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The manage ial and u u e-o ien ed ole o audience da a in da a-in o med news
o ganisa ions
© The Au ho (s) 2024
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Ah a, Lau a; Salonen, Ma ga e a; O aska, Liisa; Tal i ie-Lambe g, Ka oliina
Ah a, L., Salonen, M., O aska, L., & Tal i ie-Lambe g, K. (2024). The manage ial and u u e-
o ien ed ole o audience da a in da a-in o med news o ganisa ions. Jou nalism, Ea ly online.
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Jou nalism
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The manage ial and
u u e-o ien ed ole o audience
da a in da a-in o med news
o ganisa ions
Lau a Ah a
Tampe e Uni e si y, Finland
Ma ga e a Salonen
Uni e si y o Jy ¨
askyl¨
a, Finland
Liisa O aska
Tampe e Uni e si y, Finland
Ka oliina Tal i ie-Lambe g
Uni e si y o Jy ¨
askyl¨
a, Finland
Abs ac
One sign o da afica ion in jou nalism is ha news ooms u ilise insigh s om audience
da a and ela ed me ics in hei decision-making. In p o essional discou se, his o en
alludes o he no ion o ‘da a-in o med news ooms’in which o ganisa ions a e managed
wi h he help o da a. This a icle ocuses on he manage ial ole o audience da a in such
o ganisa ions: Wha ypes o audience da a in o m news ooms, which domains o
news oom managemen a e being in o med by da a, and wha kinds o isions mo i a e
he u u e o da a use in news o ganisa ions? These ques ions a e answe ed based on
empi ical ma e ial om h ee di e en esea ch p ojec s (2020–2022) in Finland, in-
cluding bo h quali a i e in e iews and su ey esul s ea u ing he iews o a ied
jou nalism p o essionals on da a use. The heo e ical amewo k d aws om con-
cep ualisa ions o an icipa o y go e nance. P o essionals’in e p e a ions o audience da a
e eal he basic elemen s o da a sou ces, ypes, sys ems and s o ages ha in o m he
o ganisa ions. Such audience da a a e used o ou main managemen pu poses–leading
indi iduals, wo k p ocesses, he news p oduc , and he audience. The ole o audience
Co esponding au ho :
Lau a Ah a, Facul y o In o ma ion Technology and Communica ion Sciences, Kale an ie 4, Tampe e
Uni e si y, Tampe e 33014, Finland.
Email: lau a.ah a@ uni.fi
da a in he u u e p e e ably includes elemen s o p edic abili y, ai ness, usabili y, and
dep h. Howe e , he e a e disc epancies be ween he isions hemsel es as well as he
iews o he manage s and jou nalis s, which esul s in an ongoing nego ia ion abou he
sui able ole o audience da a in news o ganisa ions.
Keywo ds
An icipa o y go e nance, audience analy ics, da a-in o med news oom, da a-d i en
managemen , digi al jou nalism, news oom managemen
In oduc ion
Collec ing and analysing digi al da a om all walks o li e ha e become easie and much
mo e e ec i e in ecen decades. This shi , o en e med da afica ion (Could y and Hepp,
2017), is also shaping he p oduc ion and consump ion o news and jou nalism (Po lezza,
2023). News ooms a e, hus, among he many o ganisa ions aspi ing o become ‘da a-
d i en’(Ande son, 2015). This e e s o how hei ope a ions p io i ise and gi e s a us o
alues and p ac ices ha de i e om da a and hei analysis (Eks ¨
om e al., 2022: 757).
Digi al da a a e pe cei ed as a cen al knowledge esou ce ha needs o be ha nessed,
p ocessed, and s uc u ed so ha o ganisa ional ac o s in news ooms can ac upon hem
(Vulpius, 2022: 353). Digi al da a ha e an especially s ong ole in he wo k o news oom
manage s who egula ly u ilise hem o lead hei o ganisa ions (Ch is in and Pe e, 2020;
Teno , 2023). In such managemen , da a and analy ics help an icipa e he u u e be e
(Fly e bom and Ga s en, 2021).
