Does Journalism Still Matter? The Role of Journalistic and non-Journalistic Sources in Young Peoples’ News Related Practices

In today's hybrid media environment new content creators challenge the status of professionally produced journalism and blur the lines between professional and non-professional content. Growing up in this information landscape, younger generations have developed news-related practices and attitudes that lie in stark contrast to those of previous generations. In addition, discrepancies exist between news definitions and the use practices of young people. We conducted focus groups with German adolescents (15–17 years), young adults (18–24 years) and adults (40–53 years) in August 2020 to uncover young peoples’ orientation toward news and journalism. Our study indicates that the boundaries of what journalism is and what it is not are becoming increasingly indistinct. However, distinctions do emerge between the journalistic and non-journalistic sources that adolescents and young adults use and the functions they associate with them according to their information needs. Differences between the age groups become apparent in their motivations to stay informed which highlights the important role non-journalistic sources play in information behaviour and opinion formation. For teenage participants especially, Social Media Influencers (SMIs) are relevant within these processes, which are linked to a perceived social duty-to-keep-informed. Moreover, findings from the focus groups highlight cohort-specific differences regarding the understanding of journalism and, consequently, differences in the assessment of trust and reliability as well as the verification strategies that are applied. In sum, for young participants journalism is a reliable source of information, especially in the case of current events and for crosschecking online information, while non-journalistic sources fulfil social needs.

Automating intellectual freedom: Artificial intelligence, bias, and the information landscape

Anxieties over automation and personal freedom are challenging libraries’ role as havens of intellectual freedom. The introduction of artificial intelligence into the resource description process creates an opportunity to reshape the digital information landscape—and loss of trust by library users. Resource description necessarily manipulates a library’s presentation of information, which influences the ways users perceive and interact with that information. Human catalogers inevitably introduce personal and cultural biases into their work, but artificial intelligence may perpetrate biases on a previously unseen scale. The automation of this process may be perceived as a greater threat than the manipulation produced by human operators. Librarians must understand the risks of artificial intelligence and consider what oversight and countermeasures are necessary to mitigate the harm to libraries and their users before ceding resource description to artificial intelligence in place of the “professional considerations” the IFLA Statement on Libraries and Intellectual Freedom calls for in providing access to library materials.

Navigating complex authorities: Intellectual freedom, information literacy and truth in pandemic STEM information

Traversing scientific information has become increasingly fraught, as the new information landscape allows anyone to access endless information with a few keystrokes. However, those trying to find information, understand authorities and navigate experts need a deeper understanding not only of the information itself, but also of how and why information is shared. Increasingly, questions of expertise, locale and bias are driving the scientific information ecosystem and creating or expanding disinformation, misinformation and propaganda efforts. Librarians are in the centre of this maelstrom of information and are obligated to help people learn to be critical of information. This article presents an illustrative case study, using the example of scientific information around the safety and efficacy of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to demonstrate how modern scientific information sharing is shaped by the ways in which misinformation and fake news spread.

Records management at the Council of Europe (2): the digital turn

The implementation of electronic records management at the Council of Europe was a crucial step in leading the intergovernmental human rights organization towards comprehensive corporate information management. The motivation for introducing records management was to improve access to information. Finding information proved to be difficult due to the fragmented information landscape, combined with a lack of governance for digital information. To amend this situation, corporate control and standardization were introduced along the whole information life cycle, involving the information producers as key players. The article describes this implementation, covering roughly the decade from 2008 to 2018, from its foundations and preparations to the deployment, awareness-raising and training activities. Special emphasis is put on the instruments that support a standardized records management approach, such as business classification scheme, retention and disposal schedules, and metadata. The success and failure points are briefly presented. It appears that records management can be a catalyst for corporate-wide information management.

The business of news: exploring the future of journalism as a commercially viable media product in multiplatform digital environments

In today’s digital information landscape, many threats challenge the economic model of professional journalism. The adoption of customer-value models by the news media industry, however, is relatively recent. This paper aims to direct news consumption research toward an understanding of the role of customer value creation and brand loyalty in gathering and maintaining newspaper customer markets in the digital era. Understanding what customers value in different contexts, and what value creation strategies are appropriate in these contexts is central to recognizing new market growth opportunities and business model innovation. In this paper, I discuss the application of a formal customer-value lens for newspaper audience research. The results of this research provide insight into the ways that news consumers and new customers differ from one another. The findings show that a news customer’s willingness to pay may be directly related to perceived utility of professional journalism and their brand connection to the newspaper. These implications call for a reexamination of the strategic approaches that inform current newspaper business models. A conceptual framework for segmenting newspaper customer markets based on the extent to which customers will pay for branded news media content is proposed.

The business of news: exploring the future of journalism as a commercially viable media product in multiplatform digital environments

In today’s digital information landscape, many threats challenge the economic model of professional journalism. The adoption of customer-value models by the news media industry, however, is relatively recent. This paper aims to direct news consumption research toward an understanding of the role of customer value creation and brand loyalty in gathering and maintaining newspaper customer markets in the digital era. Understanding what customers value in different contexts, and what value creation strategies are appropriate in these contexts is central to recognizing new market growth opportunities and business model innovation. In this paper, I discuss the application of a formal customer-value lens for newspaper audience research. The results of this research provide insight into the ways that news consumers and new customers differ from one another. The findings show that a news customer’s willingness to pay may be directly related to perceived utility of professional journalism and their brand connection to the newspaper. These implications call for a reexamination of the strategic approaches that inform current newspaper business models. A conceptual framework for segmenting newspaper customer markets based on the extent to which customers will pay for branded news media content is proposed.

Student access to the information landscape: A national education evaluation conducted by the New Zealand Education Review Office during 2004/5

The Education Review Office (ERO) undertakes reviews of schools and early childhood centres throughout New Zealand. ERO also undertakes national evaluations. The purpose of each review/evaluation is to help bring about improved educational achievement for young New Zealanders and to provide information to schools, parents, communities and the government to assist decision making. During 2004/5, ERO conducted a national evaluation of student access to the information landscape in schools. The quality of policies, programmes and practices associated with the school library was one focus in this evaluation. The quality of teaching practice (particularly in the areas of student information literacy and in developing positive attitudes towards reading) was also evaluated. This paper gives an outline of the role of ERO, the rationale and purpose of the national evaluation, and the methodology used. It provides some initial discussion of preliminary findings. It also reports on anecdotal feedback received on the process of the evaluation and its impact on participating schools.

Are we there yet?

Library and Information Science (LIS) education faces considerable opportunities and challenges in the 21st Century. Institutions must produce a range of information professionals, including teacher librarians. These future professionals must be able to respond flexibly to rapidly evolving social, economic and technological change. Multimedia elearning environments and the interactive nature afforded by Web 2.0 technologies mean that LIS programs can be delivered globally and collaboratively to an international audience. Attracting students who will take LIS and the challenges posed by a rapidly evolving information landscape into the twenty-first century, is an integral part of building strong and sustainable educational programs.