Sharing Knowledge. Changing Journalism. A Report on Innovation by the Center for Media, Data and Society

"To survive, many media organizations have been pushed into rapid change. The long-term implications of these changes, such as an internalized interest and awareness for innovation, can be positive."

This report discusses the views, experiences, and needs of media practitioners from around the world in relation to innovation. Specifically, it seeks to explore the knowledge and training needs that could help journalists to innovate, their sources of information on innovation, and potential areas where academics and media researchers can support journalists.

The research in this report is designed to inform the Journalism Breakthroughs project led by the Center for Media, Data and Society (CMDS). The purpose of this project is to collect data and information about innovation in journalism and to disseminate this expertise among professionals who need such knowledge in their work (see Related Summaries, below). To ensure the project covers topics and experiences that are relevant for the journalism field, the project set out to map the needs of its intended audience - primarily journalists and media practitioners but also researchers and policymakers, particularly from countries underserved by research and information on innovation.

Interviewees included 24 media experts, journalists, and media managers from all over the world, including countries from Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East. They work for small and medium-size media organisations (of between five and 40 employees), universities, media centres, and international journalism networks. Interviews were conducted from December 2020 to February 2021, at a time of extreme crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. The interviews were structured around questions related to: what innovation means; the innovation needs that could be better served in journalism in terms of training and knowledge; what sources of knowledge media practitioners use to inform themselves about their profession; how research centres such as the CMDS can better serve them; and the role played by funders in influencing how journalists think about innovation.

The working definition of innovation used for the research is the following: "the process of change centered around adopting new tools, financing or operational models aimed at improving the overall performance of a media organization. The focus is not solely on novelty, but also on improvement, which allows us to survey a range of tactics, tools and ideas, some new, some tried and tested. Innovation, in this understanding, also includes new forms of organization and cooperation. In the face of hardships brought by the pandemic, innovation also meant finding new ways to survive as a profession within an ecosystem."

The report begins by giving some context to the notion of innovation in many less-resourced media outlets in developing countries. Research has, for example, shown that an obsessive pursuit of technology-led innovation is detrimental to journalism and journalists, and that a more sustainable, technology-empowered and audience-driven approach to innovation should be nurtured instead. The report also highlights that the dominance of Western funding among independent media outlets globally brings with it a western-centric understanding of "innovation" that is not always suitable in some countries. It is important to consider the social and economic environment in which media operate and the context in which innovation happens. Based on the research results overall, this report, therefore, argues that besides technology-based innovation, changes in journalistic practices only have impact if they are anchored in the needs of the audience and take into account the local context.

The findings in relation to training and knowledge vary by the geography, resources, and goals of each interviewee. But overall, there was a consensus among media experts that training focused on funding models, policy, and human rights is needed. Another common interest among the respondents was around "big issues" related to journalism such as trust in the media, collaboration within the profession, journalistic ethics, and issues related to safety during the pandemic. Audience engagement was also mentioned often by journalists, who cited a need for training in journalistic tools, including the use of new technologies, in relation to this issue.

The findings also showed that journalists and media practitioners use a variety of sources to inform themselves about the latest trends in their field, including newsletters, conferences, trainings, industry reports, and social media. However, regional and local expertise was often mentioned as a significant need, with much of the information coming from international sources. In relation to working with academics as a potential support to innovation, the research showed that academia are mainly seen as a source of good-quality research and training, but rarely seen as a "collaboration" partner.

The report concludes with four recommendations to boost innovation in journalism. These recommendations are focused on:

1. Facilitating knowledge sharing and training resources and opportunities, specifically for less-served professionals who have limited or no access to tools, networks, and learning opportunities;
2. Carrying out more systematic research on failures in journalism and creating a global media failures map, which can be a valuable learning experience for journalists and media institutions;
3. Funding locally sourced innovative practices: Engaging journalists, media experts, and researchers in proposing directions for funding for specific regions is essential in unearthing innovative ideas and projects in parts of the world and from media outlets that are left out of the global journalism networks funded and maintained by philanthropies; and
4. Building a new audience-centric media ecology mapping tool to more accurately map and follow the audience needs, which would allow funders to better identify the needs for information in a specific media environment and boost the impact of their financial support.