Journalism innovations as a driver for journalistic diversity and
inclusion: International examples and editorial institutionalization
Las innovaciones periodísticas como motor de diversidad e inclusión: Ejemplos
internacionales e institucionalización editorial
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Mirco Saner.
PhD candidate. He is a research associate at the IAM Institute of Applied Media Studies at ZHAW Zurich
University of Applied Sciences in Winterthur, Switzerland. His current research focuses on journalism innovations in
European countries, funded by the Swiss National Fund (SNF), editorial quality management systems at broadcasting
stations, science communication audience segments and data-driven research methods. His dissertation deals with the
structure and content of media criticism in Switzerland, using the example of mass media public service.
ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland
[email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-0452-1589
Vinzenz Wyss.
PhD. He is Professor of Journalism at the IAM Institute of Applied Media Studies at ZHAW Zurich
University of Applied Sciences in Winterthur, Switzerland. His research focuses on journalistic quality, editorial quality
management, media criticism and media ethics.
ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland
[email protected]
Orcid: 0000-0003-4145-1660
Abstract:
We examine whether internationally relevant journalism innovations
of the last decade support journalistic diversity and inclusion aspects
and look at the degree of their editorial institutionalization. To
approach an answer, thirty-eight guided interviews were conducted
between the end of 2021 and summer 2022 along thirty-eight
innovative journalism case studies among ve European countries.
We show that diversity is seen as a key journalism innovation in all
ve countries. We nd that innovative journalism initiatives show
Resumen:
El propósito de este trabajo es analizar si las innovaciones periodísticas
de relevancia internacional adoptadas en la última década fomentan la
diversidad y la inclusión periodísticas, así como examinar su grado de
institucionalización editorial. Con el objetivo de obtener una respuesta,
se realizaron treinta y ocho entrevistas en profundidad en otros tantos
estudios de caso de innovación en cinco países europeos, entre 2021
y 2022. Los resultados muestran que la diversidad se considera una
innovación periodística clave en los cinco países. Comprobamos que las
Received: 05/11/2022 - Accepted: 15/02/2023 - Early access: 22/03/2023 - Published: 01/07/2023
Recibido: 05/11/2022 - Aceptado: 15/02/2023 - En edición: 22/03/2023 - Publicado: 01/07/2023
How to cite this article:
Saner, M. and Wyss, V. (2023). Journalism innovations as a driver for journalistic diversity and inclusion: International examples and editorial
institutionalization.
Doxa Comunicación
, 37, pp. 359-384.
https://doi.org/10.31921/doxacom.n37a1845
is content is published under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License. International License
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1. Introduction
“e new business model in journalism is not content, because there is enough of that, but identication”, claried an experienced
media startup pioneer in Switzerland who has given thought on how to sell democracy-relevant, journalistic content economically
well over the last ten years. Identication with a journalistic medium becomes more likely if the audience feels that its way of life,
needs, views or concerns are not missed, but repeatedly addressed and represented in a correct and constructive way through mass
media reporting (Douglas, 2022: 2109). However, the demographic heterogeneity is increasing, societal attitudes and viewpoints
change through public discourses such as the gender debate, social movements like Black Lives Matter and #MeToo or society-
wide events such as the Covid19 pandemic; editorial cost-cutting measures and media concentration put topic diversity under
pressure (Hendrickx and Ranaivoson, 2021: 2800) and the audience is fragmenting in terms of media consumption habits, needs
and content interests (Evers, 2021: 446; Slaets and Verhoest, 2020; Cherubini et al., 2020: 7; Horz et al., 2020: 34; Kümpel, 2020: 11).
e awareness for editorial diversity and inclusion –which, with a practical lens, represent the precondition and consequence
of the same demand– have therefore increased in recent years but so far seem to have been implemented in measures
or institutionalized internationally only to a limited extent by editorial boards (Lugschitz and Kaltenbrunner, 2022: 137;
Kaltenbrunner et al., 2021: 347; Horz et al., 2020: 26; Bayer, 2013). In Switzerland for example, legacy media house Tamedia has
had a Social Responsibility Board for two years, which aims to provide editors with diversity-relevant tools in the form of manuals
(Werbewoche 2020). e Swiss public broadcaster SRG lists diversity as a journalistic quality criterion in its journalistic guidelines
under chapter 1.5 “Diversity and equality. e We.Publish foundation, which oers open source publishing tools to independent
journalism content providers, runs a
Rethink Journalism Hackathon
to create digital solutions that will help promote national
media diversity (Opendata 2022). In Austria, the “Wiener Medieninitiative” which has been providing nancial support to media
diversity-relevant references and inuence the degree of diversity
and inclusion accessible to the audience in a positive manner.
us, eorts to strengthen innovation in the media industry are
an important building block for ensuring future journalism that
does not want to distance itself from social reality. However, based
on structuration theory considerations, we conclude that large
numbers of innovative journalism initiatives are not sucient to
institutionalize diversity and inclusion. Instead, these aspects need
to be dened explicitly as editorial quality goals which are anchored
in an editorial quality management system.
Keywords:
Innovation; journalism; diversity and inclusion; editorial quality
management system; structuration theory.
iniciativas periodísticas innovadoras muestran referencias pertinentes
a la diversidad e inuyen positivamente en el grado de diversidad e
inclusión accesible para la audiencia. Así, los esfuerzos para reforzar la
innovación en la industria de los medios de comunicación son un pilar
importante para garantizar un ejercicio futuro del periodismo orientado
a la calidad, que no quiere distanciarse de la realidad social. Sin embargo,
basándonos en consideraciones propias de la teoría de la estructuración,
concluimos que un gran número de iniciativas de innovación periodística
no son sucientes para institucionalizar la diversidad y la inclusión. En
su lugar, estos aspectos deben denirse explícitamente como objetivos
integrados en un sistema de gestión de la calidad editorial.
Palabras clave:
Innovación; periodismo; diversidad e inclusión; sistema de gestión de la
calidad editorial; teoría de la estructuración.
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startups as well as legacy media houses since 2019, will be extended until 2025 (
ots.at
2022). Similar examples can also be found
in other countries.
But the fact that internationally, only selective eorts can be observed to promote diversity and inclusion in the media industry
systematically –from media practice, media education as well as from federal authorities– is remarkable; in order to further fulll
its democratic role, journalism must reach as large a segment of the population as possible and present a wide range of viewpoints
(Finneman et al., 2022; Masini et al., 2018; Karppinen, 2013).
