Labservatory: a synergy between journalism studies and computer science for online news observation
| Date | 10 June 2024 |
| Pages | 23-43 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-10-2023-0531 |
| Published date | 10 June 2024 |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Bibliometrics,Databases,Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet,Records management & preservation,Document management |
| Author | Dimitris Trimithiotis,Iacovos Ioannou,Vasos Vassiliou,Panicos Christou,Stelios Chrysostomou,Erotokritos Erotokritou,Demetris Kaizer |
Labservatory: a synergy between
journalism studies and computer
science for online
news observation
Dimitris Trimithiotis
Department of Social and Political Sciences, University of Cyprus,
Nicosia, Cyprus, and
Iacovos Ioannou, Vasos Vassiliou, Panicos Christou,
Stelios Chrysostomou, Erotokritos Erotokritou and Demetris Kaizer
Department of Computer Science, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
Abstract
Purpose –This article explores the synergy between journalism studies and computer science in the context of
observing online news. By establishing web applications of online media observatoriesas research tools, researchers
can employ various analytical approaches to gain valuable insights into online news discourse and production.
Design/methodology/approach –Drawing eight months of data (01.08.2022–30.04.2023) from the
Labservatory’s web application, i.e. over 250,000 news items, the article demonstrates how some of this web
application’s main functionalities may be useful in implementing (1) news flow analysis, (2) news topic
distribution analysis and (3) media discourse analysis.
Findings –The capabilities provided by this web application, (1) to simultaneously analyse the daily news
production of ten media outlets with varyingfeatures, (2) to rapidly collect a large volume of news items, (3) to
identify the news categories as classified by the media themselves, (4) to present the results of the search in
relevance order and (5) to automatically generate a search report, highlight the significance of this
interdisciplinary collaboration for implementing comprehensive analyses of online news.
Originality/value –The article concludes by emphasising the importance of continuing this joint effort, as it
opens new avenues for further research and provides a deeper grasp of the intricate relationship between
journalism, technology and society in the digital era. The Labservatory also contributes to society since it may
be used by the broader public for immediate accessto more pluralistic information andthus for promoting both
news media literacy and news media accountability.
Keywords Media discourse, Online journalism, Artificial intelligence (AI), Media observatories
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Journalism and media observatories, are initiatives that attempt to monitor and analyse the
state of the media industry, including trends in journalism, changes in media ownership and
the impact of new technologies in the field. In the last decades journalism and media
Online
Information
Review
23
© Dimitris Trimithiotis, Iacovos Ioannou, Vasos Vassiliou, Panicos Christou, Stelios Chrysostomou,
Erotokritos Erotokritou and Demetris Kaizer. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is
published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce,
distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial
purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence
may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
In the interest of transparency, data sharing and reproducibility, the author(s) of this article have
made the data underlying their research openly available. It can be accessed by following the link here:
https://labservatory.eu/
Funding: This work was supported by University of Cyprus Start-Up Scheme Grant.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/1468-4527.htm
Received 10 October 2023
Revised 21 February 2024
15 April 2024
Accepted 7 May 2024
Online Information Review
Vol. 49 No. 8, 2025
pp. 23-43
Emerald Publishing Limited
1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/OIR-10-2023-0531
observatories have become increasingly important since the media landscape has undergone
significant changes, such as the proliferation of digital media and online journalism alongside
the decline of print journalism, as well as the exponential increase of disinformation and other
discriminatory discourses in journalistic and media production processes (i.e. Omar et al.,
2021;Villanueva-Ledezma et al., 2020;Xiao and Yang, 2024). The aim of this article is to
present the research impact of an online journalism observatory, namely Labservatory. The
latter is product of an interdisciplinary synergy between researchers in journalism studies
and computer science. Drawing from the data collection and analysis of the first eight months
of its “life”(01.08.2022–30.04.2023), the article discusses the potentialities for new research
brought by this synergy, as they are reflected through the creation of the Labservatory web
application [1]. Specifically, the article examines how the web application of Labservatory,
may contribute in news flow analysis (RQ1); news topic distribution analysis (RQ2) and news
discourse analysis (RQ3).
The article contributes to expose the significance of the interdisciplinary collaboration
between journalism studies and computer science in understanding the evolving landscape of
online news. It emphasises the importance of continuing this joint effort, as it opens new
perspectives for further research and provides a deeper grasp of the complex relationship
between journalism, technology and society in the digital era. The article is structured into
three main sections. It begins with a literature review that provides an overview of the main
features of journalism and media observatories and their potential in contributing to the
journalistic field –both as professional practice and as a scientific research area. The second
section presents the methodology on which the Labservatory web application is based in
collecting, categorizi ng and analysing online news. The third section presents th e
preliminary results based on the data collected during the first eight months of the
functioning of the observatory and opens up new potentials for further research in media and
journalism studies.
Journalism and media observatories: a research perspective
Evolution, role and challenges
Journalism and media observatories are organisations that monitor and analyse media
coverage, with the goal of improving media transparency and accountability. Although
existing scientific literature on media observatories is rather scarce, it does nevertheless
cover various aspects of their operations, including elements that pertain to their structure,
mandate, impact and challenges. This section offers a brief overview of the origins and
evolution of journalism observatories and explores their roles and functions, including their
input in monitoring and analysing the media industry, advocating for press freedom and
media pluralism and providing support and training for journalists. It also examines the
impact of journalism observatories on the field of journalism, including their role in shaping
media policy and public discourse about the media industry.
Origins and evolution of journalism observatories. Journalism observatories have their
roots in the early 20th century when media scholars and activists began to study the media
industry and its impact on society. The French Press Institute, founded in Paris in 1925 could
be apprehended as one of the earliest examples of media and journalism observatories. The
institute’s mission was studying the press and its societal role. In the post-World War II era,
the focus of journalism observatories shifted from studying the media industry to advocating
for press freedom and media pluralism. The International Press Institute (IPI), founded in
1950, was one of the first organisations to focus on press freedom and media pluralism. In the
1970s and 1980s, journalism observatories began to expand their focus to include issues such
as media ownership and concentration. In the United States, the Media Access Project (MAP),
founded in 1973, was one of the first organisations to focus on media ownership and
OIR
49,8
24
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