The nonpartisan, the equidistant and the allied: How journalists negotiate their digital selves on social media

Abstract

Due to the ongoing digitalization process and the emerging importance of social media in shaping news access and distribution, prior studies have examined how journalists respond to the shifting media environment. While these studies have provided valuable insights on the ever-changing habits, norms, and role performance of contemporary journalists, there is limited knowledge on how these practices, once imported to social media, transform and shape the traditional expectations of news organizations. To fill this gap, this study problematizes journalists’ self-construction on social media to further understand how the dynamics of these platforms influence the potential conflicts of interest that can arise between journalists and the companies they work for when building their digital selves. Based on 30 in-depth interviews with Spanish journalists, this study conceptualizes three different social media selves: Nonpartisan, Equidistant, and Allied. Findings also show that the latent surveillance that has traditionally governed journalism is still rampant on social media. However, we argue that the disassociation between the physical newsroom and the digital environment influences journalists’ agency, allowing them to redefine their digital selves from a position of greater power and autonomy.