I is e iden ha news ooms ha e adop ed insigh s om a b oade pa adigm o da a-
d i en managemen . McA ee and B ynjol sson (2012: 4) a gued ha access o big da a
b ough ‘a e olu ion’ o he wo ld o managemen a he s a o he 2010s, sugges ing
ha h ough big da a, ‘we can measu e and, he e o e, manage mo e p ecisely han
be o e’. E en i he e olu iona y discou se has a enua ed, a da a-d i en managemen
pa adigm emains in he in o ma ion sys ems and business sec o s. Based on he li e a u e
om his domain, da a-d i en o ganisa ions appea as en i ies ha u ilise da a and an-
aly ics o inc ease hei capabili ies on ou key o ganisa ional domains: s uc u es,
echnologies, p ocesses, and people (Be nd sson e al., 2018;Huppe z e al., 2021). The
li e a u e conside s da a a cen al asse , pa icula ly in e ms o p edic ing, a ionalising,
and op imising wo kflows, as well as building new p oduc s o finding new business
models o imp o e p oduc i i y (Hannila e al., 2022). I has been posi ed ha o gani-
sa ions need o be led in a way ha cul i a es a company-wide da a cul u e o a oid silos
and misunde s andings (Be nd sson e al., 2018).
We can iden i y wo specifici ies in how he abo e-desc ibed pa adigm has been
domes ica ed in o news ooms. The fi s is audience-cen ism (e.g. Lind´
en e al., 2022;
Vulpius, 2023) and pe ains o he ac ha he key o m o da a in news o ganisa ions
deals wi h use s a he han any o he ype o o ganisa ional o business da a (see Napoli
and Roepnack, 2018). Audience da a a e appealing because hey c ea e he p omise o
2Jou nalism 0(0)
helping jou nalis s gain con ol o e hei online audiences and, hus, be e add ess he
audiences’needs (Ah a and O aska, 2023;Ande son, 2011). Howe e , we also know ha
he in oduc ion o audience analy ics in o news ooms has equi ed news p o essionals o
ponde he ensuing implica ions on hei p o essional p ac ices and alues, such as
au onomy (e.g. Ch is in and Pe e, 2020). To summa ise, jou nalis s ha e wea ed au-
dience analy ics as pa o hei p o ession h ough a p ocess ha s a ed wi h a weak
in e es in he echnology (MacG ego , 2007: 283), ollowed by esis ance (Welbe s e al.,
2016) ha slowly ga e way o nego ia ion, in e es , and e en ually e en en husiasm
(Ah a and O aska, 2023;Che ubini and Nielsen, 2016). As a esul , analy ics ha e
become an e e yday ea u e in news ooms (Teno , 2023).
Howe e , he iews abou how o ce ully da a could and should d i e news o ga-
nisa ions’decision-making and managemen emain mixed (Ah a and O aska, 2023;
Bunce, 2019;Salonen e al., 2023;Tandoc, 2019: 43; Vulpius, 2022). Hence, he second
specifici y deals wi h adjus ing he no ion o being ‘d i en’o ‘led’by da a in o being
‘in o med’by da a in he jou nalis ic con ex . The Gua dian’s audience edi o Ch is
Mo an explici ly alluded o his in a epo by Che ubini and Nielsen (2016: 32):
We desc ibe ou sel es as da a-in o med, no da a-led, and ha ’s c i ical o me. I’m obsessed
wi h da a in he news oom, bu i shouldn’ be he only hing ha is making he decisions:
edi o ial ins inc should do ha .
Exis ing li e a u e shows how jou nalis ic wo k equi es p o essional assessmen o
ac o s such as newswo hiness, impo ance, o impac , he eby ea u ing an edi o ial
unde s anding o news as public in o ma ion, which is di ficul o assess using da a
analy ics alone (Hollifield, 2019;Si ´
en-Heikel e al., 2022: 337–338). e.g., based on a
s udy in a local Swedish news oom, Eks ¨
om e al. (2022: 758) concluded ha news
o ganisa ions indeed emb ace and lea n om audience analy ics and he me ics p oduced
bu only in combina ion wi h o he alues in making jou nalis ic judgemen s. Simila ly,
Miloje ic (2022) sugges ed ha he aim o being da a-in o med has mani es ed in
No wegian news ooms, o example, in how pa o he on page is always ese ed o
s o ies ha a e chosen based on edi o ial assessmen and no me ics. Lind´
en e al. (2022:
334) added ha in many No dic news ooms, quali a i e audience analyses a e being
combined wi h quan i a i e measu emen s o a oid being pu ely da a-d i en. So, i seems
ha news p o essionals eel ambi alence owa d how much da a should be allowed o
guide hei daily p ac ices (Salonen e al., 2023).
