the interdependence, the goal is to also clarify who creates the technological advances used in these
innovations, as well as the years and types of initiatives on which the technology has the greatest impact. To do so, 25 of the
most prominent innovative journalism projects in Spain were selected and the variables linked to technology in the innovations
implemented between 2014 and 2021 were analyzed.
1.1. Technology-based innovation
Change in the media is driven and accompanied, sometimes in contradictory or unexpected directions, by the production,
access and use of technology, interdependent with other forces such as politics or the market (McQuail, 1990). Technology
contributes to innovation (Moreira Flores, 2017), although through mechanisms that are more complex than by simply
adjusting to technical changes (Storsul and Krumsvik, 2013).
Traditional newsrooms were organized in such a way that news editors were kept separate from technicians (Boczkowski 2004;
Usher 2014). In the last decade, however, technical and journalistic proles have become hybridized due to the emergence
of native-digital media outlets, the introduction of media labs geared toward innovation (Hogh-Janovsky and Meier, 2021;
456|
nº 37, pp. 453-478
July-December of 2023
Technological dependence and outsourcing for innovation in journalism in Spanish media outlets (2014-2021)
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| doxa.comunicación
Zaragoza Fuster and García Avilés, 2022), and the implementation of agile and collaborative workows (Valero-Pastor et al.,
2019).
In this sense, the proliferation of numerous startups linked to communication has blurred the lines between purely technology
companies and news organizations (Carlson and Usher, 2016: 10). According to Carlson and Usher (2016), some of these
organizations sought openly to eliminate the separation between journalistic and technological identities. By “breaking
down” these barriers, organizations can improve their products and the consumption of news, particularly through the user
experience.
Post-industrial journalism startups (Anderson et al., 2015) resemble new technology-based rms (NTBFs). ese organizations,
which are widely studied from economic and business perspectives (Arantes et al., 2019: 63), are dened as those that obtain
a competitive advantage in the ongoing search and application of advanced technical and scientic knowledge (Garrido et al).
Due to their nature, these organizations are primarily responsible for spreading innovation in the industry and therefore in
society (Aldeano and Magdaleno, 2007), with technology is one of the dominant traits (Arantes et al., 2019: 49).
However, most of these research eorts suer from a certain degree of technological determinism and limited critical
reection on the technological nature of the innovations implemented. Worth noting is the contribution by Granstrand (1998:
487), who highlights the two sides of technology –soft and hard– framed in a “dynamic body of knowledge” and linked to
the transformational processes within organizations. In this sense, technology could also be viewed as a knowledge resource
because it forms part of a company’s intellectual capital and shares the general characteristics of knowledge, conferring it the
possibility of scale, scope, speed and space for change.
1.2. Adoption of technology in ongoing transformation
Conventional models that represent the diusion of innovation highlight the importance of adopters of new technologies
(Vargo, 2020). According to the classic theory developed by Rogers (1962), the diusion of innovation is not linear but rather
depends on various phases and the attitude of everyone involved (producers and recipients). However, for innovation to spread
throughout an organization, it must be implemented holistically and in all areas, not just through management (García-Avilés,
2020).
ere are primarily two approaches that explain the adoption of a specic technology: “demand-pull” and “technology-
push” theories (Peters et al., 2012). According to Dosi (1982: 148-149), “demand-pull” hypotheses point to the market and
consumption habits as the catalysts for technological development. In other words, companies perform a “needs analysis”
on the audience and decide to allocate technological eorts accordingly. “Technology-push” theories, on the other hand,
argue that changes in society are determined by the technological advances developed independently by companies. e two
approaches coexist at odds with one another and are independently unable to account for the factors that drive technological
innovations. is theoretical approach coincides with that of Smith (1983: 291), in which technological advances hover
between existing needs in the beginning but can then create new opportunities.
Although recent studies shed light on the characteristics of certain technological changes, they continue to be insucient given
the diversity of variation patterns, prospects and analysis dimensions. According to Gynnild (2014: 727), the advances linked
doxa.comunicación |
nº 37, pp. 453-478
July-December of 2023
Félix Arias-Robles, José M. Valero-Pastor and Miguel Carvajal
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| 457
to the development of algorithms, the use of big data and the adoption of social science methods rely less on technological
creation than on the values, objectives and development of the interactive skills of news professionals.
e
media ecology
theory, originally outlined by McLuhan in 1964 (Richard and Turner, 2010), states that all change aects
the entire system to a greater or lesser degree because it is neither additive nor subtractive (Postman, 1992: 18). Neil Postman
argues that technology has an impact on society as well as on what and how people think. is theory garners special interest
to explain the correlation and evolution of the elements of communication (Scolari, 2012: 218) through the concept of
remediation, which is “the representation of one medium inside another” (Scolari, 2013: 51), leading to the analysis of media
outlets as settings where communication ows uidly.
Technology never behaves in a neutral manner (Díaz Noci, 2001: 1), but rather it has a constant connection with its social
context (McQuail, 2010: 39). According to Fidler (1997: 23), the media’s mutation, or “mediamorphosis,” poses the need to
study all the elements of an interdependent system as well as to analyze the similarities and relationships between past, current
and emerging media outlets. Along these lines, all technological evolutions entail a gain and a loss in a generally complex
and asymmetrical process (Piscitelli, 2005: 21). In the same way that demand-pull theories focused on “needs” to create a
specic technology, new media outlets appropriate techniques, forms and social meaning from others. A media outlet does
not operate in an isolated manner but rather through an ongoing relationship built on respect and rivalry with its competitors
(Landow, 2006: 65).
As a result, technologies not only project and amplify industry trends but also allow employees to establish their professional
identities. However, technology can also be a source of conict, tension and frustration in news organizations, with negative
consequences because it is oftentimes “imposed from above” and can disrupt informal hierarchies (Deuze, 2008: 204). is
leads to the aforementioned professional divides, although it also opens the door for the creation of technology-based rms
that oer greater “technological dynamism” and break the inertia of organizations (Fontes and Coombs, 2001: 79).
1.3. e platformization of news
Cultural production does not occur independently of the social and technological context. In the West, news organizations
–and companies from other industries, such as the video game segment –are “contingent on” a group of platforms that include
Apple, Google and Meta (Nieborg and Poell, 2019). According to these authors, this complex process has been analyzed from
the perspective of the economy, politics and software:
platformization
.
