Smart Exclusion: How May Digital Platforms Hinder Inclusivity within News Organizations?

Cinzia Dal Zotto (), Afshin Omidi () and Esmaeil Norouzi ()
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Cinzia Dal Zotto: University of Neuchâtel
Afshin Omidi: University of Neuchâtel
Esmaeil Norouzi: University of Teheran

A chapter in CSR Communication in the Media, 2023, pp 93-108 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Drawing on the data colonialism perspective and the labor process theory, this chapter critically discusses how digital platforms may hinder news organizations’ inclusivity and thus social responsibility if their in-depth implications at the macro and micro levels are not well understood. While the study recognizes the positive potentialities of digital technologies for fostering media activities and workplaces, it also highlights a capitalist mode of production steering them, which may have some critical consequences for news media management. More clearly, on the one hand, digital technologies could be harnessed to extract, produce, analyze, and distribute data in an intelligent way and thus allow news organizations to reach both profit and positive social impact. On the other hand, however, these technologies transform the nature of news work, moving its focus from creating public-informing ideas to distributing and marketing activities. Smart technologies create a new, uncontested reality for defining the workplace in news organizations and demand mainly, if not only, the involvement of tech-savvy talents ideally best suited to work within this new context. As a result, a process that we call “smart exclusion” emerges, which impacts news organizations’ social license to operate. This paper tries to conceptualize the process of smart exclusion in news media, suggesting a symbiotic perspective for dealing with the related challenges and ensuring the respect of the diversity and inclusion dimensions of news organizations’ social responsibility.

Keywords: Data colonialism; Digital platforms; Inclusivity; Labor process; Media management; Media organization; News media; News work (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:csrchp:978-3-031-18976-0_8

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-18976-0_8

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