A1 Journal article (refereed)
Mediated by the giants : Tracing practices, discourses, and mediators of platform isomorphism in a media organization (2022)

Laaksonen, S.-M., Koivula, M., & Villi, M. (2022). Mediated by the giants : Tracing practices, discourses, and mediators of platform isomorphism in a media organization. New Media and Society, Online first. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448221122220

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Laaksonen, Salla-Maaria; Koivula, Minna; Villi, Mikko

Journal or series: New Media and Society

ISSN: 1461-4448

eISSN: 1461-7315

Publication year: 2022

Publication date: 09/09/2022

Volume: Online first

Publisher: SAGE Publications

Publication country: United Kingdom

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448221122220

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Partially open access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/83250

Abstract

News media are increasingly interwoven with social media platforms. Building on institutional theory, we trace the repercussions of the platform infrastructure inside a media organization by focusing on organizational discourses and practices in connection with the journalistic use of social media. The empirical material includes interviews, field notes, chat logs, and documents collected from a public service media organization during a 6-month on-site and virtual ethnography. The findings show how platform pressures intertwine with content production, audience representation, journalistic values, and organizational development, thus manifesting the infrastructuralization and institutionalization of platforms in the media industry. While the interviewees articulated tensions related to adopting social media, the fieldwork data revealed forms of mimetic and normative isomorphism, mediated by platform data and professional roles in the organization. Moreover, the platform infrastructure seems to cultivate both critical and aspirational talk in the organization, which implies a more complex relationship beyond coercive platform power.

Keywords: media sector; mass media; social media; bases; public broadcasting companies; institutionalisation (societal change); journalism; ethnography

Free keywords: ethnography; institutional theory; isomorphism; media organization; platform studies; public service media; social media

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Related projects

Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2022

Preliminary JUFO rating: 3