News Code Factory

Algorithms and SEO make ­journalism a pure commodity in the digital market at the cost of traditional ethics

- Siddhartha Mishra

THERE was a time when a cup of chai, the odd cigarette and the morning newspaper was how middle-class India began its day. The reader and the ­editor had healthy exchanges in the form of ‘letters to the editor’. Now however, the newspaper has given way to a smartphone and insightful correspondence happens through emojis. The editor is now jostling with the likes of Google, Facebook and Twitter to be heard, in a landscape where fake news travels faster than most good stories. In fairness though, social media is perhaps the most democratic information has ever been, it’s a behemoth when it comes to choices. But, do these choices enable a thinking, concerned citizen who wishes to be on top of news?

The Reuters Digital News Report for 2017 makes a startling claim. It says that over half of the people surveyed were routed to a story by an algorithm rather than an editor. The number spikes to 58 per cent for younger users and 64 per cent for those who use smartphones. What does being routed to a story by an algorithm mean? It means that the audience is letting the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Google decide what is best for them.

News organisations across the world have followed suit, as advertising models are based on the number of people you can entice to your website. “I can empathise with the damage impression-based advertising has done to journalism. It is a mad rush for numbers. Most publishers sell on a cost-per-impression basis, a tacit agreement globally,” says Sebabrata Banerjee, a blogger who champions ethical editorial analytics and works with a leading newspaper. Banerjee adds that an organisation gets paid every time an advertisement is displayed, and the need to keep up the numbers is a ‘vicious cycle’ most organisations have fallen into.