Platformization
can be dened as “the penetration of economic, governmental, and infrastructural extensions of digital
platforms into the web and app ecosystems, fundamentally aecting the operations of media industries and production
practices” (Nieborg et al). is denition underscores the socioeconomic implications that go beyond the technological
advances of these platforms and have a bearing on the media industry due to their dependence on “U.S.-technology giants”
(Simon, 2022). According to this author, platforms are contributing to the transformation of processes at news organizations:
from providing services to assisting with research and technological development.
is dependency began between 2007 and 2008, and continued to grow in the subsequent years due to mobile consumption,
which these companies have even more control over (Steensen and Westlund, 2020: 40). Additionally, the introduction of
458|
nº 37, pp. 453-478
July-December of 2023
Technological dependence and outsourcing for innovation in journalism in Spanish media outlets (2014-2021)
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| doxa.comunicación
articial intelligence (AI) in newsrooms could increase the reliance of news organizations on the technology companies that
provide these types of services (Simon, 2022).
is creates several dierent paths within the relationship between media companies and platform companies (Gorwa, 2019:
856; López-García and Vizoso, 2021). In the rst, companies can develop in-house technology. is particularly applies to
startups that have been founded as an alternative to traditional media outlets and have implemented innovations that are
extremely challenging for most legacy media outlets to achieve (Valero-Pastor and González-Alba, 2018). Investments made
by media outlets for in-house developments are viewed as a response to the risk of losing skills, which would further widen the
gap between news organizations and big tech, and cement an already asymmetrical relationship (Simon, 2022: 17).
In the second, as Simon (2022) explains, platform companies sometimes operate as “partners” for media outlets in the
research and development of technology; in other words, the technology has a shared origin and both parties benet. In the
third, media outlets are completely dependent on these companies because news organizations either hire a third party to
develop a specic technology or they benet from existing platforms. According to Ekström and Westlund (2019: 259), these
platforms oer “a digital infrastructure with diverse kinds of information and communication, as well as opportunities to
produce, publish and engage with content.”
rough the theoretical framework of
media ecology
and the
platformization
of news, this article aims to analyze the presence
of technology in journalism innovations at Spanish media outlets. is reection will help pave the way to classify and
conceptualize the use of technology in the media and study the social repercussion of technological advances from a non-
deterministic perspective. Based on these theories, the following research questions are considered:
RQ1. To what degree do the journalism innovations implemented in Spain between 2014 and 2021 depend on technology?
RQ2. What years, areas of innovation and types of news organizations have been impacted the most by technology?
RQ3. Who creates the technology used in these innovations?
2. Methodology
is study combines quantitative and qualitative methodologies to calibrate the relationship between technology and
innovation in journalism. e work is limited to the Spanish media ecosystem between 2014 and 2021, and covers journalism
innovations of various origins, sizes and purposes. To answer the research questions, the innovations implemented in the
industry were tracked and their relationship with technology was evaluated. Finally, the results were individually quantied to
determine the preponderance of multiple variables: the media outlets in which they appeared and when, and what area they
aect. is methodology was applied in two consecutive phases: a) selecting 25 of the most prominent innovative journalism
projects in Spain, and b) analyzing the variables linked to technology in the innovations between 2014 and 2021.
doxa.comunicación |
nº 37, pp. 453-478
July-December of 2023
Félix Arias-Robles, José M. Valero-Pastor and Miguel Carvajal
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| 459
2.1. Selecting the organizations
To select the sample of 25 journalism projects, a panel of experts (n=22) consisting of individuals from academia, the industry
and other elds, such as media consulting and journalism associations, was created. e 50 experts initially proposed were
selected through purposive sampling based on subject knowledge criteria, professional prole, parity and geographic diversity
(Koerber and McMichael, 2008). e 22 experts who agreed to participate were interviewed between January and March 2021,
and their responses were subsequently anonymized
1
.
Table 1. Panel of experts
Job title
AreaLocationGenderAge
Director of Design
MediaMadridMale38
Editor in Chief
MediaMadridFemale40
Professor of Journalism
UniversityPamplonaMale50
Professor of Journalism
UniversitySevilleMale45
Professor of Journalism
UniversityMadridMale45
Professor of Journalism
UniversityMurciaMale45
Professor of Journalism
UniversityMadridFemale35
Director of Innovation
MediaMadridMale40
Content Manager
MediaMadridMale60
Audience ConsultantConsulting rm
MadridMale38
Audience ConsultantConsulting rm
MadridMale55
CEO
Consulting rm
MadridMale58
CEOStartupMadridMale42
Analyst
StartupMadridFemale42
460|
nº 37, pp. 453-478
July-December of 2023
Technological dependence and outsourcing for innovation in journalism in Spanish media outlets (2014-2021)
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| doxa.comunicación
Head of Communication
AssociationLondonMale40
Head of Communication
AssociationMadridMale35
PresidentAssociationValenciaFemale35
Product Manager
MediaMadridFemale44
Assistant Director
MediaMadridMale44
FounderStartupBarcelonaFemale49
CEOMediaMadridFemale54
Innovation Manager
MediaBarcelonaMale53
Source: prepared by the authors
e participants were asked to mention innovative Spanish news organizations and explain their answers (P1). ey were
also asked to propose noteworthy journalism innovations (P2). ese mentions were quantied and entered into a database
containing 78 innovative news organizations. To choose the nal sample for the study, their weight was calibrated based on the
number of mentions by experts and the number of social media followers. ese data were collected for all the media outlets
on April 20, 2021.
Table 2. Coding the types of expert and social relevance of the media outlets analyzed
Media outlet
Expert relevance (66.6%)Social relevance (33.3%)
Final score
P1 (organizations)
(33.3%)
P2 (innovations)
(33.3%)
Twitter
(11.1%)
Facebook
(11.1%)
Instagram
(11.1%)
El País
16108,000,0005,338,8641,100,00080.39
Eldiario.es
17141,200,000577,447156,20069.96
El Condencial
1313914,2001,073,454143,50060.34
RTVE
10121,200,000779,439267,80052.19
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
doxa.comunicación |
nº 37, pp. 453-478
July-December of 2023
Félix Arias-Robles, José M. Valero-Pastor and Miguel Carvajal
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| 461
Maldita
118118,90063,00054,10041.06
Newtral
96189,10034,00040,70032.38
El Mundo
533,900,0002,656,585516,40029.29
El Español
103430,100735,00092,00029.13
Marca
205,500,0004,910,2212,600,00028.83
Civio
5745,20010,0002,36426.56
Datadista
3726,3008,28786822.61
La Vanguardia
411,200,0004,407,727542,00022.53
Revista 5W
4355,20017,33025,10015.17
Kloshletter
424,7741,3261,78812.62
Diari ARA
32534,800291,000158,70012.42
Antena 3
101,400,0001,943,790403,0009.04
La Sexta
111,000,000480,149125,1007.07
Jot Down
02292,000193,51742,2005.68
El Orden Mundial
02270,800109,33236,9005.47
Matthew Bennet
02119,10002754.93
TV3
10606,100598,828270,0004.78
Source: prepared by the authors
462|
nº 37, pp. 453-478
July-December of 2023
Technological dependence and outsourcing for innovation in journalism in Spanish media outlets (2014-2021)
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| doxa.comunicación
2.2. Identifying and analyzing innovations
To identify the innovations of the 25 organizations selected, a qualitative analysis was performed of the content obtained
from document sources (academic databases, Spanish and international portals specializing in journalism innovation,
corporate blogs of projects) and the experts were interviewed. e innovations identied in this process (n=363) were listed in
a spreadsheet that was then ltered using the consensus group technique to detect redundancies or inconsistencies.
