At Work in the Digital Newsroom

Abstract

Labor remains sidelined in journalism studies, especially the working conditions and experiences of journalists in digital-first newsrooms and those whose work primarily involves engagement with social media. This article reports on the findings of an exploratory study on the work of digital journalism. Based on interviews with self-identified digital journalists in Canada and the United States about their daily work experiences, the paper outlines entry points for understanding what it is like to labor in networks of high-speed information production and circulation. Drawing on a critical political economy framework, the paper begins with an overview of the structural dynamics shaping digital journalists’ working conditions, then examines how these dynamics manifest in daily working conditions, including issues of control, speed, analytics and measurement, intensification, commodification and resistance. The paper aims to contribute to furthering a labor-focused agenda in digital journalism studies.