An arranged marriage? The impact of audience analytics experts on the boundaries of journalism

Abstract

Audience analytics and data-driven newsrooms facilitate the emergence of specialized roles within journalism. Drawing on the concepts of boundary work and journalistic role orientations, this article explores the relationship between journalists and analytics experts throughout 13 German news media organizations. Based on interviews with both roles, it investigates how the presence of analytics experts affects journalistic role orientations and news production. The findings show that while analytics experts attempt to blur the boundaries of journalism to enter the profession, journalists are able to maintain their autonomy. However, these attempts and how journalists react to them vary across organizational context, yielding three different types of analytics experts: the Friendly Intruder, the Demanding Reformer and the Distant Service Provider. Findings further reveal the formation of an analyst orientation, distinct from traditional journalism practices.