1st Edition

Digital-Native News and the Remaking of Latin American Mainstream and Alternative Journalism

By Summer Harlow Copyright 2023
    152 Pages 1 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Digital-Native News and the Remaking of Latin American Mainstream and Alternative Journalism explores the rise of independent, digital-native news outlets in Latin America and their role in social change, protest participation, and the refinement of the concept of "alternative" media.

    Drawing upon a decade of original research, including interviews, surveys, focus groups, and content analyses, this book questions how the emergence of online-native news sites in Latin America is redefining our understanding of what it means to be mainstream and what it means to be alternative. By analyzing a wide range of elements, from business models and audience behaviors to social media use and the role of gender, this text examines how these sites are challenging traditional, hegemonic mainstream news media and its service to political and economic elites. The result is a discerning investigation into the new brand of journalism these sites have innovated.

    This insightful study will be of interest to journalism, communication, and Latin American scholars, particularly those interested in how technology is moulding journalistic practices and changing conceptions of journalism itself.

    Chapter 1: The Rise of Independent, Digital-Native Sites in Latin America

    Chapter 2: Online Journalism’s "Super Pioneers": Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and the Case of Mexico

    Chapter 3: Social Media: Likes, Comments, Action!

    Chapter 4: Journalism with a Feminist Gaze

    Chapter 5: Generating a Journalism that Reforms, Transforms

    Chapter 6: Portrait of an Active (Alternative) Audience

    Chapter 7: (Dis)Articulations and Disruptions

    Biography

    Summer Harlow is an Associate Professor at Jack J. Valenti School of Communication, University of Houston, USA.

    'Harlow has written an original, eminently readable, and thoughtful book on pioneer digital-native news in Latin America, packed with theoretical insights and nuanced arguments. The book examines the rise of these sites amid the disruptions in the news industry in the region, and convincingly demonstrates that they represent a disruptive model that does not fit into traditional categories of mainstream and alternative journalism. With remarkable analytical panache, Harlow helps us to understand how and why innovations happen in sclerotic news ecologies, where journalists and news organizations usually pay a high price for seeking independence and taking risks. The book is a must-read for anyone interested in how positive change in news industries and journalistic practice is possible'

    Prof Silvio R. Waisbord, School of Media and Public Affairs, George Washington University 

    'This terrific book chronicles the rise of independent, digital-native news sites in Latin America that are inventing a new kind of justice-centered journalism. Harlow makes a strong case for rethinking how and why we classify news outlets as mainstream, alternative, or even hybrid. Her multi-method and multi-perspectival study offers a fascinating look at the "super pioneers"--many of them women--whose innovative approaches to reporting and funding hold promise for rebuilding public confidence in news.'

    Dr. Jennifer Rauch