Balancing career and life: an analysis of the organization of journalistic work in the platformization era
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24137/raeic.12.24.5Keywords:
Journalistic organization, Journalism practice, Work-life balance, Precarity, New Technologies, PlataformisationAbstract
This research analyses the organization of media newsrooms in Spain, characterized by a high degree of job insecurity in a context of digital transformation that has changed the working conditions of journalists. From the theoretical perspective of the Political Economy of Communications, 25 in-depth interviews were conducted with journalists, middle managers, and managers working in spanish media. The results show that the organization of work in these companies is changing. New technologies have enabled to introduce remote work and better coordination of newsrooms, but in return, have increased the pressure of immediacy and reduced the boundary between working time and private life. Most of the interviewees find their work stressful and all-consuming, which affects both their mental health and their ability to balance their personal and family lives. This problem impacts female journalists more than their male colleagues, and they try to alleviate it in the physical space of the newsroom through the camaraderie that prevails there, or through the specific work-life balance measures offered by companies, such as reduced working hours.
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References
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Daniels. L. G. y Hollifield A. C. (2002). Times of Turnoil: Short and Long-Term Effects of Organizational Change on Newsroom Employees. Journalism & Mass Comunication Quartertly, 79(3), 661-680.http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/107769900207900308
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Fishman, M. (1990). Manufacturing the News. University of Texas Press. García
González, L. H. (2013). Acerca de la investigación sociológica y la entrevista cualitativa. Praxis Investigativa ReDIE, 5(8), 82-93.
Hayes, Kathryn. (2021). The Networked Newsroom: Navigating New Boundaries of Work. Journalism Practice, 18(4), 803-817. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2021.1949627
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Robinson, S. (2011). Convergence Crises: News Work and News Space in the Digitally Transforming Newsroom. Journal of Communication, 61(6). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2011.01603.x
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Šimunjak, M. (2023). “You have to Do That for Your Own Sanity”: Digital Disconnection as journalists’ Coping and Preventive Strategy in Managing Work and Wll-Being. Digital Journalism.
https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2022.2153711
Smythe, W. D. (1960). On the Political Economy of Comunications. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 37 (4). https://doi.org/10.1177/107769906003700409
Ufarte Ruiz, M.J. (2013). El burnout en la profesión periodística: un estudio del síndrome de estar quemado en los profesionales de la prensa escrita en Almería. Hologramática, 18(2), 23-40.
Villanova Pelluch, L. y Jabardo Velasco, M. (2012). La conciliación de la vida familiar y laboral en el periodismo. En Villegas-Suárez, J. C.; Liberia Vayá, I.; Berenguer-Zurbano, B. I Congreso Internacional de Comunicación y Género. Libro de Actas I (461-471). Universidad de Sevilla.
Waisbord, S. (2018). The vulnerabilities of journalism. Journalism, 20(1), 210-213. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884918809283
Wolf, M. (1987). La Investigación De La Comunicación de Masas (instrumentos). Ediciones Paidós.
APM (2023). Informe Anual de la Profesión Periodística 2023.
Bossio, D y Hotlon, A. (2019). Burning out and turning off: Journalists disconnection strategies on social media. Journalism, 22(10). https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884919872076
Braun, V. y Clarke, V. (2021). Thematic analysis: a practical guide. SAGE.
Califano, B. (2021). Economía Política de la Comunicación: de sus orígenes a la consolidación del campo en América Latina. Perspectivas de la comunicación,14 (2), 57-94. http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-48672021000200057
Cañedo, A., Demeter, M, y Goyanes, M (2023). The nonpartisan, the equidistant and the allied: How journalists negotiate their digital selves on social media. Sage Journals. https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849231183246
Carls, K. (2015). Precariousness meets passion-Fields of conflicts in editorial and social work. International Journal of Action Research, 11(1-12).
Cottle, S. (2007). Etnography and News Production: News(s) Developments in the Field. Sociology Compass, 1(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751- 9020.2007.00002.x
Daniels. L. G. y Hollifield A. C. (2002). Times of Turnoil: Short and Long-Term Effects of Organizational Change on Newsroom Employees. Journalism & Mass Comunication Quartertly, 79(3), 661-680.http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/107769900207900308
Febri Sonni, Alem. (2025). Digital transformation in journalism: mini review on the impact of AI on journalistic practices. Frontiers in Communication, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1535156
Fishman, M. (1990). Manufacturing the News. University of Texas Press. García
González, L. H. (2013). Acerca de la investigación sociológica y la entrevista cualitativa. Praxis Investigativa ReDIE, 5(8), 82-93.
