The multimedia newsroom and the 'new media audience' : the case of the Times Live

Abstract: The Internet brought about radical changes to the mass media industry, of which the most central change is the ability to enable audiences to participate in formulating messages on the Internet (Andrejevic, 2004:8-12). If this new opportunity to formulate messages is applied to the newspaper industry it means that traditional, relatively passive reading audiences, now have the opportunity to interact with the mass-mediated messages presented to them mainly by selecting news topics, commenting on stories, personalising content and posting their photographs, videos and other news content on the newspaper's Website (Stva1l, 2004:40- 47). Using the above as a starting point for this research dissertation, this study investigates whether, and if so how the notion of the 'new media audience' is consciously considered by the editorial staff of the Times LIVE during the news-making process. By drawing on answers of in-depth interviews with editorial staff of the Times LIVE, this dissertation finds that Times LIVE journalists drawn on a diverse range of elements to conceptualise both print and online audiences, with the online audience being thought to be superior to the print readers in certain respects, and as younger and more active than the print audience. It is noted, too, that the research bears out the literature in showing that the journalists did not conceive of their audience directly, but rather chose to write about people similar to them. A further finding is that the Times LIVE audience is somewhat catered for in the newsmaking process by the use of some interactive features, such as comments, polls and a platform for citizen contributions. However, what the audience gets in terms of interaction is conditioned by what the producers think they want, and limited by staffing and financial constraints. It is also clear that the content is driven by the print newsroom, and that it is then turned into online content by the Times LIVE editors. This thesis concludes by recommending the use of more multimedia features at the Times LIVE and suggests that further research could focus on surveying online audiences.M.A. (Journalism