Journalism as Usual? Managing Disruption in Virtual Newsrooms during the COVID-19 Crisis

Abstract

This study focuses on managerial responses to disruption and, specifically, how news executives implemented journalistic practices and processes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the lens of Harvey's (2006) theorization of space, the concept of Collaborative Virtual Environments, and the model of communities of practice, I explore management's roles in virtual newsrooms. The method is based on semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 17 news managers in Spain. The findings presented here underline managerial performance in virtual newsrooms considered as communities of practice. Virtual spaces reconfigured relationships among colleagues and increased collaboration, shaping news practices and communication protocols. Management implemented strategies to control the negotiation of meaning, the building of trust and cooperation, and the power dynamics within their professional communities. Journalistic production during the COVID-19 pandemic also raised problematic issues such as work overload, psychological distress, and job insecurity.

Facets of Journalistic Skills. Demand for traditional, digital, and tech skills in news professionals

“…We collected and analyzed 527 job ads of 17 incumbent broadcast legacy, print legacy and online-only news outlets in the US, UK, and Germany over three months in the summer and fall of 2021. About 1.5 years into the pandemic, the data collection period covers a critical phase of reconfiguring practices, "when news work routines demanded coordination among a diverse set of journalists and technologists" (García-Avilés, 2021, p. 1255. Our report presents an overview of skill demand, skill profiles, and working conditions of major news organizations in large media markets.…”

Trends in the interest in COVID-19 news of the local media and their readers: The case of Spain

“…The emergence of the COVID-19 since 2020 has resulted in hundreds of millions of people infected and millions of deaths worldwide, but has also brought about a profound disruption in the way of life of the people. Both journalism in general and local journalism have also been affected by those changes, forcing many outlets to implement teleworking and virtual communication systems in order to adapt to the periods of confinement and restrictions to social activity ( Castriota et al, 2020 ; García-Avilés, 2021 ; Joseph et al, 2021 ; Olsen et al, 2020 ). At first, little was known about the disease, and public health officials and governments were fighting against the rampant misinformation spreading through internet and social networks (e.g., Evanega et al, 2020 ; Noar and Austin, 2020 ).…”

“…Many researchers have investigated the information environment surrounding COVID-19, showing significant differences in how newspapers covered the pandemic. There is a large body of literature around the production and consumption of COVID-19 news by national media ( García-Avilés, 2021 ; Masullo et al, 2021 ). However, those issues have been barely explored in relation to local media ( Castriota et al, 2020 ; Hess and Waller, 2021 ; Joseph et al, 2021 ) despite the fact that local media has played a crucial role during the COVID-19, and has been considered one of the most reliable source of coronavirus news by many ( Schulz, 2021 ; Shearer, 2020 ).…”

“…The COVID-19 crisis has caused a significant disruption in the way journalism operates and forced journalists worldwide to change their working procedures ( García-Avilés, 2021 ). This has further exacerbated existing problems in the local media industry, forcing them to quickly adapt their editorial processes to meet the needs of online audiences.…”

“…Further, Spain is amongst the European countries where the COVID-19 pandemic has produced the most severe economic consequences in the media industry. For instance, advertising investment dropped by 50% during April–May 2020 and temporary employment regulation files affected over 24,500 journalists by April 2020 according to the national employment office statistics ( García-Avilés, 2021 ).…”