Without diversity eorts now starting, future journalism is supposed to come under pressure –both at the local and national
level (Lugschitz and Kaltenbrunner, 2022: 137). erefore, the question arises as to where new momentum can come from to
counteract this status quo. Does the media industry recognize diversity and inclusion as a topic area that needs further eorts and
are editorial resources invested for it? To approach these questions, we use current qualitative case study data from an ongoing
journalistic innovation research in ve European countries. We ask which internationally relevant journalism innovations of
the last ten years intentionally address or unexpectedly support diversity and inclusion aspects. We will highlight innovative
diversity initiatives in these countries, implemented between 2010 and 2020 and look at their societal intentions and editorial
institutionalization. And we show how further relevant journalism innovations within the same period have driven diversity
and inclusion, particularly on a micro level. We will base our approach on structuration theory considerations and nd that
diversity and inclusion is seen as a key journalism innovation in all ve countries. However, we also conclude that large numbers
of journalism innovation initiatives are not sucient to institutionalize diversity and inclusion. Instead, these aspects need to
be dened explicitly as editorial quality goals which are incorporated by corresponding assurance instruments anchored in an
editorial quality management system.
1.1. eoretical considerations and research questions
Referring to (García-Avilés et al., 2018: 27) we dene journalism innovation as
“the introduction of something new that adds
value to customers and to the media organization, which reacts to changes in products, processes and services through the use
of creative skills that allow a problem or need to be identied and solved”.
e foundation of our approach are the two premises
that journalism innovation is understood as a central prerequisite for addressing current problem areas in journalism (Buschow
and Wellbrock, 2020: 2) and secondly, that journalism innovations always reect societal changes (Bruns, 2014: 13.). With this
in mind, we understand organizational initiatives with the aim of better ensuring diversity and inclusion, be it as an explicit
main objective or an unexpected side eect, as a journalism innovation. In this sense, the question arises whether journalism
innovations –understood as independent variable– are drivers for diversity and inclusion.
Diversity and inclusion are societal topics that inuence journalism production routines. e debate was largely dominated by
gender equality in the past decades, but recently the debate became broader, referring to all groups neglected or discriminated in
media representation or newsroom recruitment (Benson, 2020). Overall, there is insucient and contradictory data from content
analyses on whether a diverse newsroom really leads to more diverse or inclusive reporting: While some studies nd no impact on
reporting (Beam and Di Cicco, 2010), others state at least a partial or locally dependent impact on the representation of ethnicities
or race (Sui et al., 2018; Meyers and Gayle, 2015). However, it seems reasonable to assume that without any diversity eorts at
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all, little change will occur in the current reporting with its diversity and inclusion decits. Diversity and inclusion in journalism
therefore needs continued research (Jenkins, 2019: 230) and can be captured on dierent levels in journalism practice, whereas
level a) and b) will provide the basis for the research questions 1 and 2 of this study.
a) Exposure or content diversity in topic coverage asks at the micro level about the pluralism of media titles accessible to the
audience, as well as the pluralism of opinions, perspectives or formats conveyed by mass media (Moe et al., 2021; Nef, 2020;
Masini and Van Aelst, 2017).
b) On a meso level, interest focuses on how diverse editorial teams are in terms of age, gender equality, minorities, the
integration of employees with a migration background or of other ethnicities, religious and political aliations (Lugschitz
and Kaltenbrunner, 2022: 141; urman et al., 2016: 8.).
c) On a macro level, diversity is considered in the context of regulating media policy –and thus linked to media promotion– or
media ownership (Craufurd Smith et al., 2021; Brogi et al., 2020: 153.; Homann et al. 2015: 1360).
Various studies on diversity in reporting as well as in the personnel structure of editorial departments reveal that there are often
insucient institutionalized procedures for improving diversity, or institutional commitments do not correspond with the daily
experience of editorial boards (Douglas, 2022; Lück et al., 2022; Lugschitz and Kaltenbrunner, 2022: 156; Wenzel, 2021). Looking
for reasons for a low institutionalization degree, especially in regional and local media, we must consider that –along with
entrenched ideas, weak leadership, skills shortage or amplifying cost pressures (Grubenmann and Weber, 2022: 22; Kueng, 2020)–
a part of the established, journalistic work programs can be in tension with the demand for diversity and therefore complicate its
implementation. is includes the selection of news according to the principle of news values (Kepplinger, 2011: 56). Journalistic
notions of quality can also be an obstacle: Using only easy-to-understand, short sentences, as often associated with tabloid
journalism, can be conducive to inclusion eorts. erefore, for a sustainable institutionalization of diversity and inclusion, it is
not enough to employ diverse sta or to rely on actions by individuals, but a reorganization of the editorial culture is required, led
by a clear commitment by the management and institutional support through the provision of resources (Douglas, 2022: 2110;
Cottle, 2000). If diversity and inclusion is understood for what it is, a long-term and complex (Kueng, 2020: 46) organizational
quality goal, editorial culture can be slowly shaped –but not imposed– by implementing diversity eorts in an existing editorial
quality management system. ough institutionalization through the establishment of an editorial quality management system
–not only with a focus on diversity and inclusion– can also be considered a journalism innovation, this thought is situated in
Giddens’ structuration theory. From this theoretical point of view, structures –in our case an implemented editorial quality
management system– determine options for action (Giddens 1984). us, a rst step to institutionalize diversity and inclusion
is to write it down in basic editorial documents, as such documents like quality policies or ethical guidelines form the basis for
further quality instruments during the daily production routine (Saner and Wyss, 2019: 157). is includes among others the
personnel development dealing with training opportunities, the production process consisting of briengs or acceptance as well
as corrective measures like internal or external feedbacks or audience involvement dealing with audience perception (Saner and
Wyss, 2019: 154). In the planning of broadcasts or contributions, in fact-checking as well as in acceptance tests or in feedbacks,
recursive reference can be made to formulated rules that sensitize editorial members to the topic of diversity (Wyss, 2021: 4).
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Such implementation can help diversity leave behind its status as innovation and become the norm (Schwelger, 2020). Moreover,
institutionalization makes diversity measurable and data provides the foundation for editorial debates (Kueng, 2020: 47).
Based on these considerations, we pursue the following research questions:
RQ1: Do internationally relevant journalism innovations support established, journalistic diversity and inclusion aspects,
such as
variety of topics and opinions
or
variety of accessible media titles
on a micro level, or
age, gender, ethnicity
or
religious
aliation
on a meso level?
RQ2: Do international, innovative journalism initiatives show diversity or inclusion aspects that go beyond the classic items
mentioned in RQ1 and have received fewer empirical attention so far, but could have eects on the audience?
RQ3: Do international, innovative diversity initiatives show signs of written editorial basic documents which explicitly
institutionalize diversity and inclusion aspects?
