Examining the digital renewal of news communication: A categorization of presentation modes in digital journalism

Püchel L.; Wellbrock C.M.

Abstract

Our daily dealings with media products are shaped by the use of generic designations such as journalistic presentation modes, for example, news, commentary, and Instagram-story. Yet, scholarship has examined presentation modes only selectively and lacks empirical investigations in this domain. Based on literature and a quantitative content analysis of jury protocols of the German online journalism award “Grimme Online Award,” this article explores how presentation modes are constructed and further develops a framework for a categorization of presentation modes with eight dimensions: Content and Function, Author, Sources, Periodicity, Material Substrate, Structure, Media, and Interactive-Engagement Elements. This study is the first to empirically assess journalistic presentation mode dimensions and manifestations.