The datafication of newswork: The use metrics and gamification to motivate journalists.

Abstract

This paper examines the way in which game mechanics and metrics are introduced in a journalistic context, how they are used to motivate journalists and enhance performance, and what are the reactions of journalists who interact with the system. By qualitatively assessing the case of Bleacher Report, it is argued that there is a growing trend in news websites that openly embrace data as a measurement for journalistic performance and that such a development endows data with an agentic quality that has potential implications for journalism. This study contributes to the current knowledge about use of data and gamification in journalistic contexts. These results show that game mechanics function as a visualization technique that generate an extended desire for metrics, and that those metrics are understood as measurement for own journalistic performance.