The Rise of the Talking Journalist: Human Voice, Engagement, and Trust in Live Journalism Performance

Abstract

Live journalism performances have become a rising trend in journalism to gain audiences’ trust and engagement. This article examines how live journalism shows bring talking journalists into the limelight. It illustrates how audience’s experiences regarding journalistic talk provide an understanding of how the idea of trust is negotiated during a performance. The empirical material includes audience surveys and interviews from the Finnish live journalism show Musta laatikko in 2019. By bringing together aspects from journalism studies, social psychology, and sound studies, the article demonstrates the nuanced ways audiences discuss the atmosphere of the show. Especially interesting is how audiences experienced journalist’s professional competence through talk. Notably, talk as a medium was seen to reduce, in positive ways, the distance between a journalist and audience but not the trust between them. Finally, the article demonstrates how live journalism and live talk can provide audiences with much-welcomed algorithm-free and full-concentration possibilities to consume journalism.