2. Methodology
Literature on diversity research shows that theoretical embedding needs to catch up and qualitative methodological approaches
have been neglected in the past twenty years (Joris et al., 2020; Loecherbach et al., 2020: 605). Especially diversity on a meso
level is frequently determined by quantitative journalist surveys, focusing on classic diversity aspects such as age, gender, or
race (urman et al. 2016; Weaver and Willnat, 2012). Dietrich-Gsenger and Seethaler (2019: 68f.) conducted an international
study on the professional eld of journalism and the socio-demographic characteristics of journalists in Germany, Austria,
and Switzerland. ey found that journalists in these countries are overwhelmingly male, have often studied, are between forty
and fty years old and work as full-time editors. Women continue to be underrepresented in the editorial departments of the
three countries. With reference to gender diversity, the authors conclude that
“the glass ceiling”
is still a reality and that in media
systems that have grown historically over long periods of time, it can probably only be broken through targeted control measures.
However, this focus on quantitative studies neglects other aspects of journalistic diversity. us, in this paper, we apply a
qualitative approach using guided expert interviews. Our approach is in the rst step based on a pioneering inventory of the
most relevant journalism innovations of the last ten years in the ve European countries Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain
and the United Kingdom (Meier et al., 2022). Both authors are part of the international research consortium who conducted
this inventory. During the rst half of 2021, the ve country project teams conducted one hundred expert interviews in total,
where the interviewees named the ten most important innovations in journalism and media in their respective country for the
period 2010–2020. From this international inventory, each country selected the twenty most important journalism innovation
categories. is resulted in a total of thirty-ve innovation categories. For further details on the methodology and the country
selection, see Meier et al., 2022. From these thirty-ve innovation categories, only eight categories are among the twenty most
important innovations
in all ve countries
(see Table 1). To be able to compare as many project countries as possible, these eight
categories were selected for the present analysis. e extent to which these categories show references to journalistic diversity or
inclusion aspects was examined.
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Table 1: Innovation categories among the twenty most important journalism innovations
in all ve countries
Name of Innovation
Austria
Position
Germany
Position
Spain
Position
Switzerland
Position
United Kingdom
Position
Data journalism
35141
Collaborative/Investigative1115113
Engagement (data)
1621293
Social media
1134820
Diversity41015149
Paywalls/Paid content
41281613
Automation111612710
New organizational teams
101215319
Source: (Meier et al., 2022; 709)
Included are
data journalism, collaborative (investigative) journalism, engagement on the basis of data, news on social media,
paywalls and paid content, automation, new organizational teams
and
diversity
itself. For each of these eight innovation
categories, all ve country project teams selected as a case study an innovative journalism initiative that had excelled in the
specic category in their country; either because the initiative was frequently mentioned by the consulted experts, because it
was pioneering or because it has specialized in this innovation eld and is therefore able to represent the innovation category
for the whole industry. e organizations that have been mentioned during the expert interviews for each specic innovation
category were given priority in the selection. Within this framework, additional attention was paid to organizational, thematical
and geographic diversity: If possible, representatives from legacy media, journalistic start-ups, digital native organizations and
entrepreneurial initiatives should be represented. If more than one organization was suitable as a case study candidate in one
category, consideration was given to those initiatives that stand out for their specialization in this eld. irdly, if possible, the
case study initiatives chosen should be from dierent geographical areas of a country to avoid centralization in the (media)
capital cities. Nevertheless, the fact that in the selected countries a pronounced media-centrism exists in cities such as Madrid,
London, Vienna, or Zurich can be seen in the case study sample.
irty-eight, approximately one-hour guided interviews were conducted between the end of 2021 and summer 2022 along thirty-
eight innovative journalism initiatives, mainly via digital conference tools. For two case studies no interviews were conducted by
the time this paper was nalized. Twenty-three case studies cover legacy media (including two news agencies), the remaining
are digital natives or entrepreneurial initiatives. erefore, the sample covers both established, systemically relevant media
organizations as well as promising new media startups and includes initiatives that are widely discussed and observed in the
country’s media industry (see Table 2). While legacy media dominate the national samples of all three central European countries,
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digital native and entrepreneurial initiatives are more strongly represented in both Spain and the United Kingdom. Within an
innovation category, dierent media genres and media types can be analyzed, as the purpose of the analysis is not a comparison
of performance between the countries, but an international inventory.
ose responsible for the initiative and people who regularly work on it were selected as interviewees. is includes founders,
CEOs, heads of division, Chief Product Ocers, Chief Revenue Ocers, editors in chief as well as programme directors, editorial
managers, consultants and (specialized) editors. e questions of the case study interviews covered the following dimensions
related to the initiative: strategic goals and quality aims, resources invested, preconditions that supported or inhibited the
establishing and growing, quality management tools, professional role perception of the persons involved and the perceived
impact on the industry and society (see appendix 9.1). Afterwards, the interview statements were transcribed in each country
along these dimensions.
Referring to our research questions, we thereafter searched the transcripts for diversity and inclusion references that were
explicitly mentioned by the interviewees and assigned the ndings to the micro or meso level. At the micro level, in times when
quality journalism is under pressure due to advancing media concentration and content cooperations, the question of diversity of
topics, opinions and media titles available to the audience is of interest. On a meso level, it is analyzed whether classical editorial
diversity demands on gender, age, ethnicity or religion aliations, as well as other diversity-relevant aspects can be found.
Diversity
itself was identied as one of the twenty most relevant journalism innovations in all ve European countries between
2010 and 2020 and is seen in all these countries as an innovation that has a radical impact on society (Meier et al., 2022). However,
the fact that diversity made it onto this list at all is largely thanks to this broad-based, societal attribution of importance. On
average, the aspect of diversity was mentioned only three times per country. is fact cannot necessarily be taken as evidence
for a general, deep degree of institutionalization, but it may at least be an indication of a still modest diversity awareness in the
media industry. Five of our thirty-eight case studies focus explicitly on the topic of diversity and inclusion. is includes in the
ve countries the following initiatives:
Spain:
Pikara Magazine
, an entrepreneurial project with a gender perspective born in November 2010 out of the Basque network
of journalists. It is committed to an intersectional feminism.
Germany:
Auf Klo
, a digital native which was founded in 2016 to raise awareness of feminist issues and cover a variety of topics
for teenage girls. To be depicted are queer-feminist and diverse topics and the programme is designed inclusively.
United Kingdom:
Black Ballad
, a digital native which began as a free blog in 2014 and ghts against how poorly black women
writers, their stories and experiences are represented across women’s media. ey give black women opportunities and support
their journalistic talent while also delivering content and articles addressed to black women.
Austria
: e
Biber academy
has been part of the Viennese magazine
Biber
since 2012. e magazine targets young people with a
migration background. Every year, the academy oers about twelve scholarship holders –almost all with migration background–
mentoring, workshops and practice for entering journalism to make newsrooms more diverse.