Hayes, Kathryn. (2021). The Networked Newsroom: Navigating New Boundaries of Work. Journalism Practice, 18(4), 803-817. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2021.1949627
Hesmondhalgh, D. y Baker, S. (2011). Creative Labour: Media Work in Three Cultural Industries. Routledge.
Holton, A. E., Bélair-Gagnon, V., Bossio, D. y Molyneux, L. (2023). Not Their Fault, but Their Problem”: Organizational Responses to the Online Harassment of Journalists. Journalism Practice, 17(4), 859-874.
Kaale, Kaannaeli. y Mijema, Daniel. (2025). The impact of use social media in communication flow from State House to traditional media in Tanzania. Technium Social Sciences Journal, 67 (pp.508-527). 10.47577/tssj.v67i1.12408
Miège, B. (1987). The logics at work in the new cultural industries. Media, Culture & Society, 9(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/016344387009003002
Mosco, V (2009). The Political Economy of Communication. SAGE. Nörback, M. (2022). Maintaining a Freelance Career: How Journalists Generate and Evaluate Freelance Work. Journalism Studies, 23(10), 1141-1159. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2022.2073257
Nörback, M. (2022). Maintaining a Freelance Career: How Journalists Generate and Evaluate Freelance Work. Journalism Studies, 23(10), 1141-1159. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2022.2073257
Papadopoulou, L., Angelou, I., y Katsaounidou, A. (2024). “I love my job, but my job is destroying me”. Permacrisis’ toll on journalistic practice and perceptions about journalism in Southern Europe. Journalism, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849241272219
Papí-Gálvez, N. (2007). ¿Maternidad y periodismo? La conciliación de la vida familiar y laboral en la prensa diaria valenciana. En: Álvarez Pousa, L.; Puñal Rama, A. B.; Evans Pim, J. Comunicación e xénero: actas do Foro internacional (391- 413). Observatorio Galego dos Medios.
Pérez Andrés, C. (2002). Sobre la metodología cualitativa. Rev. Esp. Salud Pública,76 (5), 373-380.
Quandt, T. y Whal- Jorgensen, K. (2021). The coronavirus pandemic as a Critical Moment for Digital Journalism. Digital Journalism, 9(9).
https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2021.1996253
Reich, Z. (2013). The impact of Technology on News Reporting A Longitudinal Perspective. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly. 90. 417-434. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1077699013493789
Reinardy, S. (2010) Newsrooms fertile ground for burnout among layoff survivors. American Society of News Editors newsletter.
Reinardy, S. (2011). Newspaper journalism in crisis: Burnout on the rise, eroding young journalists career commitment. Journalism, 12 (1), 33-50. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884910385188
Robinson, S. (2011). Convergence Crises: News Work and News Space in the Digitally Transforming Newsroom. Journal of Communication, 61(6). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2011.01603.x
Sierra Caballero, F. (2019). La entrevista en profundidad. Función, sentido y técnica. En J.A. González, C.M. Krohling Peruzzo (Ed.). Arte y oficio de la investigación ciéntifica: cuestiones epistemológicas y metodológicas (pp. 301-379). Ediciones Ciespal.
Sigal, V. L. (1973). Reporters and Officials: The Organization and Politics of Newsmaking. D C Helath & Co.
Šimunjak, M. (2023). “You have to Do That for Your Own Sanity”: Digital Disconnection as journalists’ Coping and Preventive Strategy in Managing Work and Wll-Being. Digital Journalism.
https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2022.2153711
Smythe, W. D. (1960). On the Political Economy of Comunications. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 37 (4). https://doi.org/10.1177/107769906003700409
Ufarte Ruiz, M.J. (2013). El burnout en la profesión periodística: un estudio del síndrome de estar quemado en los profesionales de la prensa escrita en Almería. Hologramática, 18(2), 23-40.
Villanova Pelluch, L. y Jabardo Velasco, M. (2012). La conciliación de la vida familiar y laboral en el periodismo. En Villegas-Suárez, J. C.; Liberia Vayá, I.; Berenguer-Zurbano, B. I Congreso Internacional de Comunicación y Género. Libro de Actas I (461-471). Universidad de Sevilla.
Waisbord, S. (2018). The vulnerabilities of journalism. Journalism, 20(1), 210-213. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884918809283
Wolf, M. (1987). La Investigación De La Comunicación de Masas (instrumentos). Ediciones Paidós.
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2025-12-15
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Balancing career and life: an analysis of the organization of journalistic work in the platformization era . (2025). Revista De La Asociación Española De Investigación De La Comunicación, 12(24). https://doi.org/10.24137/raeic.12.24.5
