News Recommender Systems and News Diversity, Two of a Kind? A Case Study from a Small Media Market

Abstract

Content recommender systems have become commonplace in all digital platforms, and they profoundly alter the media content presented to users. This also applies to news recommender systems (NRSs) used by media companies. However, as it is generally accepted that diverse news coverage is crucial to maintain democratic societies, the role of NRSs is frequently questioned. We assess the development processes of NRSs at three media companies: two private ones active in several European countries, and one public service broadcaster, using a previously established conceptual model for news diversity. Ultimately, we find that news personalization is currently still more of an idea than an actual recurrent practice, and that the application of NRSs is integrated and harmonized across countries and/or other types of new media types (e.g., streaming services) of the same company. We highlight similarities and differences in approaches, objectives and rationales between private and public companies.