During the last phase of the research, the decision was made to omit four media outlets from the sample: the consulting rms
Narrativa and Prodigioso Volcán, Ibai Llanos and Podium Podcast. Although they can all be found within the communication
ecosystem and have a signicant inuence on the industry’s evolution, it was deemed more appropriate to exclude their
innovations from this study because they veer away from the creation of strictly journalism products. e nal list contained
21 organizations and 243 innovations.
e innovations then underwent a qualitative analysis to determine their link to technology. Using the methodology created
to study innovation in journalism (Carvajal
et al
., 2015) and applied to the Innovation in Journalism Ranking (De Lara
et al
.,
2015; García-Avilés
et al
., 2018), they were grouped into three categories:
1. Technological innovations. ose in which technological progress plays a fundamental role in the concept of the innovative
idea, such as developing applications, programming with AI and using hardware.
2. Innovations made possible thanks to technology or based on technology. is is attributed to ideas in which technology
is not essential but rather a prerequisite for development. Examples include creating niche podcasts and newsletters or
hosting digital events.
3. Non-technological innovations. In this case, neither the idea nor the execution relies on technology, such as when creating
newsroom teams or adopting new editorial focuses.
e qualitative analysis also identies the creator of the technology used in the innovations. According to the proposal by
Simon (2022) on the media’s
platformization
, there are three categories:
1. Outsourced. ose developed exclusively by third parties. ey include everything from designs that have been outsourced
to a third party (and therefore have ownership rights), to the use of products created by other entities (with or without
nancial remuneration).
2. In-house. e organization uses its resources to drive the initiative from beginning to end.
3. Mixed. Other actors operate as partners in developing new technological ideas.
is classication was created by the research team using the double-blind method. e innovations were rst evaluated
individually by two authors using separate spreadsheets to avoid bias in the analysis, and then by the rest. e innovations
that garnered consensus from the researchers were approved, whereas those that raised doubts were discussed using the
consensus group technique in which standardized criteria were dened for similar cases. For example, it was decided that
paywalls would be viewed as innovations “made possible by technology” because the innovative aspect is the shift toward a
subscription model, except in the case of paywalls in which technology plays a central role, such as algorithmic ones.
doxa.comunicación |
nº 37, pp. 453-478
July-December of 2023
Félix Arias-Robles, José M. Valero-Pastor and Miguel Carvajal
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| 463
ese two category blocks were combined with three independent variables:
1. Date. e years when the innovations were implemented (between 2014 and 2021) were logged. Dates could not be
assigned to 25 innovations (9.7% out of the 259 in total) due to a lack of information.
2. Areas of innovation. Based on existing research (De Lara
et al
., 2015; García Avilés
et al
., 2018), distinctions were made
between a) production, b) distribution, c) organization, d) and marketing.
3. Organizations. In addition to registering and analyzing each media outlet separately, the dierent types were dened
according to a) the parent company (press, radio, television or native digital), b) the editorial focus (mainstream or
specialized), and c) the size (large, medium/small -in line with the SME concept– or one-person).
3. Results
e ndings show that technology is linked to nearly two-thirds of the innovations registered in the last eight years. is
panoramic perspective also reveals that it is more common for media outlets to outsource their technological development
and that they rarely partner with technology companies.
3.1. Change over time
Table 3. Technology-based by year
TechnologicalTechnology-basedNon-technologicalTotal
YearN%N%N%N%
2014
222.22%222.22%555.56%94.05%
2015
1238.71%1238.71%722.58%3113.96%
2016
1045.45%418.18%836.36%229.91%
2017
834.78%313.04%1252.17%2310.36%
2018
1333.33%1025.64%1641.03%3917.57%
2019
519.23%1246.15%934.62%2611.71%
2020
1630.19%1833.96%1935.85%5323.87%
464|
nº 37, pp. 453-478
July-December of 2023
Technological dependence and outsourcing for innovation in journalism in Spanish media outlets (2014-2021)
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| doxa.comunicación
2021
631.58%947.37%421.05%198.56%
Total
7232.43%7031.53%8036.04%222100.00%
Source: prepared by the authors
Although the change over time of purely technological innovations does not reveal a clear trend, it shows certain growth over
the years.
e number of non-technological innovations is lower in the last year of the sample, most likely due to the pandemic. In
turn, this variable peaked in 2014 and 2017, surpassing half of the innovations registered at a time when the creation of
multidisciplinary teams gained importance, as in the case of
El País
,
El Condencial
,
El Mundo
and
El Español
. 2016 was also
a fruitful year in this regard, particularly due to the innovations linked to organizational aspects, such as promoting alliances
between media outlets to improve the distribution and impact of products. Examples include partnerships between
El
Condencial
and PorCausa;
El Condencial
and WebLogsSL; the sale of joint subscriptions between
Eldiario.es
, Mongolia and
Carne Cruda; alliances between
Eldiario.es
,
El Faro
(Mexico) and
Ballena Blanca
; and participation in international consortia,
as in the case of
El Mundo
in the “football leaks” investigation.
Table 4. Creators of innovation by year
OutsourcedIn-houseMixedTotal
YearN%N%N%N%
2014
125.00%375.00%0042.82%
2015
1458.33%833.33%28.33%2416.90%
2016
642.86%321.43%535.71%149.86%
2017
327.27%763.64%19.09%117.75%
2018
1147.83%1043.48%28.70%2316.20%
2019
529.41%847.06%423.53%1711.97%
2020
1647.06%617.65%1235.29%3423.94%
2021
746.67%640.00%213.33%1510.56%
Total
6344.37%5135.92%2819.72%142100.00%
Source: prepared by the authors
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
doxa.comunicación |
nº 37, pp. 453-478
July-December of 2023
Félix Arias-Robles, José M. Valero-Pastor and Miguel Carvajal
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| 465
e analysis of the source of innovations over time reveals that in 2015 (by percentage) and 2020 (by absolute value), news
organizations were more technologically reliant on third-party rms. is makes it possible to establish a connection with the
platformization phenomenon, which is explained further on. An aspect that stands out about 2015, for example, is Telegram’s
penetration in news organizations as a new vehicle for internal and external communication, in the form of a newsletter, as in
the case of
Eldiario.es
and laSexta.
In 2020, in response to the pandemic, incremental innovations based on existing technologies were introduced and gained
importance due to the social context and the need to prioritize virtuality. ese include videoconferencing platforms used by
media outlets at various parent companies, as well as QR codes, which became particularly popular in television networks.
Additional examples are themed newsletters based on third-party technology and new channels on Twitch and TikTok, as in
the case of the veriers
Maldita
and
Newtral
, respectively.
