Greek journalists in the digital era: innovators or laggards? Anna Panagiotarea & Dimitra Dimitrakopoulou

IntroductionScientific framework: the impact of

the Internet on journalism in the digital era

This paper examines:the use and the level of adoption of

the Internet by Greek journaliststheir attitudes as far as this new

technology is concerned its impact on their daily working

practices Our research is theoretically based

on the model of innovation diffusion

Diffusion of the Internet (I)Diffusion is defined as the process

by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels (interpersonal channels & mass media) among the members of a social system

That requires time in any social system

through which an innovation is accepted or rejected in a given social system

(Rogers, 1995)

Diffusion of the Internet (II)

Is a process that goes through five stages:knowledge about or exposure to an

innovationformation or attitude or persuasiondecision of adoption or rejectionimplementation confirmation-reinforcement

Diffusion of the Internet (III)

the decision to adopt or reject an innovation depends on a variety of factors:adopter-related personality traitssocioeconomic influencesinterpersonal channels and media

useperceived attributes of an innovation

Diffusion of the Internet (IV)

The characteristics of innovations that influence the user’s attitudes are: relative advantage compatibilitycomplexity observabilitytrialability

Empirical researchMethodology

Method: Self-administered structured questionnaire

Sample: Journalists working in local and national media (251: 93% respond rate)

10 national daily newspapers and two local daily newspapers, seven television stations and four radio stations

The majority of journalists works in several media, so a clear distinction between press and broadcast journalists was not possible.

Therefore we studied our sample as ‘journalists’ in general, applying other distinction criteria, such as age, gender, education

Sample description (I)

48,0%52,0%

Gender WomenMen

Gender

Sample description (II)

5,67%

18,62%23,48%

45,75%

6,48%

Perc

ent

50

40

30

20

10

Age> 5646-5536-4526-35

0< 25

Sample description (III)

MasterUniversityAΤΕΙLyceum

Education

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Perc

ent

15,32%

52,02%

20,97%

11,69%

Results (Internet use) Internet penetration among Greek

journalists reaches almost the half of this particular professional category

Most popular uses: search for news (69%) gathering information to write an article

(50,6%) sending emails (46%)

Least popular uses: 83,5% have never joined a forum 90,3% have never entered a chat room

Use of the Internet as research medium

VLargeLargeMediumLittleVLittleNot at all

ResearchMedium

50

40

30

20

10

0

Perc

ent

40,24%

26,29%

10,76%

3,98%

11,55%7,17%

Use of the Internet as information medium

VLargeLargeMediumLittleVLittleNot at all

InfoMedium

50

40

30

20

10

0

Perc

ent

44,22%

24,3%

9,56%

2,79%1,2%

17,93%

InfoMedium

Use of the Internet as communication medium

VLargeLargeMediumLittleVLittleNot at all

CommMedium

25

20

15

10

5

0

Perc

ent

22,31%23,51%

13,94%

9,56%

23,51%

7,17%

Results (email use) This laggardness in exploiting the

Internet as a communication medium is evident in the next set of answers

Uses of email: ask information for an article: 16,5% communicate with colleagues: 24,3% communicate with their friends/relatives:

13,3% 74,5% never arrange a professional

meeting via email 67,2% have never communicated with the

public

Perceived usefulnessAlthough the penetration of the

new technologies is quite modest in a professional group that we expected that they would make extended use of them, an overwhelming majority (98,4%) believe that the Internet makes their work easier

Reasons for not using the Internet

22% prefer traditional ways of communicating and researching

21% blame the management/ownership of reluctance to lead towards adoption or invest in new technologies

17% have no training 16% find no use in entering the Internet 14% find it too complex 10% do not have the time to learn how

to use it or actually use it

Perceived future role of journalist

The answers are concentrated around two different poles: 41,1% believe that journalists should

become providers of specialized information

34% believe that journalists can survive only as critical analysts

While 20,7% adopt a more neutralized attitude and believe in the future of journalists as neutral information brokers

Factors affecting Internet use

We correlate our results with the age, the gender and the education level of the respondents

Our hypothesis is that there is a strong relation between the use of technology and the age, the gender and the education of the journalists

Age Age plays a significant role in the use

and the adoption of the Internet The differences among the various age

groups are significant and indicative for the generation gap regarding new technologies

The majority of the respondents who use the Internet everyday to perform various actions are under 45 years old

The respective percentage drops significantly at the age of over 45 years old

Gender Though expected that gender would

play a significant role in the use of technology, our research shows that there are not significant differences between male and female journalists

It seems that the Internet and the email are important tools for the journalistic work and thus are integrated into the everyday working life of journalists irrespective from their gender

The differences might not be large, but the superiority of men (abut 10%) in the use of technology is apparent in our data

Education levelOur correlation tests show that

there is significant statistical difference in the case of Internet use and education level

Heavy users of the Internet are University graduates and graduates from the Technological Institutes (ATEI)

No significant differences are noted regarding the use of email

Major remarks (I) Our study reveals that Greek journalists do

not belong to the innovators in adopting new technologies, as Internet penetration in this professional category is a little above 50%

Although they accept and demonstrate their perceived usefulness of new technologies, there is evidence that there is a level of resistance to adoption

As our results have shown, this resistance is ought to factors such as the age, the gender and the education level of the respondents

Major remarks (II) Our data demonstrate that age and

education play a pivotal role in the level of new technologies adoption, while gender affects the use in a secondary fashion

Dominant profile of a Greek journalist: under 45 years old, male and University graduate

We could characterize this group as the innovators of professional journalists, while the rest of them are the laggards or the late adopters

Issues for consideration (I) The reluctant media owners for investments in

new technologies, the limited training of journalists in new technologies and time constraints are a burden for journalists that hinders them to enter the digital era.

We should also highlight the responsibility of the state regarding the embracement and the promotion of the Internet. The state investments in new technologies are extremely limited, which is obvious in the low penetration rates in Greece (19,5%).

There is also an underlying fear that those journalists who will not be able to keep pace with the new technological developments will be left out of the profession.

Issues for consideration (II)

Last but not least, another highly important issue is the way that journalists exploit and incorporate into their work the various information that they gather on the Internet. The level of reliability and accuracy remains an open question on the Internet where inaccurate information and possible propaganda channels thrive uncontrolled.

A recent example is the weblog of Margot Wallström, who is blogging weekly in an attempt to make the topic of Europe as familiar as the weather or taxes. Her attempt has already provoked withering criticism among journalists who claim that the Commissioner’s intent is to create a propaganda-style broadcasting arm.

Thank you for your attention!