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Switzerland:
Chance 50:50
, a project launched by the British Broadcasting Corporation BBC which primarily revolves around
ensuring that women are better represented in reporting. e idea for editorial teams is to participate voluntarily. Since about
2019 the Swiss German Public Broadcast station SRF has been part of that international initiative.
Table 2: e selected case study initiatives and their media organizations
Innovation category
Switzerland
Type of media
Data JournalismVisuals team Neue Zürcher Zeitung NZZlegacy media
Collaborative (investigative) journalismResearch desk Tamedia/TX Grouplegacy media
Engagement on the basis of dataDigital Platform “Star-Sherlock”, Ringierlegacy media
News on Social MediaTikTok News channel, SRF/SRGlegacy media
Diversity
Media format “Fifty-fty”, SRF/SRGlegacy media
Paywalls and paid contentPaywall Tamedia/TX Grouplegacy media
Automation
Software LENA, Keystone-SDAnews agency
New organizational forms and teamsNewsroom “Südostschweiz”, Somedialegacy media
Innovation category
Spain
Type of media
Data Journalism
Datadista
digital native
Collaborative (investigative) journalism
Civio
digital native
Engagement on the basis of dataEl Español digital native
News on Social MediaSphera Sportsdigital native
Diversity
Pikara Magazine
entrepreneur
Paywalls and paid contentEl Mundolegacy media
AutomationNewtral.es
digital native
New organizational forms and teamsEl Paislegacy media
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Innovation categoryUnited KingdomType of media
Data JournalismOur World in Data digital native
Collaborative (investigative) journalism
Bellingcat
digital native
Engagement on the basis of datano case study
-
News on Social MediaBBC TikTok channellegacy media
Diversity
Black Balladdigital native
Paywalls and paid contentFinancial Timeslegacy media
Automation
Urbs Media/RADAR
entrepreneur
New organizational forms and teamse Bureau of Investigative Journalismdigital native
Innovation category
Germany
Type of media
Data JournalismBayerischer Rundfunklegacy media
Collaborative (investigative) journalismSüddeutsche Zeitunglegacy media
Engagement on the basis of dataIppen Digital
entrepreneur
News on Social Media
ARD-Tagesschau
legacy media
Diversity
Auf Klodigital native
Paywalls and paid contentBILD Zeitunglegacy media
Automation
Rheinische Postlegacy media
New organizational forms and teams
Main-Post
legacy media
Innovation category
Austria
Type of media
Data Journalism
ORF
legacy media
Collaborative (investigative) journalism
Dossier
digital native
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Engagement on the basis of datano case study
-
News on Social MediaZIB Zeit im Bild, ORFlegacy media
Diversity
Biber academy
legacy media
Paywalls and paid contentKleine Zeitung, Styria Media Grouplegacy media
Automation
APA Austrian Press Agencynews agency
New organizational forms and teamsKleine Zeitung, Styria Media Grouplegacy media
Source: authors’ own research and compilation
3. Results
3.1. References of journalism innovation categories to diversity and inclusion
e following section examines the extent to which the eight journalism innovations categories mentioned above, which are
among the twenty most relevant in all ve countries (see Table 1), show relations to diversity and inclusion. All references that
were explicitly mentioned during the interviews are summarized below per innovation category.
Table 3: Diversity and inclusion reference levels and items
Innovation
category
SwitzerlandSpain
United Kingdom
GermanyAustria
Data JournalismMicro and Meso:
Journalistic added
value through new,
quantitatively based
stories/issues; need for
interdisciplinary teams
(journalists, designers,
programmers);
Greater importance
of visualizations:
visualizations must be
comprehensible for
colour blind people.
Micro:
Dealing
with issues
with less public
attention; thereafter,
dissemination of
the topics covered
through legacy
media.
Micro and Meso:
Oer longer, detailed
stories on important
issues as social
inequality which
are less fast and
short than what is
usually produced;
media organizations
write articles that
are enabled by
our data; need for
interdisciplinary
teams (developer,
technicians,
researcher, data
journalists).
Micro and Meso:
Dierent thematic
focus than other
editorial oces,
because we infer the
topics from evidence-
based data; need
for interdisciplinary
teams (e.g.
designers).
Micro and Meso:
Data- and thus fact-
based stories; need
for interdisciplinary
teams (graphic
designers and
programmers).
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Collaborative
(investigative)
Journalism
Micro and Meso:
Publish lighthouse
stories that no other
national medium can
produce; the public is
bombarded with short
news, which means
there is a need for
more in-depth stories;
the data journalism
team has partly been
a part of the research
desk and has also been
outsourced from time
to time.
Micro and Meso:
Collaboration is
enriching for opening
up perspectives;
make agreements
with people who
make podcasts and
documentaries to
reach more people.
Micro and Meso:
Provide a better
and transparent
information,
especially for delicate
topics (e.g. war in
Ukraine); Bellingcat
is about creating a
network in which
the diversity of
sources and people
is the strong point of
editorial work.
Micro and Meso:
Investigative
journalism is by
denition journalism
about topics that
not everyone else
has (unique selling
point); learning to
work with lawyers.
Micro:
Dossier
is a supplement
because the gap in
the eld of research
and investigative
journalism has
widened; the aim
is to expand the
diversity of opinion
in society.
Engagement on
the basis of data
Micro and Meso:
Respond to a more
diverse audience by
collecting audience
data; need for
interdisciplinary
teams: (product
owners, data scientists,
engineers, overhead).
Meso:
e innovation
strategy is led by a
multidisciplinary
team.
no case studyno referenceno case study
News on Social
Media
Meso:
e channel
requires young hosts,
but the overall launch
eort is higher with
young hosts under the
age of 25.
Micro:
Networks
democratize,
eliminate barriers
and allow to
develop personal
brands, either as an
individual or as a
corporate brand.
Micro:
Production
of more religious
journalism to reach
younger audiences
more frequently on
ethical and religious
issues.
Micro and Meso:
Counterpoint to Fake
News; motivator
and enabler for
other media houses
to imitate us; we
also have younger
voices and people
with a migration
background on
social media; we also
gender. Diversity
must become more
present on social
media.
Micro and Meso:
ere is little
meaningful and
serious information
journalism available
for under-16s;
counterbalance to
fake news: social
media platforms
need their own
journalistic social
media experts.
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DiversityMicro:
Systematic
survey of the
proportion of women
in reporting. It is
journalistically not
correct not to hear
women’s voices.
irty-ve editorial
boards are now
involved, compared
with only eight to ten
in the beginning.