The e o e, in news oom discou se, he da a-d i en managemen pa adigm has been
educed in o a da a-in o med amewo k. In exis ing jou nalism esea ch, he no ion o
‘da a-in o med news oom’is e e ed o (e.g. Hend ickx e al., 2021), bu no o en
unpacked. Che ubini and Nielsen (2016: 10) define i b oadly as a jou nalis ic o gani-
sa ion whose combina ion o echnological ools, o ganisa ional s uc u e, and news oom
cul u e enables da a-based decision-making.
News ooms a e hus cu en ly gi ing audience da a a significan in o ming ole, and
we need o ge a be e empi ical and analy ical hold o he co e ques ions o wha is i ha
da a ac ually guide in da a-in o med news ooms, and how is such in o ming jus ified.
Ah a e al. 3
Much is known abou he ole o audience da a in jou nalis ic wo k (e.g. Ch is in, 2020;
Tandoc, 2019), whe eas he b oade pe spec i e o managemen has gained less a en ion
(see howe e , Bunce, 2019). This a icle con ibu es o jou nalism s udies by un a elling
he componen s o da a-in o med news ooms by shedding ligh on da a’s manage ial ole
in he p esen , and isions o da a o he u u e. Th ough his, we aim o unde s and wha
da afied news oom cul u e means in p ac ice. As ou heo e ical lens, we use li e a u e on
da a-d i en managemen , pa icula ly he no ion o an icipa o y go e nance (Fly e bom
and Ga s en, 2021).
In he a icle, we ocus on how jou nalism p o essionals make sense o he basic
elemen s o audience da a, and he domains o da a-in o med news oom managemen , and
how hey wea e da a as pa o he news ooms’ u u e in he cul u al and socie al con ex
o Finland. The esea ch ques ions a e:
RQ1: Wha kinds o audience da a a e cu en ly collec ed and used o manage news
o ganisa ions in Finland?
RQ2: Wha domains in news oom managemen a e being in o med by audience da a?
RQ3: Wha kinds o u u e isions do he news p o essionals ha e abou da a-in o med
news o ganisa ions?
Da a-in o med managemen as a o m o an icipa o y
go e nance
As we ocus on he in o ming ole o audience da a in news ooms, we a e in e es ed in he
managemen a he han p oduc ion p ac ices o da afied jou nalism. Wi hin he field o
media managemen , we ocus on a specific a ea o news oom managemen : how he
p ocesses o c ea ing news con en a e di ec ed and coo dina ed (Hollifield, 2019: 3). Ou
app oach aps in o wo majo hemes in news oom managemen s udies: he ole o
echnology and da a in managemen , and he changes caused by he economic decline in
he news indus y (Hollifield, 2019). Cu en ly, p essing issues in Finland pe ain o
managing news ooms ha ocus mo e hea ily on online subsc ip ions as a o m o income
(Lind´
en e al., 2022) as well as op imising use expe ience (Leino e al., 2023). Bo h issues
a e de eloped wi h he help o da a analy ics.
To examine hese da afied changes, jou nalism esea che s can lea n om c i ical da a
schola s who ha e no ed ha when da a, algo i hms, and pla o ms become pa o
o ganisa ions and ou e e yday li es h ough da afica ion, an icipa ion appea s as he
cen al ea u e in h ee in e linked ways: in how people an icipa e hei ac ions, how hey
imagine he wo ld, and especially how p edic ion h ough da a has become a cen al way
o do business and go e nance (Ka zenbach and Ulb ich , 2019;Koi unen e al., 2024).
