Navigating the Scholarly Terrain: Introducing the Digital Journalism Studies Compass

Abstract

This article by the Digital Journalism Editorial Team surfaces with the explicit ambition to reassess the field of Digital Journalism Studies and map a future editorial agenda for Digital Journalism. The article dissects two important and closely interrelated questions: "What is 'digital journalism'?", and "What is 'digital journalism studies'?" Building on the commissioned conceptual articles and the review article also published in this issue, we define Digital Journalism Studies as a field which should strive to critically explore, document, and explain the interplay of digital and journalism, continuity and change, and further focus, conceptualize, and theorize tensions, configurations, power imbalances, and the debates these continue to raise for digital journalism and its futures. We also present a useful heuristic device-the Digital Journalism Studies Compass-anchored around digital and journalism, and continuity and change, as a guide for discussing the direction of the growing field and this journal.

Epistemologies of digital journalism and the study of misinformation

“…Moreover, it may serve as a conceptual anchor point for advancing theory and the research frontier in the field of digital journalism studies (cf. Eldridge et al, 2019). This section presents three papers presenting original theoretical contributions and three empirical papers analyzing epistemic practices in digital journalism.…”

Editorial: Digital Journalism (Studies) – Defining the Field

“…They also open the door for future conceptual articles, some which are already underway, and that embrace creativity within digital journalism scholarship (Witschge, Deuze and Willemsen, 2019) and engage with thinking around API-based research (Venturini and Rogers, 2019), among other concepts to be addressed. In the final essay, we advance these ideas further by refining and defining what we mean by digital journalism studies (Eldridge et al 2019) to offer some clarity for researchers in the field, whilst embracing the diversity of ideas and ways of connecting the digital with journalism. Our central concern is to lay the foundations for Digital Journalism Studies as existing within its own distinctive field, moving beyond its place as a sub-field of journalism studies.…”

Algorithms, Automation, and News

“…An emphasis on news professionals and their practices has long been a central element of journalism studies in general and digital journalism studies in particular (e.g., see Eldridge et al 2019;Robinson, Lewis, and Carlson 2019). This special issue is no exception.…”