This paper explores how innovation emerges in the media through the views of journalists who are leading the process of newsroom change in Spain. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews with 20 journalists working in some of the most innovative outlets, according to the 2014 Index of Journalism Innovation in Spain (García-Avilés, Carvajal-Prieto, De Lara-González, & Arias-Robles, 2018). The results highlight the importance of innovations in content production, internal organization, distribution, and commercialization as the drivers of change in the media industry. Our study also reveals several factors that shape both the practice and implementation of innovations in newsrooms. We draw on these factors to outline a model of diffusion of media innovation.

From a global vision of journalism innovation, this article presents a matrix that analyses and measures an innovation index of market-specific media initiatives, providing a valuable tool for comparative analysis. A method has been designed that consists of (1) sample collection and selection, and (2) the quantitative and qualitative analysis of each innovation identified in the cases studied. With the aim of generating an Index of Media Innovation, 25 of the most innovative cases within the field of reference in Spain were studied during the period 2013–2014 through a database consisting of 196 innovations that were analysed as a function of area, degree and technological basis. The results indicate that, in Spain, journalism innovation occurs at the margins of the traditional news industry and, for the most part, innovation is expanding among digital native media outlets, niche initiatives and start-ups.

Existen ejemplos sólidos de las posibilidades de la Inteligencia Artificial (IA) en la industria periodística. Teniendo en cuenta que esta tecnología ya se está aplicando en tareas de automatización para la generación de contenidos, en la detección de bulos o en la interacción con los usuarios, resulta relevante preguntar a los profesionales que la están implantando en los medios sobre qué impacto piensan que tiene y tendrá en un futuro próximo. La investigación pone el foco en cómo, en qué áreas y con qué resultados e implicaciones éticas se ha llevado a cabo la implementación de la IA en los medios españoles. El trabajo parte de la consulta mediante entrevistas semiestructuradas a 21 profesionales de medios que trabajan con herramientas de IA en sus redacciones. A juicio de los expertos, no hay duda de que la IA jugará un papel importante en la industria, aunque todavía se trata de una tecnología incipiente. Mencionan diversos proyectos de éxito tanto en el panorama nacional como internacional y consideran que la integración exitosa de la IA pasa por una tarea conjunta entre la redacción, el conocimiento técnico y la capacidad de análisis, unidas al desarrollo del negocio.

El ecosistema periodístico afronta la aparición de tecnologías y plataformas disruptivas que dificultan su supervivencia en un escenario donde la producción, las audiencias y los modelos de negocio cambian constantemente. Existe el consenso de que la innovación es el recurso necesario para superar estos retos. En este artículo analizamos cómo se origina, se desarrolla y se implanta la innovación en los cibermedios desde la perspectiva de los periodistas. Metodología. La investigación se apoya en 26 entrevistas semiestructuradas a profesionales de una muestra de medios representativa, a lo largo de 2016. Resultados. Los resultados del trabajo de campo abordan el origen y el concepto de innovación, el tipo de innovaciones implementadas en los medios, la organización y los perfiles profesionales. Para los entrevistados, la innovación debe ser “nueva” y tener “éxito”, obedece al deseo de “experimentar”, debe aportar “algo diferente” en el entorno y proviene de la capacidad de “anticiparse a los retos”. La tecnología ocupa un papel relevante y transversal. Los periodistas también valoran las competencias de tipo procedimental, cognoscitivo y actitudinal en la práctica innovadora. Conclusiones. Los profesionales son una fuente clave para conocer los cambios del sector periodístico, porque su visión ayuda a profundizar en áreas de la innovación que suelen quedarse al margen de la perspectiva académica.

In the last decade, data journalism has established itself as a thriving field. Recently, COVID-19 has boosted the demand for data-driven reporting to make sense of the pandemic, increasing the importance of studying the evolution of this rapidly evolving and technology-bounded practice. However, the number of efforts to map and systematically measure the data journalism industry are few. This paper analyses the findings of The State of the Data Journalism Survey 2021, currently the most extensive study on the characteristics surrounding the workforce producing and contributing to the data journalism industry. The outcome is an understanding of an expanding workforce with a geographically uneven distribution, which is still homogeneous in terms of tools and educational paths. Self-taught, resourceful, and multi-skilled, data journalists often work in isolation but share pressures of limited resources, time limitations, and access to quality data. The pandemic appears to have directly increased those struggles, although data journalists agree that the field’s reputation has ultimately benefited from it.

Worldwide audiences became interested in COVID-19-related news, as the health emergency generated a sharp increase in information consumption. Drawing on the literature of crisis innovation, this study aims to understand the transformations that have taken place in the Spanish journalistic industry and the innovations implemented during the pandemic. The research questions are: How has COVID-19 fostered innovation in work organisation in the Spanish newsrooms? What other innovations were launched by the Spanish media during the pandemic? The methodology is based on semi-structured interviews conducted with a purposive sample of 20 media practitioners and 20 experts on journalism innovation (academics and journalists) in Spain. Results show that newsroom practices have evolved through telework, collaboration and other factors, and that digital transformation was accelerated in legacy media. In many outlets, the science section was increasingly relevant, working in a coordinated way with the areas of data visualisation and design to produce relevant content. Also, fact-checkers played an important role in fighting misinformation. The pandemic has speeded up some ongoing innovations in news production, newsroom organisation, distribution, and commercialisation in a significant way. Thus, COVID-19 understood as a crisis situation has had an impact on news products and it has affected journalistic culture.