Updating Public Value: How Journalists Understand Their Societal Role in the Context of Digital Platforms

Abstract

Journalism’s role transformation from gatekeeper to one of many communicating actors on digital platforms increasingly necessitates the profession to reflect on the societal value it can provide on digital platforms. Applying the concepts of ‘public value’ and ‘platformization,’ this case study examines funk, a unique content network from German public service media that produces content mainly for a young audience using social media platforms for distribution. Building on a newsroom observation that informed subsequent qualitative interviews with nine members of funk, the findings reveal that, while public value perceptions align with traditional understandings of public value, they are adapted to the digital environment. Furthermore, the funk members reflect on reaching the target group, interactivity, and technical features of digital platforms to enhance public value, while also stressing the boundaries mainly stemming from the commercially-oriented logic of digital platforms.