Online headline testing at a Belgian broadsheet

Discourse approaches to politics, society and culture, pp. 17–42

Abstract

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.

Authors 4

1. Astrid Vandendaele Aachen

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden University

2. Jana Declercq Aachen

   Leiden University · University of Groningen

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Groningen

   Leiden University /

   University of Groningen /

3. Geert Jacobs

   Ghent University

   Affiliation as printed

   Ghent University

4. Sofie Verkest

   Ghent University

   Affiliation as printed

   Ghent University