Media Complexity: Towards a Research Agenda to Study News Media Ecosystems

Djordje Padejski, Arizona State University
The talk will explore the applicability of complexity theory to journalism and mass communication studies in response to the digital transformation that has redefined journalistic practices, media narratives, and audience engagement. It will highlight the limitations of traditional research paradigms in capturing the complexity, nonlinearity, emergence, and interdependence of modern news media ecosystems. By integrating complexity theory, which focuses on adaptability, evolution, emergence, self-organization, and feedback mechanisms, among others, the talk intends to initiate a new research agenda. This includes examining the adaptability and evolution of media entities, the evolution of news narratives, the dynamics of media ecosystems, the diversity of media landscapes, self-organization in journalism, and the impact of audience feedback. The goal is to demonstrate the potential of complexity theory to offer novel insights into the evolving transformations in the journalism and mass communication field.
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