Journalists at digital television newsrooms in Britain and Spain: workflow and multi‐skilling in a competitive environment

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of new technology on journalists’ attitudes and practice in distinctive national and organisational contexts, deriving evidence from observational and interview research conducted in six digital newsrooms selected to provide comparative settings in Britain (BSkyB, Independent Television News [ITN] and the British Broadcasting Corporation [BBC]) and Spain (Telecinco, Antena 3 and Telemadrid). The study explores the perceived rationale for digitisation, its impact on workflow and multi-skilling, and the changes it has generated in journalistic practice. The influence of digitisation is shown to be significant in both countries. The evidence indicates, however, that in terms of attitudes, practice and technological provision, the relatively younger, smaller Spanish newsrooms reflect digitised journalism more fully. Nevertheless, journalists in both countries expressed concerns about the attrition of core journalistic values, as journalists become increasingly computer-bound “mouse monkeys” required to trade accuracy for immediacy in the speeded-up world of digital and 24-hour news