C i ical da a schola s posi ha such ans o ma ions in he ela ionship be ween da a and
knowledge p oduc ion (Flensbu g e al., 2023;Ki chin, 2014) and he powe o da a
(And eje ic, 2019) should be a he cen e o esea ch on da afica ion.
An icipa ion is indeed a ac o in he de elopmen and managemen o da afied
jou nalism, oo. Napoli (2016) a gued ha wi hin jou nalis ic o ganisa ions, da a’s ole in
4Jou nalism 0(0)

managemen can be seen as he la es s ep in how news ooms ha e a ionalised audience
unde s anding in hei need o ope a e among unce ain ies. Ananny and Finn (2020:
1609) added ha news publishe s la gely ag ee ha he economics o online news equi e
hem o manage hei o ganisa ions ia an icipa o y in as uc u es, o example, o p edic
audiences’a en ion and engagemen wi h me ics o be e adjus he wo kflows o
news ooms.
To unde s and his an icipa o y ans o ma ion in news oom managemen , we can find
u he help om o ganisa ion and managemen esea ch ha indica es how he eme -
gence o digi al da a as a cen al an icipa o y asse shapes o ganisa ions: he way da a
cons uc s he o ganisa ions and ca ies hem in o he u u e (Fly e bom and Ga s en,
2021). Da a analy ics and au oma ed o ms o pa e n ecogni ion ha e gi en ise o a new
s yle o managemen in which o ganisa ions seek o make phenomena, p oblems, and
oppo uni ies isible, p edic able, and, hence, manageable ia da a (Fly e bom e al.,
2016;Fly e bom and Ga s en, 2021). The e o e, he means o manage ial con ol and he
exe cise o powe ha e also become da a-in o med. Howe e , in his line o hinking,
managemen akes place sub ly ia s ee ing da a-based p ocesses o o e ing empla es o
o ganisa ional ac ion, no only o necessa ily ia egula ing indi idual employees’ac ions
(Fly e bom and Ga s en, 2021:2;Fly e bom e al., 2016: 101).
Following Fly e bom and Ga s en’s (2021) wo k, we posi ha da a a e a cen al, albei
no he only, knowledge esou ce h ough which news o ganisa ions a e go e ned and ha
he main aim o such go e nance is o an icipa e, o lean o wa d. Fly e bom and
Ga s en’s (2021: 7) wo k o e s a ou -le el ypology in which da a-in o med an icipa o y
go e nance c ea es a s ee ing o de in o ganisa ions. Fi s , he e a e snapsho s: s a is ical
epo s, ankings, isualisa ions, o o he indica ions ha help o simpli y complexi y and
guide immedia e day- o-day ac ions. Second, au oma ed and p edic i e da a analyses,
such as p ofiling, p o ide p ognoses o help p edic he nea u u e. Thi d, da a a e
analysed o o m p ojec ions and scena ios o ac i ely design he u u e ahead. Fou h,
da a play a ole in how dis an u u es a e isioned, e en in specula i e and imagina y
ways ha o en d aw om ex e nal sou ces, such as da a consul an s’ o mula ions (see
also Bee , 2019). Fly e bom and Ga s en (2021: 18) indica ed ha hei ypology can be
applied o s udying how da a in o m and shape o ganisa ional s a egies, inno a ions, and
he o ganisa ions hemsel es h ough sensemaking. We a e pa icula ly inspi ed by he
las aspec .
In he con ex o da a-in o med news ooms, he ou le els o an icipa o y go e nance
appea as pa e ns ha gi e s uc u e o he manage ial use o audience da a. They in i e us
o ega d news p o essionals’da a- ela ed in e p e a ions as sensemaking ha c a s hese
o ganisa ions in e ms o an icipa ing bo h he immedia e nex mo es and he nea u u e,
as well as mo e dis an u u es. We a gue ha sensemaking abou an icipa o y go e nance
is a play when jou nalis s and manage s nego ia e be ween jou nalism- and da a- ela ed
alues while aspi ing o be da a-in o med a he han da a-d i en (see e.g. Hend ickx
e al., 2021;Rolandsson e al., 2022;Salonen e al., 2023;Tandoc 2019). Thus, jou nalis s
and news oom manage s a e pushed o conside he app op ia e place and weigh o da a
in hei cu en wo k and in planning o hei o ganisa ions’nea u u e (e.g. Ch is in and
Pe e, 2020;Chua and Wes lund, 2019;Hayes and O’Sulli an, 2023). A he same ime,
Ah a e al. 5
hey also eflec on he many isiona y p omises o da a and analy ics (Eks ¨
om e al.,
2022: 756; S ensson, 2023).
