The short history of naming journalism in the digital era

Abstract

The notion of digital journalism has been part of our vocabulary for over 25 years. In this chapter, I will examine the digital era of journalism by drawing from the concept of “X journalism,” which focuses on the prefixes that are given to journalism; digital journalism is a prime example. This chapter is based on an overview of 193 different X journalism terms from 1997 to 2023. Through this, I will tap into the recent history of digital journalism and the transformation of the research field that I have personally been part of. The results show that the history of naming digital journalism is not solely a history of technology, even if it is important. The history also encompasses motivation and style of journalism, as well as audience relations, and (economic) reorganization in journalism.