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In:Participation, Engagement and Collaboration in Newsmaking: A postfoundational perspective
Edited by Jana Declercq, Geert Jacobs, Felicitas Macgilchrist and Astrid Vandendaele
[Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture 94] 2021
► pp. 17–42

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Chapter 2
Online headline testing at a Belgian broadsheet

A postfoundational perspective on how news professionals ‘sell’ content

 | Leiden University
 | University of Groningen
 | Ghent University
 | Ghent University
Published online: 10 November 2021
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.94.c2
Abstract
In this chapter, we investigate the impact of recent audience-monitoring tools on the (online) newspaper sub-editors’ task of crafting headlines. We zoom in on how metrics have become part of the newsmaking process and are now intrinsic to a larger foundation of more collaborative, participatory and engaging practices. Drawing on digital data and fieldwork, we analyse the back and forth between the sub-editors’ journalistic gut feeling, their awareness of ‘selling’ their brand ‘in the right way’, and the need to gain clicks. Relying on a linguistic ethnographic perspective (NT&T 2011), we address how sub-editors reflect on their changing professional routines. By investigating how the sub-editors’ aim to position themselves in tandem with their algorithmic tools is foundational to news media today, we shed new light on how the use of audience engagement metrics intertwines with long-standing journalistic practices and contribute to global debates on the politics of technology and online participation.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Research focus 1: Audience-monitoring tools and metrics
  • Research focus 2: Headlines and (online) sub-editors
  • Methodology and data
  • Findings
    • Online sub-editing and headline testing
  • Cases
    • Case 1: For clickbait – “More of a trigger”
    • Case 2: For clickbait – “Missing the boat”
    • Case 3: Against clickbait - Staying true to the brand
    • Case 4: Reframing the news story
    • Newsworkers reflecting on the use of headline testing
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
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