Journalism as digital labor

Tiziana Terranova talks about interesting subjects in the Free Labor of which two concepts had an interesting relation with the work in new media in my own current field of work: journalism.

Journalists as NetSlaves

There is a possible parallel to draw between the NetSlaves and the journalists working new emerging online news media platforms or social media journalists. The 24-7 hunger for news will provide punishing work rhythms, because the international globalised news never stops. The necessarity for advertisement income make scoops a deadly incentive in this world.

Because social media is considered as something extra, which obvious effects and reach are mostly hidden, the ruthless casualization of this field of work is prevalent too. “It is just on social/online media.” A lot of journalistic work therefore does not fit in the glamorization of (digital) labor: no travelling, no individual writing, no real investigating, no reporting, but short-term reposting and reformulating news items for social networks. This is what Terranova calls the increasing degradation of knowledge work.

Journalism as digital economy

Journalism is a part of the digital economy and is in need of new technologies and new types of workers to be able to keep up with the pace of the 21st century. Media consist of postmodern cultural economical work, but news is of course also very central in information and communication complex.

Capitalism makes this work possible, because of advertisement that is sold on these news outlets. Nevertheless it is the concept of multimedia production, real-life stories, interactivity, et cetera, that makes it a type of digital labor, that is close to the people, fulfilling it social duties and incorporating authentic collective imagination and work.

#Week14 #Informalwritingresponse #DigitalLabor #Journalism