Micro:
Taking into
account minorities,
such as racialized
people or those with
functional diversity in
the coverage; Pikara
has opened the doors
to reection about
the diversity topic of
much larger media
with much more
visibility.
Micro and Meso:
Create a platform
where black women
can write whatever
they want and
express themselves
freely, while also
writing about
topics that often go
uncovered or are
relatively ignored by
mainstream women’s
media; to present a
diversity of opinions;
since we made a
focus on increasing
the representation
of black writers
and stories from
outside of London,
highlighting the
regional voices and
experiences in our
communities, we
have seen others
follow suit.
Micro and Meso:
To raise awareness
of feminist issues
and cover a variety
of topics for girls
aged 14-17; taking a
dierent perspective
to make dierent
points of view more
clearly; diversity
of opinion is
strengthened, people
are made more aware
of marginalized
groups; we have a
structurally diverse
team.
Micro and Meso:
e
aim is to let refugees
have their say, to be
a mouthpiece for
refugees; we were an
icebreaker and there
are many initiatives
that do it similarly
by now. We have
infected them with
our ideas; we had
editorial meetings
with external people
with all kinds of
backgrounds from
former Yugoslavia or
Turkey.
Paywalls and paid
content
Meso:
Need for
interdisciplinary
teams: new skills are
required, e.g. from the
tourism industry.
Meso:
In order
to innovate
here, you need
product managers,
developers; loss of
diversity for readers
as content is locked
away.
no referenceno reference
Meso:
Need for
interdisciplinary
teams
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Automation
Micro and Meso:
Strengthening media
diversity at the
regional and local
level. Customers
who do not have
the resources to
do automated
evaluations ask, if
we can supply them
with individualized
data; need for
interdisciplinary
teams.
Micro:
What other
media do is to be
direct clients of the
tools or technologies
that use articial
intelligence for
example for content
distribution.
Micro:
Newspapers
were closing, areas
being left without
local news, so a
new methodology
needed to be found
to facilitate the
production of that
content; they are
able to give readers
a regular and precise
idea of things that
are happening in
their community
in a very veriable,
provable, data driven
way; RADAR created
a whole stream of
content which was
not being created.
Micro:
Audience’s
need for hyperlocal
information is
satised; We have
articles written for
geographical areas
for which we could
not oer any result
coverage before.
Micro:
Strengthening
content diversity at
the regional and local
level.
New
organizational
forms and teams
Micro and Meso:
e
goal was to strengthen
the breadth of
reporting and to make
better use of resources
in order to report in a
more diverse way; the
newsroom concept
means that more
opinions are available
at an editorial
meeting. More
available opinions can
help to make a story
broader, to shed light
on dierent aspects or
perspectives.
Meso:
We have
incorporated proles
who have promoted
the culture of data
and graphics in the
newsroom. ese are
cross-cutting teams
that work closely with
the sections.
Micro:
Tell stories
that were going
underreported,
mainly because they
were from vulnerable
communities. We
see ourselves very
much as a team who
still holds power
to account, tell
untold stories and
keep democracy
strong…equality and
diversity, not only
for the contents but
also in organizational
terms.
Micro:
Create non-
substitutable content
(exclusive stories).
Meso:
We are in
the company now
moving towards
cross-functional
teams; it is the theme
of “letting go and
letting decide where
the deep expertise
really lies.”
Source: authors’ own research and compilation
Data Journalism
:
is journalism innovation is both focusing on the society’s gain in diversity of topics as well as on the increased
need of diverse skills in editorial boards. It therefore supports journalistic diversity both on a micro and a meso level, but also
shows a rather unexpected inclusion aspect: Traditionally, journalism works mainly based on qualitative data. According to
the case study initiatives in Switzerland
(NZZ Visuals Team)
, Germany
(Bayerischer Rundfunk)
, Austria
(ORF)
and the United
Kingdom
(Our World in Data)
, with data-based and thus increasingly veriable, quantitative journalism, a second track is opened
that enables new kinds of stories. For the digital native
Datadista
in Spain it is becoming apparent that data journalism is intended
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to produce thematic contributions that have so far received less public attention. Longer, more detailed thematic contributions
are produced for
Our World in Data
in the United Kingdom as a counterweight to the current short news journalism. Moreover,
contributions that thematically distinguish themselves from other editorial teams and that place more emphasis on visualizations
are on the spot for the German and Swiss initiatives. But visualizations involve new kinds of inclusion requirements as they must
as well be comprehensible for colour-blind people. In Spain, a multiplier eect is mentioned in the sense that topics are taken
up by other media houses, disseminated further and thus given access to more diversity of topics to an even larger audience. On
a meso level, except
Datadista
all initiatives emphasize that data journalism requires a more diverse team of skills, including
journalists, graphic designers, programmers, technicians, developers, or researchers.
Collaborative (investigative) journalism
impacts diversity on a micro level and editorial diversity as well, but it also has an
inclusive eect: According to the two digital natives
Civio
in Spain and
Bellingcat
in the United Kingdom, collaborations in the
context of investigative research increase the diversity of perspectives in editorial oces, as more (international) people and
sources contribute to the production of articles. To make the often document- and number-heavy research more attractive and
to reach a larger audience, for the Swiss
Tamedia Research Desk
,
Civio
and the
Süddeutsche Zeitung
in Germany, collaboration
is needed with data teams and people from other product formats such as podcasts or documentary lmmakers. Besides, to
reduce their own vulnerability, contributions must be approved by lawyers before publication. Furthermore, the variety of topics
accessible to the audience is also inuenced: e Swiss and the German initiatives suggest that investigative journalism per se
covers (lighthouse) topics that most other media houses cannot oer. In addition, the digital native
Dossier
in Austria and the
Swiss case study state a social need for in-depth stories that can serve as a counterbalance to the current “bombardment” with
short news, mainly in delicate topics like the war in Ukraine.
From the point of view of the audience’s identication with a medium, eorts on
engagement on the basis of data
can play a
role. e Swiss digital platform
Star-Sherlock
of Ringier states that a highly fragmented media audience needs a more diverse
mix of topics which can be better personalized through the aid of collected audience data. Moreover, both the digital native
El
Español
in Spain and the Swiss initiative conrm that eorts in this category require the presence of multidisciplinary teams,
hence improving the editorial diversity. erefore, in addition to the positive impact at the meso level, this innovation could also
have an unexpectedly inclusive eect.