Technology developed internally by news organizations reached maximum gures in 2014 and 2017, particularly with the
introduction of AI tools. e cases involving
El País
and
El Condencial
stand out.
However, the trend varies for the results of the “mixed” category, in which other actors serve as partners for the developments.
In fact, the category does not include any innovations of this type in 2014. e maximum gures appear in 2016 and 2020.
Items that stand out are data visualization (with the popularity of tools like Flourish and Datawrapper) and advances in
marketing strategies with the introduction of paywalls and digital subscriptions (
La Vanguardia
and
El País
) that required
hybrid partnerships.
3.2. Areas of innovation
e analysis of the presence of technology in various areas of innovation reects major dierences. In terms of marketing
(the area with the fewest innovations registered), most of the innovations (nearly double the purely technological ones) are
technology-based. Advances in paywalls, subscriptions and memberships, like the ones at
El País
,
Eldiario.es
and
El Mundo,
are several paradigmatic examples of this trend. Non-technological innovations hardly represent one-third of the total, along
the same lines as the overall average.
Table 5. Technology-based by area of innovation
TechnologicalTechnology-basedNon-technologicalTotal
AreaN%N%N%N%
Marketing
1122.92%2041.67%1735.42%4819.75%
Distribution
3139.74%4456.41%33.85%7832.10%
Organization
712.07%58.62%4679.31%5823.87%
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
466|
nº 37, pp. 453-478
July-December of 2023
Technological dependence and outsourcing for innovation in journalism in Spanish media outlets (2014-2021)
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| doxa.comunicación
Production
2847.46%915.25%2237.29%5924.28%
Total
7731.69%7832.10%8836.21%243100.00%
Source: prepared by the authors
In the case of innovations related to content distribution, more than half are made possible thanks to technology. e use of
social media and other distribution platforms, such as podcasts and newsletters, are some of the most common examples.
Non-technological innovations are virtually inexistent in this category, except for alliances with big tech rms like Amazon.
However, in the area of organization, nearly all of the innovations are developed without technology. Building teams,
introducing work dynamics and participating in training programs are some of the most common examples. Of the purely
technological innovations, the creation of content management systems (CMS), such as the one at
Diari Ara
, and the use of
AI to improve workows, like the one linked to the documentation at La Sexta, are usually at the top of the list. For those that
are technology-based, with a weight similar to the previous category, partnerships with third parties stand out, such as the
example between
Newtral
and Facebook.
On the other hand, in the area of production, technological development prevails, representing nearly half of the total. An
aspect that stands out is the creation of in-house tools, such as those used to automate content processing through AI, like the
ones developed by
Newtral
. Also worth noting is the acquisition of technological material, usually by television networks, to
harness phenomena such as augmented reality.
Table 6. Creators of initiatives by area of innovation
OutsourcedIn-houseMixedTotal
AreaN%N%N%N%
Marketing
1238.71%825.81%1135.48%3120.00%
Distribution
3850.67%2432.00%1317.33%7548.39%
Organization
758.33%433.33%18.33%127.74%
Production
1232.43%1951.35%616.22%3723.87%
Total
6944.52%5535.48%3120.00%155100.00%
Source: prepared by the authors
doxa.comunicación |
nº 37, pp. 453-478
July-December of 2023
Félix Arias-Robles, José M. Valero-Pastor and Miguel Carvajal
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| 467
When these variables are cross-referenced with the creators of technology-based innovations, signicant variations appear
throughout the areas. e low weight of in-house development in marketing stands out and is primarily limited to detecting
adblockers at
El Condencial
and
La Vanguardia
, and promoting subscriber participation at
Diari ARA
and
El Español
. In turn,
joint technology development between media outlets and third parties for improving paywalls at newspapers with traditional
print versions, like
El País
,
El Mundo
and, once again,
La Vanguardia
, is noteworthy.
In the area of distribution, the presence of third-party technology stands out. Reliance on social media or text, audio and
video distribution platforms is the main explanation, although the aforementioned use of QR by television networks must
also be highlighted. ird-party technology plays an even bigger role in the area of organization due to the rise of remote work
following the pandemic. is trend is inverted in the area of production, which has the lowest use of third-party technology and
its weight stands out. e casuistry varies signicantly and is usually in the form of specic products for creating dierentiated
content for data visualization.
3.3. News organizations
e analysis of the presence of technology in innovation at each organization reveals several paradigmatic cases. Eminently
technological advances surpass more than half of the total at Antena 3, La Sexta and TV3, but they represent less than one-
fourth of the total at
El Español
,
Eldiario.es
,
Maldita
and RTVE. In-house technology is not present in organizations such as
El
Orden Mundial
and
Jot Down
.
Table 7. Technology-based by media outlet
TechnologicalTechnology-basedNon-technologicalTotal
Media outlet
N%N%N%N%
Antena 3
777.78%222.22%093.70%
Civio
440.00%330.00%330.00%104.12%
Datadista
337.50%450.00%112.50%83.29%
Diari ARA
240.00%120.00%240.00%52.06%
El Condencial
932.14%621.43%1346.43%2811.52%
El Español
525.00%945.00%630.00%208.23%
El Mundo
736.84%736.84%526.32%197.82%
El Orden Mundial
00133.33%266.67%31.23%
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
468|
nº 37, pp. 453-478
July-December of 2023
Technological dependence and outsourcing for innovation in journalism in Spanish media outlets (2014-2021)
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| doxa.comunicación
El País
1134.38%618.75%1546.88%3213.17%
eldiario.es
421.05%631.58%947.37%197.82%
Jot Down
00150.00%150.00%20.82%
Kloshletter
00250.00%250.00%41.65%
La Sexta
00111.11%222.22%93.70%
La Vanguardia
646.15%538.46%215.38%135.35%
Maldita
314.29%733.33%1152.38%218.64%
Marca
337.50%337.50%225.00%83.29%
Matthew Bennet
003100.00%31.23%
Newtral
00654.55%436.36%114.53%
Revista 5W
00133.33%266.67%31.23%
RTVE
112.50%337.50%450.00%83.29%
TV3
00112.50%225.00%83.29%
Total
7731.69%7832.10%8836.21%243100.00%
Source: prepared by the authors
Technology-based innovations barely represent one-fourth of the total at Antena 3,
El Condencial
,
El País
, La Sexta and TV3.
In turn, half of the innovations at
Datadista
,
Jot Down
, Kloshletter and
Newtral
, as well as all of Mathew Bennet’s innovations,
are made possible by technology.
