Towards a Design Orientation on Algorithms and Automation in News Production

Abstract

This essay responds to the articles in the special issue on “Algorithms, Automation, and News” by reflecting on two thematic threads apparent in the collection: (1) the role of journalistic values in technology, and (2) the hybridization of human and machine effort in news production workflows. I argue that to make further progress in these areas journalism studies should establish a design orientation towards journalistic technology, and seek to develop rigorous evaluation criteria and metrics that can help propel both scholarship and practice forward.