Technology and journalism-as-labour: Historical perspectives

Technological determinism is common among journalists when reflecting on changes in their profession; several studies show that journalists ascribe great power and independent agency to technology. There are at least two reasons for the persistence of technological determinism as an explanatory factor among journalists vis-a-vis their own work: first, technology is a highly integrated and therefore very tangible part of the everyday working life of journalists; and second, the technological paradigm for explaining change in journalism has deep historical roots. It is argued that analysing journalism as labour presents a way to address both the integration of technology in the everyday working practices of journalists, and the history of the inter-relations between journalism and technology. It is further argued that journalism studies as a field has not paid much attention to journalism as labour. This article is concerned with the second part of this programme for research, i.e. the historical analysis of journalism as labour. The framework of analysis is based on labour process theory, focusing on four themes in the history of journalism: (1) the importance of the separation of conception and execution of labour; (2) the increased differentiation of the labour process; (3) the use of technology to increase productivity; and (4) the deskilling of labour.