Between commodification and autonomy. The impact of audience analytics on editorial production processes and implications for media organizations and society
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Abstract
This dissertation explores commodification tendencies in journalism through the lens of audience analytics use. Its aim is to provide a detailed understanding of these data-driven evaluation practices and their impact on editorial routines, journalistic role conceptions, and strategic media management. Drawing on five interlinked sub-projects that employ multiple theoretical and methodological approaches, it examines how audience analytics are used, what drives their adoption, and what implications they hold across various levels of journalistic production, from individual attitudes to organizational legitimacy practices.
The findings indicate that while audience analytics are widely integrated into newsroom workflows, their influence remains context-dependent. Market orientation emerges as a dominant but often unreflected paradigm, often subtly shaping editorial priorities. At the same time, traditional journalistic values and professional autonomy persist, coexisting in hybrid role configurations. Audience analytics also contribute to the emergence of an audit culture, enabling new forms of managerial control and strategic legitimation both internally and externally. The dissertation highlights reflection as a critical yet underutilized counterbalance to the instrumental use of performance metrics. It proposes proprietary, value-based measurement systems as a promising but challenging alternative to commercially defined success criteria. Rather than rejecting quantification outright, the dissertation argues for a more deliberate integration of normative, democratic considerations into the evaluation of journalistic performance.
In sum, the work advocates for a heightened awareness among journalists, media managers, and policymakers of the normative foundations of journalism as a democratic institution. Commodification is not inherently problematic—but becomes so when it silently reshapes professional practices without critical reflection. Measuring the quality of journalism should not be reduced to audience metrics alone; instead, it must account for the broader societal role journalism plays in informing the public and strengthening democracy.