Non-technological advances, primarily for editorial matters and work dynamics, comprise half or more at
El Orden Mundial
,
Maldita
,
Revista 5W
, Jot Down, Kloshletter and RTVE. On the other hand, they barely represent one-fourth of the total at
Datadista
, La Sexta,
La Vanguardia
,
Marca
and TV3, and have not been identied at Antena 3 or Mathew Bennet.
ese data allow us to make a preliminary analysis based on the features of the organizations studied. Upon taking into
consideration the parent company of each organization, technological innovation can be seen in the television networks,
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
doxa.comunicación |
nº 37, pp. 453-478
July-December of 2023
Félix Arias-Robles, José M. Valero-Pastor and Miguel Carvajal
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| 469
except for RTVE, whose innovations are less technological than the rest. In turn, it has a much smaller impact on the innovative
initiatives of native digital media outlets and newspapers with traditional print versions
A comparison of the editorial models for the organizations studied reveals a slightly homogeneous trend in mainstream media
outlets that is clearer among specialized publications. Innovations for projects centered on data journalism and fact-checking
have a more technological nature, but with nuances:
Civio
, for example, is focused on technological development, but
Datadista
and
Newtral
are technology-based. ose centered on a subject matter niche, oftentimes with long-form content
(El Orden Mundial,
Jot Down
and
Revista 5W
), share a common pattern: most of the innovations are not technological or are
merely technology-based.
Marca
veers from this trend due to its special features and larger size. is last variable (the number
of workers for each project) brings to light that one-person projects do not include purely technological innovations, but rather
that most are only made possible by technology.
Table 8. Creators of innovation by media outlet
OutsourcedIn-houseMixedTotal
Media outlet
N%N%N%N%
Antena 3
777.78%222.22%0096.34%
Civio
125.00%250.00%125.00%42.82%
Datadista
342.86%228.57%228.57%74.93%
Diari ARA
002100.00%0021.41%
El Condencial
213.33%1066.67%320.00%1510.56%
El Español
750.00%428.57%321.43%149.86%
El Mundo
550.00%330.00%220.00%107.04%
El Orden Mundial
001100.00%0010.70%
El País
635.29%317.65%847.06%1711.97%
eldiario.es
440.00%330.00%330.00%107.04%
Jot Down
1100.00%000010.70%
Kloshletter
2100.00%000021.41%
La Sexta
457.14%342.86%0074.93%
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
470|
nº 37, pp. 453-478
July-December of 2023
Technological dependence and outsourcing for innovation in journalism in Spanish media outlets (2014-2021)
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| doxa.comunicación
La Vanguardia
550.00%330.00%220.00%107.04%
Maldita
550.00%440.00%110.00%107.04%
Marca
1
25.00%
375.00%
00
4
2.82%
Matthew Bennet
1100.00%000010.70%
Newtral
457.14%342.86%0074.93%
Revista 5W
1100.00%000010.70%
RTVE
375.00%00125.00%42.82%
TV3
116.67%350.00%233.33%64.23%
Total
6344.37%5135.92%2819.72%142100.00%
Source: prepared by the authors
Major dierences also exist between the news organizations studied in terms of the creators behind the technology in the
innovations. All of the technological innovations at
Jot Down
, Kloshletter, Matthew Bennet and Revista 5W are outsourced.
is type of third-party development also represents at least three-fourths at Antena 3 and RTVE. In turn, it barely reaches
one-fourth at
Civio
,
El Condencial
and
Marca
, and is not present at Diari ARA and
El Orden Mundial
.
In-house development can be found in all the technological innovations at
Diari ARA
and is present in at least two-thirds at
El Condencial
and
Marca
. On the other hand, it represents one-third or less at Antena 3,
Datadista
,
El Español
,
El País
and
La Vanguardia
, and does not exist in six cases. e combination of in-house development and outsourcing does not exist in
twelve cases, although it can be found in at least one-fourth at Civio,
Datadista
,
Eldiario.es
and RTVE. e most important case
here is that of
El País
, where nearly half of the creators are marked as “both.” In this instance, aside from the innovations linked
to subscribers, data visualization and AI, partnerships with Google for developing AMPs (accelerated mobile pages) and with
Facebook for distributing news in Messenger via bots also stand out.
ese individualized ndings are combined with the analysis by type of organization. When the parent company is taken into
consideration, it is noted that television networks rely primarily on third-party technology to innovate. is is usually done by
acquiring materials manufactured by technology companies, except for TV3, where in-house technology is more prevalent.
Newspapers with traditional print versions also tend to use third-party developments, although with certain exceptions, such
as the aforementioned
El País
. In turn, native digital media outlets tend to rely more on in-house developments, except for
El
Español
. e patterns are less clear for the combination of in-house and outsourced developments, although they tend to be
more common at native digital media outlets.
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
doxa.comunicación |
nº 37, pp. 453-478
July-December of 2023
Félix Arias-Robles, José M. Valero-Pastor and Miguel Carvajal
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| 471
e dierences are less clear when the editorial model of the media outlets studied is taken into consideration. In turn, the
size of an organization plays a major role. Organizations with a smaller workforce tend to rely more on third-party technology.
Only large media outlets, primarily newspapers with traditional print versions, partner with others for the technological
development of their innovations. e main exception is
Civio
, which despite its small team (10 people), participates in the
development of three of its four technological innovations.
4. Discussion and conclusions
e results obtained in this research oer a comprehensive view of the intersection between technology and innovation in
journalism: two out of every three advances are technology-based, accentuated over time, and most are developed outside
of the media industry. ese ndings also make it possible to delve into realities such as the weight of technology in the
distribution of content and in media outlets such as television. ese data pave the way for a deeper reection on the correlation
between technological innovation, the social context and the reliance on big tech. ey also reveal the need to further study
the nature of this relationship and introduce categories that allow their in-depth analysis.
Innovation in journalism depends a great deal on technology (RQ1). is coincides with the idea that technology is
consubstantial with journalism (López-García and Vizoso, 2021) and innovation (Moreira Flores, 2017). If technology is
decisive in two-thirds of journalism innovations, then the problem of “technomyopia” (Fidler, 1997: 11) may lie in the lack of
a long-term vision or critical reection. Perhaps a reality of great magnitude is not being exaggerated, but rather that better
lenses are needed to analyze it in-depth and with perspective.
Fidler (1997) describes a process in which the benets of a technology are inated in the beginning, and when expectations
are not subsequently met, its impact is underestimated. is could be associated with the classic theory developed by Rogers
(1962), in which a technology’s adoption is not linear, but rather depends on multiple phases and the attitude of recipients.
e results of this research show that existing technologies—such as videoconferencing tools and QR codes—are being
used, but their adoption has increased due to circumstantial reasons. However, regardless of when technological advances
become popular, they should go through the same stages of launch, diusion and cross into the mainstream. erefore, when
technology is developed and adopted, it is advisable to dierentiate between actual changes in news creation and ephemeral
modications that have a low impact on society (Küng, 2017).
e comparison with change over time, areas of innovation and types of media outlets oers additional nuances (RQ2). Non-
technological innovations tend to fall as the years go by, reaching a minimum level in 2021. e strong presence of users in
channels like TikTok and Twitch has driven the demand-pull strategies of media outlets, thereby conrming that technological
advances address existing needs but then create new demand (Smith, 1983: 291).
