MONOGRAPHIC: ALGORITHMS, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND AUTOMATISED JOURNALISM IN THE HYBRID SYSTEM OF NEWS MEDIA

Guest editors

Koldobika Meso Ayerdi
Ainara Larrondo Ureta
Simón Peña Fernández
Universidad del País Vasco (UPV/EHU).


About this monographic

The transformation of cybermedia and the arrival of new actors – including audiences themselves – has brought about the formation of a hybrid system in the digital sphere in which multiple actors have come together in a common space where they create and share news content.
While the rise of social media platforms has changed the way the news media creates journalistic content and how they relate to their audience, the constant technological crisis of the digital news media has made algorithms and Artificial Intelligence (AI) the new challenge which companies and professionals must face.
Thus, the transposition to digital macro data of the interactions that take place in different spheres of human activity represents a multidimensional phenomenon that involves complex reflections, analysis and exploration. There appears to be a need to clarify this debate within a context in which there is a proliferation of academic contributions. The social, economic, cultural and technological advances promoted by big data or AI are relevant to journalism, it being a profession that is sensitive to social change, but also as an industry that generates service data and information that has an impact on public opinion.
Journalism is proving to be fertile ground for furthering analysis of the subject of big data and AI from multiple perspectives, among which it is worth highlighting those relating to the epistemology, ethics and business development of the profession, but also to its research and teaching. An examination of its impact therefore demands holistic approaches that include procedural questions linked to the industrial production of the profession, but that also cover advanced concepts about its value, uses and impacts from enriching perspectives in terms of an interdisciplinary approach, within a context in which the news media and professionals are struggling to maintain control of essential aspects of journalistic activity whilst coping with increasingly technified innovation.


References

Ali, W. y Hassoun, M. (2019). Artificial Intelligence and Automated Journalism: Contemporary Challenges and New Opportunities. International journal of media, journalism and mass communications 5(1), 40-49.
Lemelshtrich Latar, N. (2018). Robot Journalism. Can Human Journalism Survive? World Scientific Publishing. Singapur.
Lewis, S. C. & Westlund, O. (2014). Big data and Journalism. Epistemology, expertise, económicas and ethics. Digital Journalism, 3(3). 447-466.
Palomo, B., Heravi, B., Masip, P. (2022). Horizon 2030 in Journalism: A Predictable Future Starring AI?. In: Vázquez-Herrero, J., Silva-Rodríguez, A., Negreira-Rey, MC., Toural-Bran, C., López-García, X. (eds) Total Journalism. Studies in Big Data, vol 97. Springer, Cham.
Túñez, J.M., Toural, C., Cacheiro, S (2018). Uso de bots y algoritmos para automatizar la redacción de noticias: percepción y actitudes de los periodistas en España. El Profesional de la Información 27(4), 750–758.
Wu, S., Tandoc, E. C. y Salmon, C. T. (2019). When Journalism and Automation Intersect: Assessing the Influence of the Technological Field on Contemporary Newsrooms. Journalism Practice, v. 13(10), 1238–1254.


Subthemes

With the aim of encouraging a thorough, varied and interdisciplinary analysis of the described media reality, this CFP is a call to researchers in this field to present their work relating to different areas, paying special attention to the subthemes indicated below:

• Applications of AI in journalistic genres and formats
• The impact of AI in the processes and routines of newsrooms and professionals
• Journalistic training for robotic communicative environments
• Specific uses of robotics applied to language
• New tools for audiovisual and sound production
• The impact of algorithms on communication and audiences
• Ethical and deontological implications of AI in the field of social media
• AI and the transformation of business models within communication


Guest editors

Koldobika Meso Ayerdi is Senior Lecturer and Director of the Department of Journalism at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). With a PhD in Journalism Doctor and an El Correo Masters Degree (multimedia journalism) from the UPV/EHU, he teaches on Degree and Postgrad courses.
He has published over a hundred works in the form of chapters, books and articles in quality academic journals. He has given over a hundred presentations and communications in both national and international congresses. His research work has been developed within the framework of his continued participation in more than ten research projects financed through competitive public tenders. He is currently Head Researcher on the project ‘News, networks and users in the hybrid news media systemʼ, together with Dr. Simón Peña Fernández. He has also directed Educational Innovation Projects and has participated in others as a researcher within the framework of activities of the Specialised Group in Educational Innovation KZBerri, which received a mention of teaching distinction IKD from the Educational Assessment Service of the UPV/EHU. He has four recognised six-year research periods.

Ainara Larrondo Ureta is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Journalism at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). With a PhD in Journalism and a Masters in Modern History from the UPV/EHU, she teaches on trilingual Degree and Postgrad courses related with digital communication. Since 2004 she has published at least 70 articles in academic journals and has given a hundred presentations in both national and international congresses within the framework of her continued participation in research projects. Since 2015 she has been Head Researcher of 'Gureiker' (Consolidated Group of the Basque University System), and ‘KZBerri’, a structured teaching group recognised by the UPV/EHU. Postgrad researcher at Glasgow University. Vicedean of Infrastructures in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Communication at the UPV/EHU (2015/2021). She has three recognised six-year research periods.

Simón Peña Fernández is Full Professor in the Department of Journalism of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). Since 2004 he has published 60 articles in academic journals and has given a hundred presentations and communications in both national and international congresses. All these publications have been associated with the continued participation in around thirty research projects financed through competitive public tenders, among them, eight European projects (Horizon 2020 and Erasmus+) and three projects from the National Plan. His main lines of investigation are online media, innovation and social media.


Calendar

- Deadline for submitting articles: March 17, 2023.
- Publication date: June 2023.