"Making the News" in a Digital World

• In Event: ICA Plenary Interactive Paper/Poster Session I
  In Interactive Paper Session: Journalism Studies Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

Although anecdotal evidence of people being “victimized” by the press abounds, the experiences of ordinary people who suddenly become the focus of press attention have been little studied by journalism scholars. Based on in-depth interviews with 83 private citizens who found themselves named, quoted, or featured in mainstream news stories in the United States, this paper explores how being named in a news story differs from in the past, primarily due to online publication and circulation of articles. I explore how the potentially vast size of today’s audiences, the ease with which those audiences can comment on articles and contact people named in them, and the online archiving, search, and retrieval of news stories alter what it means for private citizens to “make the news” today and raise important ethical questions for journalists.

Author

• Ruth A. Palmer, IE University