“Det är liksom en balansgångmellan att få visningar men att inte jaga visningar” : – En kvalitativ intervjustudie om hur lokaljournalisterupplever och använder sociala medier i sitt arbete

Sammanfattning

"It is kind of a balancing act between getting views and not chasing views” The conditions of journalism are changing along with the growth of social media and itsincreased role in information flow and news consumption. For local news organizations, thisdevelopment comes with both opportunities and challenges. As the boundaries of who canproduce and distribute news have become blurred, journalism today competes not only withother news outlets but also with political actors, public relations, entertainment, and individualcontent creators.The aim of this study is to examine how local journalists perceive the influence of social mediaon their professional roles, work practices, and news selection. The study adopts a qualitativemethodological approach based on semi-structured interviews with five journalists working atlocal news organizations in Sweden. The material is analyzed thematically and informed bytheoretical perspectives on media logic and journalistic practice.The findings indicate that social media have become an integrated part of everyday journalisticwork, functioning both as channels for content distribution and as platforms for audienceinteraction. At the same time, the interviewees describe an increased awareness of audienceresponses, algorithmic conditions, and competition within platform-based news feeds, which tosome extent influences how news is prioritized and framed. The study also highlights tensionsbetween independent journalism and the growing demands for visibility, engagement, andadaptation to platform-specific logics.