2020, a year dened by health measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, is the period with the most innovations (also
technological) but the fewest in-house developments. e link between technology and the social context (McQuail, 2010: 39)
became evident, along with its lack of neutrality (Díaz Noci, 2001: 1) and the ongoing correlation between the main elements of
communication (Scolari, 2012: 218). It became clear that technological evolution is triggered by supply, scientic progress and
demand, particularly in exceptional situations, like the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the results make it possible to conclude
472|
nº 37, pp. 453-478
July-December of 2023
Technological dependence and outsourcing for innovation in journalism in Spanish media outlets (2014-2021)
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| doxa.comunicación
that in recent years, technology-push theories have gained ground (Dosi, 1982: 148-149) because improvements to digital tools
have allowed media outlets to create more technology-based innovations (Peters
et al
., 2012).
e comparison between the areas of innovation is also revealing. e fact that technology is present in most of the advances
registered for content distribution, and that more than half are third-party developments, is proof of
platformization
in
journalism. It is important to note that innovations in an organization rarely depend on technology, but when they do, they
almost always originate from third-party rms. e widespread use of apps like Google Meet, Zoom and Microsoft Teams
during the remote work era, for example, inuences how numerous news organizations work. Although technological
development is prevalent in production, this is the only area in which innovations at media outlets are primarily driven in-
house. In the area of marketing, partnerships with third parties for technological development stand out. In terms of business,
the hybridization between news organizations and tech rms is clear (Carlson and Usher, 2016). ese ndings also coincide
with recent research on podcast production and marketing strategies (Pérez-Alaejos
et al
., 2022; Carvajal
et al
., 2022).
Finally, comparing the results between media outlets provides key information for understanding the industry’s evolution.
According to this research, in the ve most innovative cases (
El País
,
Eldiario.es
,
El Condencial
, RTVE and
Maldita
),
approximately half of the innovations are non-technological. ese results reveal the limitations of technological determinism
(Almirón and Jarque, 2008) and conrm the error of tying any novelty on the market to technology (Franciscato, 2010). It is
likely that in companies with a stronger innovative tradition, most of their actions fall within a corporate strategy that is more
dened and less reliant on the latest technological advances (Küng, 2015). is applies to newspapers with traditional print
versions, as suspected, but also to most native digital media outlets, particularly those specialized by subject matter and with
a predilection for long-form journalism.
On the other hand, technology has considerable weight in media outlets specializing in data and fact-checking. ese types of
entities could probably be classied as startups or NTBFs, in which technology is one of the distinctive features (Arantes
et al
.,
2019: 49). Television networks are also worth noting because technology tends to have more weight in their innovations. eir
need to work with complex technical equipment and the size of their newsrooms are most likely determining factors.
is analysis is completed through a comparison of the creators behind the technology used in the innovations identied
(RQ3). e data obtained show that third-party developments peaked in 2015 and 2020, most likely due to technological
dependence during the pandemic in light of limitations on in-person work and mobility, as well as the short reaction time.
During this period, media outlets increased their reliance on free digital tools like WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Google Drive,
Wetransfer and Dropbox, with a higher application rate in the production phase (Bernal-Triviño, 2021).
In-house developments grew between 2017 and 2018, with the earliest advances in AI as the main focus. Most partnerships
between media outlets and technology rms, oftentimes to improve marketing systems in response to the rise of paywalls, took
place in 2016. ese results corroborate the
platformization
of journalism because they conrm the growing dependence of
media outlets on third-party agents for the implementation of technological innovations (Simon, 2022; Steensen and Westlund,
2020; Nieborg and Poell, 2019). is practice, which allows media outlets to connect more directly with technological advances
and audience consumption habits, could potentially be dangerous for their long-term aspirations because it has been veried
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
doxa.comunicación |
nº 37, pp. 453-478
July-December of 2023
Félix Arias-Robles, José M. Valero-Pastor and Miguel Carvajal
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| 473
on multiple occasions that the revenue streams and reach of organizations have been engulfed by big tech rms (Marcos Recio
et. al, 2014; Whittaker, 2019; CNMC, 2021).
Although the causes and eects of this phenomenon cannot be deduced in this paper, it has been noted that organizations
require third-party tools, particularly for content distribution, in which companies like Apple, Google and Meta operate
(Nieborg and Poell, 2019), and for selling their services, in which case partnerships with business intelligence rms are
frequently selected. An example of this trend is the growing relationship between Spanish media outlets and Piano Media, a
Slovakian company and market leader in Europe specializing in news content monetization solutions (Ormaetxea, 2015) and
that currently develops articial intelligence technologies to optimize media outlets’ revenue streams.
e analysis of the relationship between the creators of these technological innovations and media outlets’ resources (human
and material) also provides key nuances. Although it may seem counterintuitive, this link is less obvious than other variables,
such as media outlets’ philosophies. For example, an analysis of the top three mainstream native digital media outlets (
El
Condencial
,
El Español
and
Eldiario.es
) shows that the rst develops twice as many in-house technologies as the rest. is
connection becomes even clearer when considering one-person initiatives or those with very small teams, in which in-house
development is virtually inexistent, with exceptions like
Civio
. However, it is most evident in partnerships between media
outlets and technology companies. Large media companies are the only ones that can aord these joint developments. is
conrms the socioeconomic context’s impact on technological innovation and the interconnection between media outlets
and their surroundings (Landow, 2006).
ese ndings only make sense when they are contextualized and harnessed to make progress in classifying and conceptualizing
the use of technology in the media. It is more necessary than ever to perform a conceptual reection on technology and
innovation to prevent from falling into the trap of determinism (García-Avilés, 2021) and to leverage technological development
as an opportunity to research its transformative power (Kyriakidou and Garcia-Blanco, 2021: 723). Although the containment
proposed by Barnhurst (2012: 210) may seem impossible due to its usefulness and inability to adapt, it is advisable to consider
the importance of understanding the social factor of technological innovation (Bruns, 2014; Khajeheian and Tadayoni, 2016;
Storsul and Krumsvik, 2013). In reality, it is “journalism that gives technology purpose, shape, perspective, meaning and
signicance, not the other way around” (Zelizer, 2019).
is research is not exempt from limitations, primarily because it falls within a project that is in the midst of growth, consolidation
and distribution. e innovation measurements are obtained from secondary sources and interviews that probably fail to
reect the full reality. e interview results and literature review could be triangulated using other methodologies such as a
panel of experts and observations of media outlets that have applied the innovations being studied. e sample size could
also be expanded in future research to extract more general conclusions about the factors that determine the adoption of
technology in journalism.