News on social media
:
is innovation example shows on a meso level that diversity eorts need resources: To increase young
people’s identication with a channel, it can be useful to hire younger hosts. However, this strategy entails hurdles as the Swiss
initiative
SRF
TikTok News Channel
emphasizes: To work with adults under the age of twenty-ve is demanding for an editorial
team, especially the overall launch eort is higher, because you have to oer them journalistic training rst. Mostly, a full-time job
will not be possible, as younger people still are in education. Furthermore, it is time-consuming to clarify what their journalistic
independence will require in terms of accepting advertising or inuencer contracts. Finally, young people often are quickly
enthusiastic for something, but then leave again soon and so the whole eort becomes necessary all over again. e Austrian
ZIB
Zeit im Bild
pleas for skill diversity, i.e. not to let journalism on social media be done on the side by other editorial teams, but to
use social media experts for it. Moreover, at the
ARD-Tagesschau
in Germany awareness arises that social media is the very right
place for journalism to make diversity more present and for more diverse voices to be heard. On a micro level, the digital native
Sphera Sport
in Spain sees news on social media as democratizers, allowing more voices to launch low-cost journalistic brands,
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increasing the variety of media titles. In addition, the initiatives of Austria, Germany and of the
BBC TikTok Channel
in the United
Kingdom agree that social platforms allow a younger target audience to be reached with a wider range of seriously prepared
topics, such as ethical or religious issues, and thus to counter fake news. In terms of an ongoing eld of experimentation, initial
successes of media on social media channels can also serve as a role model for other media, according to the
ARD-Tagesschau
.
is in turn can multiply the diversity eect for society.
Diversity
:
One interviewee sums it up:
“e driver for diversity projects was not the requirement to be innovative, but to do what is
right. Besides, “this idea is not from the moon, but corresponds to the zeitgeist; no one in their right mind can say that this topic is
not important.”
At the micro level, explicitly diversity-driven innovations focus mainly on traditional aspects of diversity, such as
gender, ethnicity or members of a minority group. It becomes clear, that these innovations are mostly a reaction to the decient
reporting felt of legacy media: On the one hand, the aim is to increase the proportion of women’s voices in mass media coverage;
whether because women are generally less likely to have their say (Swiss initiative
Fifty-Fifty
of the legacy media house SRG) or
because they are specically tailored to black women, who have fewer opportunities to speak out and, among other things, are
booked as black freelance journalists primarily for diversity issues, but less frequently for other social issues (initiative
Black
Ballad
in the United Kingdom). On the other hand, it is about giving more visibility to minorities such as refugees or people
who are exposed to racism (Austrian initiative
Biber academy
). Frequently appearing at the same time is the aspect of increasing
diversity of topics and opinions available to society, since there are topics receiving less media attention, such as feminist topics
for teenagers or reports on marginalized social groups (German initiative
Auf Klo
).
ere is also the increase of media title diversity in general, which is due to the mere establishment of new media players with
a focus on diversity. Most of the ve organizations presented here are digital native startups or entrepreneurial initiatives that
have been detached from legacy media. At the same time, the “multiplier” eect is also important here at the micro level: ree
of the initiatives –
Pikara Magazine
in Spain,
Black Ballad
and the
Biber academy
- see themselves as icebreakers who exert
social pressure in the sense that larger media houses become aware of new topics and pay more attention to them. At the meso
level, three of ve initiatives systematically incorporate more diverse voices into the journalistic production or education process,
whether through more black female journalists in the case of
Black Ballad
or people with international background, i.e. from
countries like the former Yugoslavian Republic or Turkey in the case of
Biber academy
or with
Auf Klo
.
Paywalls and paid content
:
At the meso level, in three countries this category reveals a strong diversity connection concerning
interdisciplinary teams: With the
Tamedia-Paywall
in Switzerland,
El Mundo
in Spain and with the
Kleine Zeitung
in Austria
which all are legacy media. Paywalls today are more than mere payment barriers. If you change your business model radically,
you cannot just do it with existing employees, but you need new people. Employees from the tourism industry are being recruited
as well as product managers or developers. However, a loss of diversity for the community is also mentioned at
El Mundo
, as
editorial contributions become locked away behind pay barriers.
Automation
:
In particular, diversity at the micro level as well as the inclusion of local residents are strengthened with this
journalism innovation: e news agency initiatives of Switzerland
(LENA)
and Austria
(Austrian Press Agency APA)
, the
entrepreneurial initiative of the United Kingdom
(Urbs Media/RADAR)
and the legacy media initiative of
Rheinische Post
in
Germany state that automated news production is particularly useful for producing local or even hyperlocal content that has
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previously been lost due to increasing media concentration or that could not be oered previously due to a lack of resources.
In this way, access to local information and thus the regional-local diversity of topics and the inclusion of a local audience is
broadened again. According to
Urbs Media/RADAR
, like data journalism, data sets often serve as a basis for reporting and thus
appear more credible. It is mentioned twice – with
LENA
and the Spanish digital native initiative
Newtral.es
- that media houses
not developing automated content on their own ask whether they can receive individualized data on specic events. is extends
the benets of an automation initiative to the audience of other media. e fact that interdisciplinary teams are also necessary on
a meso level for automated journalism is only mentioned in the Swiss case study.
New organizational teams
:
Four of ve initiatives examined in this category are legacy media - with the exception of
e Bureau
of investigative Journalism
in the United Kingdom. According to the German initiative
Main-Post
, the ongoing reorganization of
editorial teams – be it in newsrooms like the
Südostschweiz
initiative in Switzerland or with
El Pais
in Spain, or other intensied,
interdisciplinary cooperation between inhouse departments like with the
Kleine Zeitung
in Austria - is also an opportunity
to produce non-substitutable stories, i.e. stories that other media do not have and tell stories that were going underreported
elsewhere. is is to increase the diversity of stories for the audience on a micro level. e
Südostschweiz, El Pais
and
e Bureau of
investigative Journalism
reveal, that this diversity gain is achieved through the fact that in newsrooms more opinions are available
at an editorial meeting. More available opinions help to make stories broader, to shed light on dierent aspects or perspectives.
Both case studies in Spain and Austria conrm, that interdisciplinary teams are increasingly needed to distribute tasks according
to competencies, hence expand editorial diversity on a meso level.
3.2. Diversity case study examples in ve countries and their degree of institutionalization
ree of ve case studies with focus on diversity and inclusion cover digital natives or entrepreneurial projects. An analysis
of the statements related to the quality assurance tools of all ve diversity initiatives shows that diversity as a business model
is conducted systematically, but mostly little institutionalized in writing in the form of basic editorial documents which serve
as a basis for further quality assurance instruments. is lack is also since startups often claim few resources and the written
documentation of editorial processes is not a top priority. However, if diversity and inclusion projects are implemented by legacy
media houses, sometimes resources are a problem as well, as the following statement of an interviewee shows:
“e project has
not yet had as much success as it deserves. We do it all on the side. We have strong moral support from the management, but so far
there has been no nancial support in the form of money or more sta.”
