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

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.