Resea ch ma e ial and me hods
The esea ch ma e ial comp ised h ee da a se s om sepa a e p ojec s based in Finland
be ween 2020 and 2022 (see Table 1). Despi e some di e ences in he o iginal esea ch
designs
1
, all he p ojec s had an o e a ching aim o unde s anding he use o audience da a
wi hin Finnish news o ganisa ions, which ga e us he idea o examining he da a se s
join ly. By ocusing on Finland, we con ibu e o knowledge abou news oom man-
agemen in he con ex o a No dic jou nalism cul u e ha used o be socially and
economically s able, bu in which newspape s in pa icula —e en i s ill well- ega ded by
he audience bo h as p in and online e sions—ha e aced a decline in ci cula ion
(Hellman, 2021). In his con ex , news ooms ha e ac i ely u ilised and de eloped da a
analy ics (Miloje ic, 2022;Teno , 2023). Mos comme cial news o ganisa ions ely on
wo main sou ces o income: ad e ising sales and subsc ip ions, wi h he la e on he ise
(Lind´
en e al., 2022). The p opo ion o people paying o online news is highe in Finland
han he a e age in No dic coun ies (Newman e al., 2022). The e o e, his s udy also
sheds ligh on en i onmen s beyond he No dics, in which subsc ip ion-based models a e
applied in online jou nalism.
Da a Se 1 comp ised nine semi-s uc u ed in e iews wi h news manage s (edi o s and
uni leade s) and one suppo i e echnologis (digi al-domain specialis ) wo king wi hin
Finnish news o ganisa ions. This da a se ga e us knowledge abou he p o essionals
esponsible o buying se ices and/o implemen ing he use o analy ics, ha is, he
Table 1. Da a Se s and in o man s o each esea ch p ojec .
Da a se s
Da a se 1
(N=9)
Da a se 2
(N=9)
Da a se 3
(N= 105)
Posi ion Manage s (e.g. edi o s,
depa men heads)
8527
Jou nalis s (e.g. epo e s,
isual jou nalis s)
0175
Suppo i e/ echnological s a
(e.g. analys s, de elope s)
133
Gende Female 2 1 51
Male 7 7 50
Nonbina y/p e e no o say 0 1 4
Type o news
o ganisa ion
ep esen ed
Newspape 6 9 105
Public b oadcas e 1 0 0
Tabloid 2 0 0
Time o in e iew/ esponse 12/2020–
2/2021
5/2022–
8/2022
2/2021–
11/2022
A e age leng h o in e iew/ esponse a e 69 min 96 min 17.5%
6Jou nalism 0(0)
indi iduals who lead wi h da a. This ma e ial was collec ed h ough emo e in e iews.
The ques ions in he in e iew guide we e o ganised unde h ee main hemes: (1)
manage s’and hei news ooms’da a- ela ed wo k p ac ices, (2) audience me ics’ ole in
Finnish news ou le s mo e gene ally, and (3) he balance be ween in-house and ou sou ced
da a analysis wi hin hei companies.
Da a Se 2 comp ised nine semi-s uc u ed in e iews wi h news p o essionals who
deal wi h da a- ela ed ques ions in hei e e yday wo k. Thei wo k p ofiles a ied om
manage ial oles (e.g. head o news) and con en -p oducing jou nalis s (e.g. social media
manage ) o suppo i e o echnological oles (e.g. lead de elope ). Thus, his se o e s
knowledge abou how expe s in audience da a wi hin hei uni s ega d da a-in o med
managemen . Some in e iews we e conduc ed ia Zoom, and o he s we e ace- o- ace.