4. Discussion
In this paper, we examined whether internationally relevant journalism innovations of the last decade support on a micro level
established, journalistic diversity or inclusion aspects, such as the variety of topics and opinions or the variety of media titles
accessible to the audience, or age, gender, ethnicity and religious aliation on a meso level. Secondly, we were interested if
diversity and inclusion eorts emerge with innovative journalism initiatives that go beyond these classic items, that have received
less empirical attention so far, but can have eects on the audience. irdly, we examined if innovative journalism initiatives
with an explicit focus on diversity show signs of written editorial basic documents which explicitly institutionalize diversity and
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
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inclusion aspects. e aim of this analysis was not to rank the countries regarding their diversity and inclusion performance, but
to compare and take stock of all ve countries.
We found for RQ 1 that, without exception, the analyzed innovative journalism initiatives of the last decade show diversity-
relevant references and contribute to inuence the degree of diversity and inclusion that is accessible to the audience in a mainly
positive manner. e inuence is distinct both on a micro and meso level in all ve countries, but strongest on the micro level and
diers in its range. It becomes clear that journalism innovations that were not founded primarily for diversity reasons contribute
to several traditional diversity aspects on a micro-level, such as diversity of topics, opinions, formats or access to media titles. On
a meso-level, the gain on classic aspects such as gender, age or the abundance of ethnic or religious minorities in editorial boards
is recognizable but does not reach a high degree. Instead, these initiatives show an increasing interdisciplinarity of editorial
teams as result of an increasingly dataed and community-driven journalism. Most explicitly diversity-focused initiatives
address diversity and inclusion at both micro and meso level and thus show their double benet for a pluralistic society. It also
becomes evident that in most countries innovative, digital native and entrepreneurial media startups clearly support the further
dissemination of diversity and inclusion and become therefore relevant to democracy. In this context, an observed “copycat or
icebreaker eect” should be emphasized, leading to the societal impact of a single diversity initiative, mostly established with few
resources, being multiplied by legacy media.
Concerning RQ2 some innovative journalism initiatives promote the inclusion of people who are less literate, have a reading
disability or a colour-blindness as a sensory disability: this triple inclusion eect is mainly achieved through eorts on data
journalism and collaborative, investigative journalism where media practitioners are aware of the increased importance of
visualizations to be self-explanatory for their audience. For other sensory disabilities such as blindness, deafness, physically
disabled people or people with mental health issues, no innovative approaches could be found in the sample. However, it can be
assessed inclusive that longer and new stories of data journalism and international editorial collaborations can excite people for
journalism again who have had enough of the short news spreading due to ongoing editorial cost-cuttings. Regarding a society
with increasingly fragmented audiences, the collection of user data can help to better serve individual topic preferences and thus
win audiences for journalistic oerings again. Automation is capable of strengthening the inclusion of local residents, as local and
hyperlocal news can once again be increasingly reported.
Summarizing for RQ3, the indications are that explicitly diversity-related journalism innovations only show a weak degree of
institutionalization when it comes to written diversity or inclusion standards in editorial basic documents like quality policies,
editorial mission statements or ethical guidelines. Since the remaining innovation case studies presented do not have diversity
and inclusion as their main purpose, it can be assumed that there as well these two aspects are not often explicitly represented
in basic editorial documents. Our result of a lack of institutionalization is therefore in line with previous studies listed above in
section 1.1.
5. Conclusions
Our results show that by systematically fostering journalism innovations, additional momentum could be created in the sample
countries to meet the demand for more journalistic diversity. We conclude that promoting journalism innovation can have a
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positive impact on various aspects of diversity and inclusion and thus on a democratic society’s audience. Internationally, in
addition to legacy media, digital native media start-ups and entrepreneurial journalism initiatives help disseminate and establish
diversity and inclusion aspects and thus make an important contribution to democratic media societies. Hence, eorts from
civil society and the regulatory body to strengthen innovation in the media industry as well as media laws that include nancial
support for online media are an important building block for ensuring future quality-oriented journalism that does not want to
distance itself from social reality.
e case study interviews of the remaining twenty-seven journalism innovation categories which are relevant in “only” one, two,
three or four of the participating European countries (see section 2), have not yet been analyzed. But even an initial review shows
that further positive diversity and inclusion references are to be expected here. A wealth of even more media start-ups, journalism
niche media or parajournalistic, entrepreneurial initiatives, brought to life through a wide variety of often combined funding
sources, increase the number of available voices and opinions for the audience. Initiatives emerged, aiming at providing media
startups with an open-source infrastructure, breaking up the ongoing impoverishment of media diversity, or initiatives dealing
with new forms of digital storytelling, able to include people with reading diculties in their journalistic products.
However, there is a shortage so far when it comes to embedding diversity and inclusion as editorial quality goals in (existing)
quality management systems. Diversity and inclusion eorts mean additional editorial work and therefore require resources.
e allocation of resources works more eciently when diversity and inclusion are editorially institutionalized. Editorial quality
goals cannot be implemented without reference to resources. Resources enable personnel development including recruitment.
But they also enable access to knowledge. e quality goal of diversity and inclusion could be considered in quality assurance
processes, such as the planning of journalistic services, in research processes, and in monitoring and feedback processes.
Empirical results show that a quality management system can be perceived as a restriction of autonomy on the individual level of
media professionals, but that the editorial department benets from attempts to exert inuence on the part of internal persons,
but also extra-media actors from business and politics, thus strengthening journalism as an independent system (Keel et al., 2018:
76f.).
e methodological approach of this analysis provides international, comparative data on diversity and inclusion and combines
these topics with journalism innovations. is has rarely been done until now. e results do not permit any conclusions on
the journalistic output side as to whether editorial diversity eorts really impact the reporting performance. But combined
with structuration theory considerations they provide starting points for where a content analysis of journalistic reporting with
a diversity focus could begin: By comparing editorial oces with corresponding, written diversity structures in their editorial
quality management and those without; by comparing editorial oces with automated reporting and those without or by
comparing the reporting of media start-ups with legacy media. In a next step, the available interview data allow to determine
internal and external accelerators and inhibitors for diversity relevant initiatives. ese will be combined with empirical results
on the media system characteristics in the ve countries. us, it will be possible to make recommendations on how journalism
innovation can be systematically promoted in the respective media industries.
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6. Acknowledgements
We would like to express our gratitude to Charles Arthur for his work with the translation of this text into Spanish.
is research was funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), project no. 438677067;
Austrian Science Fund (FWF), project no. I 4797-G; Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF), project no. 100019E_190126; as
part of the project “Journalism innovation in democratic societies: Index, impact and prerequisites in international comparison”
(JoIn-DemoS).
