The (Re-)Discovery of the Audience. The Relationship between Journalism and Audience under the Conditions of Web 2.0

The Web 2.0 changes the traditional relationship between journalism and audience: new forms of participation of the audience and changed demands for inclusion of users lead to shifts between the traditional roles of communicator and recipient respectively between professional and non-professional development of statements. Against this backdrop journalism has to accept constraints of its inclusion ability and at the same time deal with the audience’s demand for inclusion.

The research project aims to study with a variety of methods how professional, editorially organised journalism integrates participatory elements in its offerings and which role the expectations and expectations of expectations of journalists and of the audience play. Hence, the project focuses on the question what effect journalistic professional orientation and participation of the audience have on each other. The project is planned as multiple case study; for six case studies in total, three dimensions of contrast:

1.  TV vs. print editorial offices/offerings including their respective online counterparts;

2.  News-oriented vs. entertainment-oriented journalism;

3.  Weekly vs. daily publication.

For journalistic providers as well as for audiences, inclusion benefits and inclusion expectations will be raised in order to determine in combination the respective inclusion levels (extent of audience integration) and inclusion distances (extent of accordance of respective expectations).

The following empirical modules are provided:

• Guideline interviews with managing editors 

• Standardised surveys of editorial staff

• Guideline interviews with users

• Standardised surveys of users

• Format and content analyses

A blog has been set up in order to document the process of this project.