The News Agency Goes Internet
Reuters Institute Fellow's Paper
Mimma Lehtovaara is news editor at the Finnish news agency (STT) and was a Helsingin Sanomat fellow for the academic year 2010/11.
In her study entitled The News Agency Goes Internet Mimma points out that there have been several studies on the impact of these changes examined through the prism of journalism or the structural transformations within the industry, but few have been seen from the point of the view of the managers having to implement the changes in their organizations. Mimma aims to fill this gap. Mimma not only studies her own news agency in Finland, but draws on interviews with managers from a wide range of other agencies in Europe. She provides a useful overview of how different media organizations are addressing the challenges posed by social media like Twitter and Facebook.
In her final chapter, Mimma clearly lays out some of the many challenges facing news agencies and possible ways forward. She writes that ‘the changes require exceptional journalistic and business skills and ability to embrace new ideas. The management's role is pivotal in leading all the changes.
As with all Fellows’ research papers, any opinions expressed are those of the author and not of the Institute.