7. Specic contributions of each author
Name and Surname
Conception and design of the workMirco Saner & Vinzenz Wyss
Methodology
Mirco Saner & Vinzenz Wyss
Data gathering and analysisMirco Saner
Discussion and conclusionsMirco Saner & Vinzenz Wyss
Writing, formatting, review, and version approvalMirco Saner & Vinzenz Wyss
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9. Appendix
9.1. Guiding questions of the case study interviews
Strategic goals
–
Please give a brief introduction from the rst steps to the “nished” product.
–
What organizational or social problem/need did you identify that this innovation/project was intended to address?
–
What were or are the core goals you are pursuing with the innovation?
–
Do you feel that this innovation has impacted your own media company/organization/editorial sta in any way? If so, how?
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Resources
–
Which framework conditions have promoted the development of the innovation?
–
Which framework conditions have inhibited it?
–
Which framework conditions from outside the company have inhibited or promoted the development of the innovation?
Quality
–
What did you primarily want to improve or achieve with this innovation/idea in terms of quality?
–
Which of these goals with regard to increasing quality were achieved/not achieved and why?
–
Does the innovation or its activity benet the democratic function of journalism?
Social impact
–
Do you think that this innovation has any social impact in terms of improving the situation for the population/community?
–
What is your self-perception of your role? How would you describe your own role?
Impact on journalism
–
Do you think this innovation has impacted the industry in any way?
–
Do you think it has started any trends among other media companies?
9.2. Case study interviewees and their job titles
Innovation category
SwitzerlandInterviewees
Data Journalism
Visuals team Neue Zürcher Zeitung
NZZ
Nikolai elitz
(Data Journalist)
Collaborative (investigative) journalismResearch desk Tamedia/TX Group
Oliver Zihlmann and Catherine Boss
(both co-head of the Tamedia research desk)
Engagement on the basis of data
Digital Platform “Star-Sherlock”,
Ringier
Merlin Bauer
(Chief Product Ocer)
News on Social MediaTikTok News channel, SRF/SRG
Ursula Gabathuler
(Head of News Digital)
Diversity
Media format “Fifty-fty”, SRF/SRG
Regula Messerli
(Editorial director “Tagesschau” and Project
Manager “chance 50:50”)
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Paywalls and paid contentPaywall Tamedia/TX Group
Marc Isler
(Chief Revenue Ocer; Member of the Executive
Board)
Automation
Software LENA, Keystone-SDA
Jann Jenatsch (CEO), Cornelia Jost (Editor),
Simon Wolanin
(Data Journalist)
New organizational forms and teamsNewsroom “Südostschweiz”, Somedia
Philipp Wyss
(Editor-in-chief online and newspaper)
Innovation category
SpainInterviewees
Data Journalism
Datadista
Antonio Delgado and Ana Tudela
(both co-founders)
Collaborative (investigative) journalism
Civio
Olalla Tuñas
(Community and Participation Ocer)
Engagement on the basis of dataEl Español
Mario Vidal
(Head of Innovation)
News on Social MediaSphera Sports
Borja Pardo
(Director),
Adrià Campmany
(Social Media Manager)
Diversity
Pikara MagazineAndrea Momoitio (Coordinator)
Paywalls and paid contentEl Mundo
Vicente Ruiz
(Subdirector),
Gabriela Bolognese
(Digital Strategy Director)
AutomationNewtral.es
Rubén Míguez
(Head of technology and innovation),
Javier Beltrán
(Machine Learning Lead)
New organizational forms and teamsEl Pais
Mari Luz Peinado
(Digital strategist)
Innovation categoryUnited Kingdom
Interviewees
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Data JournalismOur World in Data
Edouard Mathieu
(Head of Data)
Collaborative (investigative) journalism
Bellingcat
Elliot Higgins
(Founder)
Engagement on the basis of datano case study
-
News on Social MediaBBC TikTok channel
Sophia Smith Galer
(ex-employee at BBC)
Diversity
Black Ballad
Janise Benson
(Head of Editorial)
Paywalls and paid contentFinancial Times
Aled John
(Deputy Managing Director at FT Strategies)
Automation
Urbs Media/RADAR
Gary Rogers
(Co-founder)
New organizational forms and teams
e Bureau of Investigative
Journalism
Richard Fisher
(Senior Journalist at BBC Future)
Innovation category
GermanyInterviewees
Data JournalismBayerischer Rundfunk
Steen Kühne and Robert Schöel
(both Team Lead BR Data)
Collaborative (investigative) journalismSüddeutsche Zeitung
Frederick Obermaier (Deputy Head of the
Investigative Research Department),
Elisabeth Gamperl
(CvD Visual Task)
Engagement on the basis of dataIppen Digital
Christoph Seidl
(Head of Format Development)
News on Social Media
ARD-Tagesschau
Patrick Weinhold
(Head of Editorial Social Media),
Timo Spieß
(Head of Innovation Lab at ARD-aktuell)
Diversity
Auf Klo
Anna Neifer
(Product Owner and Team Lead),
Annika Prigge
(Lead-editorial board member)
Paywalls and paid contentBILD Zeitung
Daniel Mussingho (Director of Head Content),
Leonie von Elverfeldt (Consultant)
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Automation
Rheinische Post
Clemens Boisserée,
(Head of Editorial Product Development)
New organizational forms and teams
Main-Post
Ivo Knahn
(Deputy Editor in Chief),
Julia Haug
(Project Editor and Training Ocer)
Innovation category
AustriaInterviewees
Data Journalism
ORF
Jakob Weichenberger
(Head of Data journalism)
Collaborative (investigative) journalism
Dossier
Florian Skrabal
(Founder)
Engagement on the basis of datano case study
-
News on Social MediaZIB Zeit im Bild, ORF
Patrick Swanson
(Head of Social Media)
Diversity
Biber academy
Amar Rajkovic
(Deputy Editor-in-Chief Biber and Academy),
Director Simon Kravagna (Founder and
publisher)
Paywalls and paid contentKleine Zeitung, Styria Media Group
Walter Hauser
(CEO Reader and Usermarket),
omas Spann
(CEO Kleine Zeitung), Sebastian Krause
(Head of Strategy & Development, Member of the
Editorial Board)
Automation
APA Austrian Press Agency
Verena Krawarik
(Executive department Innovation management,
Head of APA-medialab)
New organizational forms and teamsKleine Zeitung, Styria Media Group
Sanda Lončar
(Head of Product and Data), Sebastian Krause
(Head of Strategy & Development, Member of the
Editorial Board)
Conflicts of Interest
e authors declare no conict of interest. e funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or
interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.