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Social Media in Ecuador: Impact on Journalism Practice and Citizens’ Understanding of Public Politics

Abstract:

The omnipresence and ubiquitous nature of online news on social media has challenged the traditional news production process of most news organizations worldwide. However, most research on this topic has dealt with the impact of social networks on global North societies. In this article, drawing upon a world-systemic approach, we focus on how social media transforms journalism practice in Ecuador and explore its main influences on how journalists make sense of and evaluate their professional roles. Based on interviews with 40 Ecuadorian journalists having a variety of backgrounds and levels of experience, we show how social media affects journalists’ professional practices, conceptualizing these influences as systemic and antisystemic phenomena. The most important systemic consequences of social media are related to the immediate nature of news, the changing identity of journalists and the growing wave of sensationalism, while the most important antisystemic feature is the nourishing of an indigenous orientation whereby Ecuadorian journalists favor their own rhetorical and narrative traditions against global (central) mores.