All we e o ganised unde six main hemes: (1) collec ion and use o da a om news media
websi es, (2) and social media pla o ms, (3) e hics and esponsibili y in da a collec ion
and use, (4) news media’s app oach o social media pla o ms, (5) legisla ion dealing wi h
da a p ac ices, and (6) mode a ion o news discussions.
Da a Se 3 comp ised online su ey esponses om 105 news p o essionals wi h a
17.5% esponse a e
2
—including jou nalis s, manage s, and suppo i e s a — om one
na ional newspape and ou egional newspape s. The su ey included bo h Like scales
and open-ended ques ions co e ing (1) gene al habi s ollowing and u ilising analy ics,
and (2) hei impac on news oom p ac ice, (3) easons o ollow analy ics, (4) emo ions
e oked by hem, and (5) he in o ma ion ha analy ics gene a e om he audience. This
da a se p o ided us wi h insigh s om a a ie y o news p o essionals, including hose
whose wo k is being managed.
In o med consen was ob ained om all pa icipan s in each p ojec sepa a ely
3
. All he
quali a i e in e iews we e ansc ibed and anonymised o analysis. The ma e ial was
analysed so ha a quali a i e analy ical amewo k was c ea ed by he fi s au ho based
on Da a Se 1 o co e in e p e a ions o (1) sou ces and ypes, (2) p esen managemen
domains and (3) u u e uses o audience da a. The ea e , he second and hi d au ho s
ollowed he amewo k and conduc ed analyses o hei quali a i e ma e ial (in e iews
and open-ended esponses). A e he quali a i e pa , s a is ical dis ibu ions in he su ey
we e used o confi m o challenge he ca ego isa ions. The au ho s hen i e a i ely e-
in o ced and nuanced he amewo k based on he indi idual da a se s and c ea ed an-
aly ical ca ego ies ha applied o all he esea ch ma e ial.
Basic elemen s o audience da a in news ooms
Be o e del ing in o da a-in o med managemen , we add ess ou fi s esea ch ques ion
and cla i y wha news p o essionals iewed as alid audience da a wi hin hei o ga-
nisa ions and how i was handled. In Figu e 1, we condense hese basic elemen s in o main
ypes o audience da a sou ces, objec s, sys ems, and s o age me hods o igina ing om
ou esponden s’in e p e a ions.
The mos impo an sou ces o si es o audience da a comp ised news o ganisa ions’
own websi es and mobile apps. Howe e , da a ga he ed om he o ganisa ions’pu chase
and subsc ip ion sys ems ha e g own in impo ance o speci y he ypes o con en
Ah a e al. 7
subsc ibe s consume o wha would be con e ed in o pu chases o single s o ies o ial/
ull subsc ip ions. Social media pla o ms we e also impo an da a sou ces, al hough he
ela ionship be ween news o ganisa ions and social media pla o ms ea u e dependencies
and ensions (see Chua and Wes lund, 2019).
In e ms o ypes, con en use da a—page iews, eading ime, sha es, isi ing e-
quency, and sessions—we e p ominen , ollowed by ansac ion da a, o example,
pu chases. The e we e also equen e e ences o demog aphic da a abou age, gende ,
esidence, e c. Howe e , as he collec ion o such da a is inc easingly egula ed in he
Eu opean Union (EU), his da a ype appea ed o be he mos di ficul o ob ain bu also
e y aluable. Fu he mo e, mo emen da a we e collec ed o ollow use s’mo emen s
wi hin news se ices o om social media o news si es.
Only la ge media companies had in-house analy ics p og ams designed jus o hem;
smalle o ganisa ions elied on se ices p o ided by ex e nally go e ned hi d-pa y
companies. In ou ma e ial, abou 20 di e en companies and p og ams we e men ioned,
he mos equen being Google Analy ics, Cha bea , LinkPulse, Tableau, Mic oso
Powe BI, and Adobe Analy ics. Howe e , he mos ypical case is a combina ion o
in e nally and ex e nally go e ned sys ems. In e ms o s o age, ep esen a i es om
smalle news ooms men ioned needing o ope a e wi h he help o sepa a e analy ics
p og ams. Howe e , mos o en o ganisa ions u ilised da a pla o ms, ha is, so wa e
solu ions ha connec a ious p og ams and isualise he esul s (see Fly e bom e al.,
2016). Las ly, only ep esen a i es om la ge media companies men ioned la ge-scale
s o age sys ems, such as da a wa ehouses, clouds, o lakes.
