ekotions lecture

1. Emotion as an organising
principle for understanding and
creating networked journalism
Prof Charlie Beckett
London School of Economics
April 2019, Northwestern University

2. Emotions: a working definition
“Fundamentally relational, evolving out of
the interactions of individuals with culture
and underlying social structures”
 Wahl-Jorgensen (2019)

3. A new agenda for journalism and emotions
“an agenda for journalists who seek not to
rage against this algorithmic machine and
its emotional power source but to harness
its communicative potential”

Beckett & Deuze (2016)

4. The challenge
“The trend is clear: toward a more mobile,
personalized, and emotionally driven news
media. The challenge for the networked
journalist is clear: how best to sustain the
ethical, social, and economic value of
journalism in this new emotionally networked
environment.”
Beckett and Deuze (2016)

5. The paradox of journalism power
Power over agenda reduced
Gatekeeping power reduced
Resources diminished
Competition and distraction increased
Control over distribution and consumption
reduced

6. The paradox of journalism power
Journalism is more popular, increased attention
New tools, formats and networks can make acts of
journalism more efficient and effective
New networks and technologies offer new pathways
to the public and enhanced potential influence and
value

7. The FT Uber game: data as empathy

8. Key structural challenges for journalism
Business model
Duplication/abundance
Authoritarianism/populism
Misinformation
News gap/relevance

9. Truth, trust and technology
Multi-truth
Low-trust
Technological power

10. Why emotions are more powerful now
Technology: algorithms and design driven by attention
economics
Economics: in hyper-competitive market for news, emotion
secures engagement
Behaviour: online, news is consumed and shared within
intimate, blended, personalized social networks

11. The emotional dystopia
Irrational, antagonistic, violent discourse
Extremism, fragmentation, polarization
Lack of transparency
Commodification

12. The value of emotions to audiences:
relevance
Understand why people value news
Reflect a more diverse agenda of ideologies and values
Be more diverse to reflect the audience’s identities
Consider people’s mental health – how does it fit into their
lives?

13. The six users cases of news
 Dimitry Shishkin

14. The value of emotions to journalists
Engagement
Trust through credibility signaling
Changing work boundaries
Developing emotional literacy with media literacy
Fostering editorial diversity and creativity
Allowing for subjectivity with transparency and ‘humble,
curious listening’

15. Emotions as central to editorial strategy

16. The value of emotions to ‘quality’
Authenticity as well as authority
Curation as well as personalization
Serendipity as well as relevance
Consider the impact: constructive as well as critical
Consider the format: creativity as well as convenience

17. Emotions and AI

18. Conclusion: the mission to be human

19. Thanks for your attention, keep in touch!
@CharlieBeckett
C.h.beckett@lse.ac.uk
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/polis/category/director/