Media Production Logics in Triple-Party News-Spaces: A Five-Dimensional Framework

Abstract

The digital environment is dominated by platforms non-proprietary to the news media, such as Facebook and Twitter. On these platforms, news organizations occupy what is termed here triple-party news-spaces: digital spaces that involve a news publisher, a platform owner, and users. Drawing on 28 interviews with professionals working for 14 news organizations in the U.S. and Israel, this study offers a framework for understanding the underlying logics of media production in triple-party news-spaces. It does so while building on the theoretical construct of media logics and the notion of a hybrid media system. Under the proposed framework, the production logics comprise five dimensions: item selection, temporality considerations, hierarchy considerations, expression style, and approach toward UGC. The study reveals what norms are applied and how—along each dimension and in different national/cultural contexts. It thereby advances understanding of news organizations’ activity on platforms that play a key role in distributing digital content.