Logics in social media news making: How social media editors marry the Facebook logic with journalistic standards

Abstract

News decisions of social media editors shape the news supply on social media channels such as Facebook. This study assesses based on qualitative interviews and a quantitative survey of social media editors in two social-media-savvy European countries, Finland and Switzerland, how Facebook’s News Feed algorithm, Facebook users, journalistic standards, and the news brand determine social media news making. Results show that social media editors evaluate the news factors emotions and surprise as more important for Facebook news than for online news. Social media editors accentuate emotional and surprising story elements in a post to comply with user preferences and the logic of the News Feed algorithm. Thus, news values and news editing have become more user engagement driven. Yet traditional journalistic standards and the news brand characteristics set boundaries to a heavy user engagement orientation. Social media editors estimate that their outlet’s news supply on Facebook is higher for entertaining news and lower for foreign politics and economic news stories. But they strive for a ‘good mix’ of news adhering to both the Facebook logic and professional journalistic standards.