Additionally, some of the non-technological innovations registered in the study could be, even supercially, conditioned
by technology due to the leitmotif behind their idea and development. is would be the case of innovations such as the
creation of specic data journalism teams, initiatives for training the entire workforce on aspects such as SEO (search engine
optimization), and the introduction of new proles specializing in user analysis.
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
474|
nº 37, pp. 453-478
July-December of 2023
Technological dependence and outsourcing for innovation in journalism in Spanish media outlets (2014-2021)
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| doxa.comunicación
In this sense, one of the biggest challenges of this work was due to the limited theory on technology in journalism. Although
a certain degree exists in elds such as the economy and startups, the majority focuses on describing cases, but with minimal
theoretical development. erefore, it is necessary to delve further into this topic from a critical perspective. Future lines of
research could also include in-depth research on the link between editors and technicians at news organizations (Kosterich,
2019) or a wider analysis of the friction between subcultures in newsrooms.
5. Acknowledgments
is article was translated into English by Almudena Grau, whom we would like to thank for her work.
is work is backed by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) within the framework
of the research project “Journalism innovation in democratic societies: Index, inuence and prerequisites in international
comparison (JoIn-DemoS)” (Project-ID 438677067).
6. Specic contributions from each author
Name and Surname
Conception and design of the workFélix Arias-Robles
Methodology
Félix Arias-Robles, José María Valero-Pastor and Miguel Carvajal
Data collection and analysisJosé María Valero-Pastor and Félix Arias-Robles
Discussion and conclusionsMiguel Carvajal and Félix Arias-Robles
Drafting, formatting, version review and approvalFélix Arias-Robles, José María Valero-Pastor and Miguel Carvajal
7. Bibliographic references
Almirón, N., y Jarque, J.M. (2008).
El mito digital. Discursos hegemónicos sobre Internet y periodismo
. Barcelona, Anthropos.
Anderson, C.W., Emily Bell, y Shirky, C. (2015). Post-Industrial Journalism: Adapting to the Present.
Geopolitics, History, and
International Relations
, 7(2), 32-123.
Arantes, F.P.; Caetano, M.; Angélica, V.; Paula, F.; Salete, M.; Freitag, B. (2019). New independent technology-based rms:
dierences from other NTBFs and future research agenda for technology innovation management.
International Journal of
Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management
, 23(1), 46-71.
Barnhurst, K.G. (2012). “‘Trust me, I’m an innovative journalist,’ and other ctions”. In: Broersma, M.; Peters, C. (eds.).
Rethinking journalism: trust and participation in a transforming media landscape. London: Routledge, 210-220.
doxa.comunicación |
nº 37, pp. 453-478
July-December of 2023
Félix Arias-Robles, José M. Valero-Pastor and Miguel Carvajal
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| 475
Boczkowski, Pablo J. (2004). “e mutual shaping of technology and society in videotex newspapers: Beyond the diusion and
social shaping perspectives”. e information society, 20(4), 255-267.
https://doi.org/10.1080/01972240490480947
Bruns, Axel (2014). “Media innovations, user innovations, societal innovations”. e journal of media innovations, 1(1), 13-27.
https://doi.org/10.5617/jmi.v1i1.827
Carlson, M.; Usher, N. (2016) News Startups as Agents of Innovation, Digital Journalism, 4(5), 563-581.
https://doi.org/10.108
0/21670811.2015.1076344
Carvajal, M., Arias, F., Negredo, S., y Amoedo, A. (2015). Aproximación metodológica al estudio de la innovación en periodismo.
Observatorio (OBS*),
9(3), 15–31.
https://doi.org/10.15847/obsOBS932015793
Carvajal, M.; Marín-Sanchiz, C.R. y Navas, C.J. (2022). e daily news podcast ecosystem from the strategy and business model
perspectives.
Profesional de la información
, 31(5).
https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2022.sep.14
De-Lara-González, A., Arias-Robles, F., Carvajal-Prieto, M., y García-Avilés, J. A. (2015). Ranking de innovación periodística
2014 en España. Selección y análisis de 25 iniciativas.
Profesional De La información
, 24(3), 235-245.
https://doi.org/10.3145/
epi.2015.may.03
Deuze, M. (2008). e professional identity of journalists in the context of convergence culture.
Observatorio Journal
, 7,
103-117.
Dooley, P. L. 2007.
e Technology of Journalism
. Evanston: Northwestern UniversityPress.
Ekström, M., & Westlund, O. (2019).
e dislocation of news journalism: A conceptual framework for the study of epistemologies
of digital journalism
.
Fidler, Roger (1997).
Mediamorphosis. Understanding new media
. California: Pine Forge Press.
Fontes, M.; Coombs, R. (2001). Contribution of new technology-based rms to the strengthening of technological capabilities
in intermediate economies.
Research Policy
, 30(1), 79-97.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0048-7333(99)00095-5
Franciscato, C.E. (2010). Uma proposta de incorporação dos estudos sobre inovação nas pesquisas em jornalismo.
Estudos em
Jornalismo e Mídia
, 7(1), 8-18.
https://doi.org/10.5007/1984-6924.2010v7n1p8
García-Avilés, J. A. (2021). Review article: Journalism innovation research, a diverse and ourishing eld (2000-2020).
Profesional de la información
, 30 (1).
https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2021.ene.10
García‐Avilés, J. A. (2020). Diusion of innovation. In: Van-den-Bulck, J. (ed.).
e International Encyclopedia of Media
Psychology
. London: Wiley, pp. 1-8.
García-Avilés, J. A., Carvajal-Prieto, M., de Lara-González, A., & Arias-Robles, F. (2018). Developing an Index of Media Innovation
in a National Market: e case of Spain.
Journalism Studies.
19(1), 25-42.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2016.1161496
Giovanni D. (1982). Technological paradigms and technological trajectories: A suggested interpretation of the determinants
and directions of technical change, Research Policy, Volume 11, Issue 3, 1982, Pages 147-162, ISSN 0048-7333.
https://doi.
org/10.1016/0048-7333(82)90016-6
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
476|
nº 37, pp. 453-478
July-December of 2023
Technological dependence and outsourcing for innovation in journalism in Spanish media outlets (2014-2021)
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| doxa.comunicación
Garrido-Prada, P.; Delgado Rodríguez, M.J.; Romero-Jordán, D. (2017). “Empresas de base tecnológica, denición y selección
en la economía española”.
https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.10390.04162
Gorwa, R. (2019). What is Platform Governance?
Information, Communication & Society,
22(6): 854–871.
https://doi.org/10.1
080/1369118X.2019.1573914
Granstrand, O. (1998). Towards a theory of the technology-based rm.
Research Policy
, 27, 465–489.
Gynnild, A. (2014) Journalism innovation leads to innovation journalism: e impact of computational exploration on
changing mindsets. Journalism, 15(6), 713-730.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884913486393
Hogh-Janovsky, I.; Meier, K. (2021). Journalism innovation labs 2.0 in media organisations: a motor for transformation and
constant learning.
