Digital technologies in the work of regional media: the results of a survey of chief editors

Authors

Keywords:

digital journalism, convergence, local media, news production, digital technology, media business

Abstract

The work of the editorial offices of the regional newspapers of the Republic of Belarus in the context of digitalization is considered. The results of a study of the dynamics of the transformation of local media at the stage of introducing new technological tools are reflected. The relevance of the article is due to the need for a theoretical description and conceptualization of the ideal model of digital media in a modern hybrid and polarized environment, characterized by a crisis of traditional media and the emergence of many alternative news sources. We conducted a multi­method study drawing on in­depth interviews with experts and practitioners and also on a survey of chief editors at regional market newspapers. The scientific novelty of the article is to identify new theoretical and scientific­practical aspects of the study of regional media in the conditions of high­speed production and dissemination of information. This paper provides reflective analysis of how social, economic and above all technological forces are transforming the local media industry, and what this means for the professionals working in it in the era, where the pace of change is leaving many familiar concepts outdated.

Author Biography

  • Aleksandr A. Hradziushka, Belarusian State University, 4 Niezaliežnasci Avenue, Minsk 220030, Belarus

    PhD (philology), docent; associate professor at the department of periodical press and  web­journalism, faculty of journalism

References

  1. Harte D, Williams A, Turner J. Reciprocity and the hyperlocal journalist. Journalism Practice. 2017;11(2–3):160–176. DOI: 10.1080/17512786.2016.1219963.
  2. Leckner S, Tenor C, Nygren G. What about the hyperlocals? The drivers, organization and economy of independent news media in Sweden. Journalism Practice. 2019;13(1):68–89. DOI: 10.1080/17512786.2017.1392254.
  3. Ali C, Schmidt T, Radcliffe D, Donald R. The digital life of small market newspapers. Digital Journalism. 2019;7(7): 886–909. DOI: 10.1080/21670811.2018.1513810.
  4. Harte D, Howells R, Williams A. Hyperlocal journalism: the decline of local newspapers and the rise of online community news. Abingdon: Routledge; 2019. 210 p. DOI: 10.1080/21670811.2019.1664310.
  5. Alevizaki OR, Smirnova OV, Svitich LG, Shkondin MV. Journalist as author and editor in Russian media environment. Theoretical and Practical Issues of Journalism. 2019;8(4):679–703. Russian. DOI: 10.17150/2308­6203.2019.8(4).679­703.
  6. Kolesnichenko AV, Vyrkovskii AV, Galkina MYu, Obraztsova AYu, Vartanov SA. [Transformation of journalistic work under the influence of new technologies: information search, genres of media texts, editorial culture]. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 10. Zhurnalistika. 2017;5:51–71. Russian.
  7. Kharytonova SV. Media preferences of children’s target audience in the era of digitalization. Journal of the Belarusian State University. Journalism and Pedagogics. 2019;2:4–9. Russian.
  8. Hradziushka АА. Regional media in the digital age of journalism: sociological research. Journal of the Belarusian State University. Journalism and Pedagogics. 2019;1:36–46. Russian.
  9. Petukhova LS. [Editorial strategies and the transformation of Italian journalists’ work in the digital environment]. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 10. Zhurnalistika. 2019;1:46–71. Russian. DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.1.2019.4671.
  10. Zhauniarovich PP. Media text of the posts of radio and television channels in the social network Facebook. Journal of the Belarusian State University. Journalism and Pedagogics. 2019;2:40–48. Belarusian.
  11. Shpakovskiy YuF, Chuprigin АА. Editorial marketing in social networks. Proceedings of BSTU. Series 4. Print- and Media Tеchnologies. 2018;2(213):44–49. Russian.
  12. Svitich LG, Smirnova OV, Shiryaeva AA, Shkondin MV. Gazety srednikh i malykh gorodov Rossii. Sotsiologicheskoe issledovanie: opros redaktorov i zhurnalistov [Newspapers of medium and small cities of Russia. Case study: editors and journalists survey]. Moscow: Lomonosov Moscow State University; 2015. 237 p. Russian.

Published

2020-03-28

How to Cite

[1]
Hradziushka, A.A. 2020. Digital technologies in the work of regional media: the results of a survey of chief editors. Journal of the Belarusian State University. Journalism. 1 (Mar. 2020), 28–33.