O e all, Figu e 1 p o ides an o e iew o audience da a in Finnish news ooms.
Howe e , cohe ence and p ecision we e no easy o find in he p o essionals’in e -
p e a ions; hence, no o de eadily eme ged om he analysis (see also Miloje ic, 2022:
7). Fo example, al hough some emphasised he impo ance o speci ying di e en
Figu e 1. The main da a sou ces, ypes, sys ems, and s o ages in Finnish news ooms. The mos
ypical a ie ies ha e been i alicised.
8Jou nalism 0(0)
mo emen s (Baack, 2015), and he discussions on EU egula ions and jou nalism e hics
(Salonen, 2024). Howe e , because all o he isions bea esemblance o analy ics
companies’scena ios, and hese companies ope a e s ongly wi hin he da a-d i en
pa adigm, nego ia ions a ound he u u e ole o da a in news ooms a e bound o
con inue, especially i jou nalism p o essionals con inue wi h he iew o placing da a
in a suppo i e and no leading ole.
Con inued nego ia ions, e en ensions, a e also a likely pa h because o he dis-
c epancies we de ec ed ac oss he ma e ial. The isions pe aining o dis an u u es we e
mo e con es ed han p esen - ocused sensemaking. Tha is, no all jou nalis s we e able o
see how he gap be ween he p esen s a e and u u e possibili ies o da a-in o med
managemen could be closed. The jou nalis s ecognised he same pa e ns in he da a-
in o med isions as manage s and echnologis s did bu ook a mo e c i ical s ance
owa ds hem (see Bunce, 2019).
Fu he mo e, he e we e in e nal con adic ions be ween he di e en isions. Fo
example, i migh be di ficul o nego ia e be ween he ideas o gaining an e en mo e
de ailed unde s anding o he audience om a ious da a sou ces ( he dep h ision) while
simul aneously espec ing hei p i acy and he egula ions ( he ai ness ision). In ac ,
we sugges ha hese ensions play a key ole in how da a-in o med news ooms a e being
cons uc ed. I asks o a cons an nego ia ion on o ganisa ional and indi idual le els o
wha he da a ‘say’. So, despi e he ex ensi e eliance on analy ics p og ams as key
a e ac s, and he o de c ea ed in o da a-in o med news oom managemen p ac ices by
he ecognised domains, he ideas emained con adic o y (c . Hani zsch, 2007). Hence, a
cohe en da a cul u e (Eks ¨
om e al., 2022;Leino e al., 2023;Vulpius, 2023) is unlikely
o be o med in he e e ed Finnish o ganisa ions.
We can also ask whe he news ooms should e en aim o a sha ed da a cul u e, as long
as hey ha e a sha ed jou nalism cul u e (Hani zsch, 2007). Too solid amewo k could
lead o a si ua ion whe e he consensual and s ic unde s anding o ‘wha he da a say’
would ake o e he indi idual and o ganisa ional possibili ies o nego ia e wi h da a. The
s a e o con inued nego ia ion lea es oppo uni ies o news p o essionals o e alua e
whe he da a-based knowledge esona es wi h e e yday expe iences and jou nalis ic
alues. Such e alua ion implies a space o indi idual agency and an icipa o y a unemen
wi h da a (Koi unen e al., 2024).
Despi e he illumina ion ou findings p o ide, ou s udy is limi ed by i s ocus on
Finland only and he combina ion o h ee da a se s o iginally in ended o answe di e en
(al hough connec ed) esea ch ques ions. Ne e heless, we hope ha he esul s ega ding
he domains o da a-in o med news oom managemen and he ela ed isions can p o ide
insigh o s udies in o he cul u al con ex s, especially in media en i onmen s whe e
online subsc ip ions a e su acing as a business model.
Acknowledgemen s
The au ho s would like o hank Ri a Leino o ui ul discussion and commen s a he ea ly s ages
o he w i ing p ocess, as well as he anonymous e iewe s o cons uc i e eedback.