Journalism and media
, 2(3), 361-378.
https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia2030022
Jones, B; Jones, R. (2019) Public Service Chatbots: Automating Conversation with BBC News,
Digital Journalism
, 7(8), 1032-
1053.
https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2019.1609371
Keij L, van Kranenburg H. How organizational leadership and boundary spanners drive the transformation process of a local
news media organization.
Journalism
.
https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849221105721
Khajeheian, Datis; Tadayoni, Reza (2016). “User innovation in public service broadcasts: creating public value by media
entrepreneurship”.
International journal of technology transfer and commercialisation
, 14(2), 117-131.
https://doi.org/10.1504/
IJTTC.2016.081635
Koerber, A., & McMichael, L. (2008). Qualitative Sampling Methods: A Primer for Technical Communicators.
Journal of
Business and Technical Communication
, 22(4), 454-473.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1050651908320362
Küng, L. (2015).
Innovators in digital news
. London: Tauris.
Kyriakidou, M.; Garcia-Blanco, I. (2021). Introduction: Innovations, Transformations and the Future of Journalism.
Journalism
Practice
, 15(6), 723-727.
https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2021.1935301
Landow, G. (2006).
Hypertext 3.0. Critical eory and New Media in an Era of Globalization
. Baltimore: JHU Press.
Lewis, S.C. (2011). Journalism innovation and participation: An analysis of the Knight News Challenge.
International journal
of communication
, 5, 1623-1648.
https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/1140
Lewis, S.C. (2012) e tension between professional control and open participation, Information,
Communication & Society
,
15(6), 836-866.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2012.674150
Lindgren, C.A. (2021) Writing With Data: A Study of Coding on a Data-Journalism Team.
Written Communication
, 38(1), 114-
162.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088320968061
López-García, X.; Vizoso, Á. (2021). Periodismo de alta tecnología: signo de los tiempos digitales del tercer milenio.
Profesional
de la información
, 30(3).
https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2021.may.01
Manovich, Lev. 2002.
e Language of New Media
. Cambridge: MIT Press.
McQuail, D. (2010).
Mass communication theory
. London: Sage.
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
doxa.comunicación |
nº 37, pp. 453-478
July-December of 2023
Félix Arias-Robles, José M. Valero-Pastor and Miguel Carvajal
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| 477
McQuail, D. (1990). Caging the beast: Constructing a framework for the analysis of media change in Western Europe.
European
Journal of Communication
,
5
(2), 313-331.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0267323190005002009
Moreira Flores, A. M. (2017). Innovation Journalism: A Multiple Concept.
Brazilian Journalism Research
, 13(2), 156–179.
https://doi.org/10.25200/BJR.v13n2.2017.970
Nieborg, D. B., & Poell, T. (2018). e platformization of cultural production: eorizing thecontingent cultural commodity.
New Media & Society
, 20(11), 4275–4292.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444818769694
Nieborg, D., Poell, T., & Deuze, M. (2019). 6. e Platformization of Making Media. In e Platformization of Making Media,
Amsterdam University Press
85-96..
https://doi.org/10.1515/9789048540150-006
Pérez-Alaejos, M.P; Terol-Bolinches, R.; Barrios-Rubio, A. (2022). “Podcast production and marketing strategies on the main
platforms in Europe, North America, and Latin America. Situation and perspectives”.
Profesional de la información
, 31(5).
https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2022.sep.22
Peters, M.; Schneider, M.; Griesshaber, T.; Homann, V. (2012). e impact of technology-push and demand-pull policies
on technical change – Does the locus of policies matter?
Research Policy
, 41(8), 1296-1308.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
respol.2012.02.004
Piscitelli, A. (2005).
Internet: la imprenta del siglo XXI
. Barcelona: Gedisa.
Postman, N. (1992).
Technopoly: e Surrender of Culture to Technology
. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.roge
Primo, A.; Zago, G. (2015) Who And What Do Journalism?,
Digital Journalism
, 3(1), 38-52.
https://doi.org/10.1080/2167081
1.2014.927987
Richard, W.; Turner, L.H. (2010).
Introducing Communication eory: Analysis and Application
(4 ed.). New York: Mc Graw
Hill.
Rogers, E. M. (1962).
Diusion of innovations
. New York: Free Press of Glencoe.
Schapals, A. K., & Porlezza, C. (2020). Assistance or resistance? Evaluating the intersection of automated journalism and
journalistic role conceptions.
Media And Communication
, 8(3), 16–26.
https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v8i3.3054
Scolari, C.A. (2012). Media ecology: Exploring the metaphor to expand the theory.
Communication eory
, 22(2), 204-225.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2012.01404.x
Scolari, C.A. (2013). De las tablillas a las tablets: evolución de las emagazines. El profesional de la Información, 22(1), 10-18.
https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2013.ene.02
Simon, F.M. (2022) Uneasy Bedfellows: AI in the News, Platform Companies and the Issue of Journalistic Autonomy, Digital
Journalism.
https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2022.2063150
Smith, A. (1983).
Goodbye Gutenberg: la revolución del periodismo electrónico
. Barcelona: G. Gili.
Steensen, S; Westlund, O. (2020),
What Is Digital Journalism Studies?
Routledge, New York.
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
478|
nº 37, pp. 453-478
July-December of 2023
Technological dependence and outsourcing for innovation in journalism in Spanish media outlets (2014-2021)
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
| doxa.comunicación
Storsul, Tanja; Krumsvik, Arne H. (2013). “What is media innovation?”. In: Storsul, Tanja; Krumsvik, Arne H. (eds.).
Media
innovation: A multidisciplinary study of change
. Gothenburg: Nordicom, 13-26.
Valero-Pastor, J.M.; González-Alba, J.A. (2018): “Media startups as examples of innovation in Spanish media market. A study of
cases”.
Revista Latina de Comunicación Social
, 73, 556-582.
http://www.revistalatinacs.org/073paper/1269/28en.html
Valero-Pastor, J.-M., Carvajal-Prieto, M., & García-Avilés, J.-A. (2019). Flujos de trabajo para el periodismo postindustrial:
métodos y programas para una comunicación organizacional más ágil y transversal.
Profesional De La información
, 28(5).
https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2019.sep.14
Vargo, S.; Archpru Akaka, M.; Wieland, H. (2020). Rethinking the process of diusion in innovation: A service-ecosystems and
institutional perspective.
Journal of Business Research
, 116, 526-534.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.01.038
Zaragoza Fuster, M.T.; García Avilés, J.A. (2022). Public Service Media laboratories as communities of practice: implementing
innovation at BBC News Labs and RTVE Lab.
Journalism Practice
.
https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2022.2088602
Zelizer, B. (2019) Why Journalism Is About More an Digital Technology, Digital Journalism, 7(3), 343-35.
https://doi.org/10
.1080/21670811.2019.1571932
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>