Chapter 2. Online headline testing at a Belgian broadsheet
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Astrid Vandendaele
Abstract
In this chapter, we investigate the impact of recent audience-monitoring tools on the (online) newspaper sub-editors’ task of crafting headlines. We zoom in on how metrics have become part of the newsmaking process and are now intrinsic to a larger foundation of more collaborative, participatory and engaging practices. Drawing on digital data and fieldwork, we analyse the back and forth between the sub-editors’ journalistic gut feeling, their awareness of ‘selling’ their brand ‘in the right way’, and the need to gain clicks. Relying on a linguistic ethnographic perspective (NT&T 2011), we address how sub-editors reflect on their changing professional routines. By investigating how the sub-editors’ aim to position themselves in tandem with their algorithmic tools is foundational to news media today, we shed new light on how the use of audience engagement metrics intertwines with long-standing journalistic practices and contribute to global debates on the politics of technology and online participation.
Abstract
In this chapter, we investigate the impact of recent audience-monitoring tools on the (online) newspaper sub-editors’ task of crafting headlines. We zoom in on how metrics have become part of the newsmaking process and are now intrinsic to a larger foundation of more collaborative, participatory and engaging practices. Drawing on digital data and fieldwork, we analyse the back and forth between the sub-editors’ journalistic gut feeling, their awareness of ‘selling’ their brand ‘in the right way’, and the need to gain clicks. Relying on a linguistic ethnographic perspective (NT&T 2011), we address how sub-editors reflect on their changing professional routines. By investigating how the sub-editors’ aim to position themselves in tandem with their algorithmic tools is foundational to news media today, we shed new light on how the use of audience engagement metrics intertwines with long-standing journalistic practices and contribute to global debates on the politics of technology and online participation.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. Painting the postfoundational picture 1
- Chapter 2. Online headline testing at a Belgian broadsheet 17
- Chapter 3. “It is, perhaps more than ever before, a matter of participation” 43
- Chapter 4. “If it wasn’t absolutely true, it couldn’t be published” 67
- Chapter 5. “Somehow I'm Always Writing” 99
- Chapter 6. Journalism now 129
- Chapter 7. Journalists’ use of social media 151
- Chapter 8. Epilogue 175
- Index 185
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. Painting the postfoundational picture 1
- Chapter 2. Online headline testing at a Belgian broadsheet 17
- Chapter 3. “It is, perhaps more than ever before, a matter of participation” 43
- Chapter 4. “If it wasn’t absolutely true, it couldn’t be published” 67
- Chapter 5. “Somehow I'm Always Writing” 99
- Chapter 6. Journalism now 129
- Chapter 7. Journalists’ use of social media 151
- Chapter 8. Epilogue 175
- Index 185