Ah a e al. 15

Decla a ion o conflic ing in e es s
The au ho (s) decla ed no po en ial conflic s o in e es wi h espec o he esea ch, au ho ship, and/
o publica ion o his a icle.
Funding
The au ho (s) disclosed eceip o he ollowing financial suppo o he esea ch, au ho ship, and/o
publica ion o his a icle: This wo k was suppo ed by he C.V.
˚
Ake lund Media Founda ion, Media
Indus y Resea ch Founda ion o Finland, Resea ch Council o Finland (g an numbe 333503).
ORCID iDs
Lau a Ah a h ps://o cid.o g/0000-0001-6503-9772
Ma ga e a Salonen h ps://o cid.o g/0000-0001-9635-2251
Liisa O aska h ps://o cid.o g/0000-0002-3305-5994
Ka oliina Tal i ie-Lambe g h ps://o cid.o g/0000-0003-0697-0385
No es
1. The p ojec behind Da a Se 1 aimed a answe ing he ques ion: How a e use analy ics con-
s uc ing wha is ega ded as news and jou nalism, and how is he audience seen as a esul o
his? The p ojec ela ed o Da a Se 2 aimed a unde s anding how audience da a is u ilised and
wha i s ole is in news ooms’decision-making p ocesses among news p o essionals; and he
p ojec behind Da a Se 3 s udied how audience analy ics a e used and iewed in newspape s.
2. App oxima ely 600 jou nalis s ecei ed he su ey by email. The numbe is based on in o ma ion
om each newspape ’s con ac pe son.
3. Ve bally in p ojec s ela ed o Da a Se s 1 and 2, and in he p ojec ela ed o Da a Se 3 by
in o ming he pa icipan s h ough he su ey empla e. All p ojec s ollowed he Finnish
Na ional Boa d on Resea ch In eg i y Guidelines (2019). Acco dingly, he p ojec s we e no
p e- e iewed e en hough hey deal wi h human pa icipan s, as hey did no pe ain o mino s o
ulne able g oups.
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Au ho biog aphies
Lau a Ah a (PhD) is an Associa e P o esso in jou nalism s udies a Tampe e Uni e si y in
Finland. He esea ch in e es s include jou nalis ic wo k, audience s udies, pa icipa o y
media, and p ac ice heo y. She has published in jou nals such as Digi al Jou nalism,
Jou nalism S udies, and Jou nalism P ac ice.
Ma ga e a Salonen (PhD) is a Pos doc o al Resea che a he Uni e si y o Jy ¨
askyl¨
a,
Finland. He wo k ocuses on he iadic powe ela ions be ween news media, audiences,
and social media pla o ms h ough he lens o (pos -publica ion) ga ekeeping. He wo k
also co e s da afica ion o news wo k, jou nalism e hics on social media pla o ms and he
ole o isuali y and egula ions in social media jou nalism. She has published a co-
au ho ed book wi h Palg a e Macmillan and a icles in jou nals such as Jou nalism
P ac ice. She is a membe o he Finnish P ess Council (2021–2026) and cu en ly he PI
o Epheme ali y and Visuali y in Social Media News Con en (2024–2027).
Liisa O aska is a Doc o al Resea che a Tampe e Uni e si y in Finland. He disse a ion
p ojec ocuses on he jou nalis s’and he news use s’ eflec ions on he usage o audience
da a in jou nalism. She has published he wo k, o example, in No dicom Re iew.
O aska holds a mas e ’s deg ee (MA) in social sciences (in jou nalism) om Tampe e
Uni e si y.
Ka oliina Tal i ie-Lambe g (PhD) is an Assis an P o esso in communica ion and media
esea ch a he Uni e si y o Jy ¨
askyl¨
a in Finland. He ecen esea ch cen e s on digi al
disconnec ion, belonging in da afied e e y day, and ela ed expe iences o ulne abili y.
She has published in jou nals such as New Media and Socie y, Compu e s in Human
Beha io , Media and Communica ion, Tele ision & New Media, Media Theo y, Su -
eillance, and Socie y.
Ah a e al. 19