Journalism and the Web

TLDR

The Internet is reshaping journalism, prompting analysis of its digital or online forms. The article investigates whether, to what extent, and how online journalism differs from traditional journalism. The authors review Internet-driven changes in journalism, focusing on interactivity, personalization, and convergence, and analyze how these affect journalistic standards and skills online. They conclude that interactivity, personalization, and convergence, along with evolving journalistic standards, mirror a global shift toward community or civic journalism, warranting further study.

Abstract

The Internet is changing the profession of journalism in a number of ways, which this article looks at in terms of so-called digital, or rather online journalism. This article focuses in particular on the question of if, to what extent and in what respects online journalism differs from traditional journalism. The developments on the Internet in terms of journalism and, more specifically, news on the World Wide Web are presented, leading to a discussion of the three characteristic keywords: interactivity, personalization and convergence. This in itself leads to an analysis of the standards and skills of journalism and journalists online. In conclusion, it is argued that these keywords and journalistic skills and standards closely reflect a contemporary global trend towards community journalism - also known as civic journalism or public journalism - which is an area deserving more study in any analysis of journalism and the Internet.