Suchergebnisse

The dissertation investigates the institution of news production at work, on paper and online, through an ethnographic study at the largest Italian financial newspaper Il Sole-24 Ore. Building on institutional theory and taking inspiration from Bordieu's theoretical apparatus describing how cultural capital works, the dissertation presents a framework for the way institutions work, a framework that echoes Mary Douglas' How Institutions Think (1987). In the space created by the relationships between objects, practices and labels, institutions are at work in the alignments, disarrangements, re-alignments and new alignments among objects, practices and labels. This study examines the encounter between old and new to aid in the understanding of the workings of institutions, because the workings of institutions are made more visible in this encounter between aliens. Empirically, the occasion is the encounter between the newspaper and the website in the framework of the newspaper-website integration project at Il Sole-24 Ore. The main story line develops as follows: An old alignment around the newspaper (old object), to which old practices called journalistic (label) were aligned, is disarranged by the encounter with the website (new object), which is alien to the newspaper and carries new practices for making news. As a consequence of this encounter, the newspaper and the website vacillate between old and new practices and new alignments and realignments are formed: In these movements the institution of news production can be seen at work. This study offers a new perspective on the way institutions work, with serious consideration for the material, practical, and linguistic dimensions of institutions. It opens the black box of institutions, unpacking their workings in an attempt to clarify how stability of institutions results from the work of practices, objects and labels, which are products of institutions and at the same time produce them. Regarding news production in practice, this study aims at inspiring a reflection around what a newspaper is, a question at the very core of the industry transformation at the turn of the 21st century. By focusing on a highly debated topic, the study also offers reflections on the broader societal implications of new media for politics, business, knowledge, and professions.

In this article we investigate the role of technology and meaning in the institutional work of newsmakers. By analysing ethnographic data from an Italian business newspaper undertaking a project integrating the print and online newsrooms, we show how technology makes certain actions possible – and even proposes action – for the journalists, in their enactment of the institution of business news. Drawing on Callon's notion of agencement and Battilana and D'Aunno's conceptualization of human agency in institutional work, our analysis shows that action is taken in the interaction between humans and non-humans, and changes in technology might trigger institutional work. The institutional work of journalists is performed by means of both old and new technologies; if new technologies trigger institutional work by proposing new actions that need to be made meaningful by the journalists, old technology functions as a 'law book', where the institution of business news is inscribed. The journalists then use this 'law book' to interpret the new actions.

Emerging technologies with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are laying the foundation for surveillance capabilities of a magnitude never seen before. This article focuses on facial recognition, now rapidly introduced in many police authorities around the world, with expectations of enhanced security but also subject to concerns related to privacy. The article examined a recent case where the Swedish police used the controversial facial recognition application Clearview AI, which led to a supervisory investigation that deemed the police's use of the technology illegitimate. Following research question guided the study: How do the trade-offs between privacy and security unfold in the police use of facial recognition technology? The study was designed as a qualitative document analysis of the institutional dialogue between the police and two regulatory authorities, theoretically we draw on technological affordance and legitimacy. The results show how the police's use of facial recognition gives rise to various tensions that force the police as well as policy makers to rethink and further articulate the meaning of privacy. By identifying these tensions, the article contributes with insights into various controversial legitimacy issues that may arise in the area of rules in connection with the availability and use of facial recognition.