Lecture on the role of emotions in journalism to Amsterdam University, Feb 2016

1. The new human interest:
emotion and journalism in the
digital era
Prof Charlie Beckett
February 2016

7. Always with you

9. Digital dependency

10. Pillow talk

16. Why do we share news content?
• To bring valuable and entertaining content to
others
• To get get the word out about causes or issues
they believe in
• To define ourselves to others: an emotional
act

17. Objectivity v Empathy

18. The daily cycle of newsroom sensitivity
Emotional event
Interest
Shock
Compassion
Editorial process
Objective
Organised
Formulaic
Personal feelings
Guilt/pride
Reflection
Action

19. The new cycle of ‘sensitive’ content
creation
Event
Professional
process
Affective
narrative
Emotional
audience
response
Emotion
driven
sharing

20. Pushing at the boundaries

21. "We expect broadcasters as fellow human
beings to neuter and cauterise their own
emotion to what they see. Jon has seen a lot of
suffering around the world in the last 40 years,
and we should respect that emotion.”
John Ryley, Sky News

23. Homophily

25. “The better we get at modelling user
preferences, the more accurately we construct
recommendation engines that fully capture
user attention. In a way, we are building
personalized propaganda engines that feed
users content which makes them feel good
and throws away the uncomfortable bits.”
Gilad Lotan, Data Scientist, 2015

26. Rampant relativism

27. The new objectivity

28. Transparency ideals
Authenticity
Accuracy
Apology

29. Back to the lab

31. Back to the design software for
journalists
• Minimalism
• Interactivity
• Call and response
• Upworthy writing – cues -