September 16, 2006


Photo: Roser Sala

Online journalism is my passion. I am currently teaching at the University of Iowa, and have been researching online newsrooms and Internet uses in my home country, Catalonia. My current research interest is exploring the factors shaping the development of convergence and active user involvement in online news production.

Since 2005 I feel somehow freer in my digital live thanks to Ubuntu, the Linux distro for the common human being. The next step: putting Linux into my new Mac. I'll need to wait until the summer to experiment... but already installed very nice open-source software on Mac OS X.

You can reach me at: david * dutopia.net

September 15, 2006

Projects


These are some projects I am or have been actively involved in as a professional, researcher, instructor or volunteer.

Tarragona m'esborrona
2006-. A local news website aimed at young adults, produced by Journalism students at Universitat Rovira i Virgili. I promoted the project and oversaw the online newsroom, which was part of the Online Journalism course. A partnership with local company Editio Software provided the content management system and hosting.

International Symposium New Research for New Media
2004. I participated in the 2003 first edition and co-directed the second one, held at URV, Tarragona. Nora Paul was the promoter of this interdisciplinar researchers meeting where innovative methodologies to deal with online studies were presented.

Participa 1.0
2003-. Online open-source software tool for efficient management of decision-making processes, in order to foster participation and consensus. Contributed to the conceptual design and usability testing, and organized the annual conference as a member of Vegga, the NGO that develops Participa.

International Online Journalism Seminar
2003-. Professional seminar that gathers at Vilanova i la Geltrú (near Barcelona) the most innovative personalities in online journalism each year. I am responsible of designing the program and coordinating the event. GPD, Neapolis and CUM are coorganizers.

Inter@ccion
2002-. Online news site for the Online Journalism professional development course at UOC. Students produce stories and edit the homepage at the final stage of this 9 month online course, June-July every year. I overview the virtual online newsroom. Web content management system provided by Lavinia.

Open Directory Project
2002-. Editor of the Catalan Media category at this volunteer web directory.

laMalla.net
2001. While I was research manager at Lavinia, I contributed to the conceptual design of this Catalan online news site, pioneer in user-generated content and multimedia production.

Dexvio.org
2000-2001. Experimental broadband portal developed at the I2Cat project. I coordinated the interface design and contibuted to the conceptual design. Users were defined as active participants, that could upload, comment and get together virtually to watch to audiovisual content.

Teaching


I have been teaching university courses related to online journalism, web design and newsmaking since 2000. I have also promoted professional courses, online and offline for journalists to learn Internet publishing tools and engage in the hot debates of online journalism internationally.

2007-
University of Iowa, School of Journalism and Mass Comm.
Visiting assistant professor, teaching:
- Online journalism
- Communication, technology and society
- Participatory journalism

2003-2006
Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Communication Department
Instructor at Journalism B.A. and M.A. courses:
- Online Journalism. Annual 2005, 2006
- Newsmaking (press, broadcast & online). Spring 2003, 2004, 2005
- Multimedia Design. Fall 2003

2002-2006
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
Online instructor and author of online teaching materials at Audiovisual Communication M.A. courses:
- Online Journalism. Author of the online course. 2003.
- Digital Media. Author and instructor of the online course. Fall and
Spring since 2002.

2001-2006
Professional postgraduate course in Online Journalism at Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
Academic coordinator of this online 9 month course, already in its 5th edition.

2000-2002
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Journalism Department
Instructor at Journalism B.A. courses:
- Computer Assisted Reporting. Spring 2001, 2002
- Newsmaking. Fall 2000, 2001
- Opinion Journalism. Spring 2000
- News Editing. Spring 2000



Research


I have specialized in online journalism, focusing on news production routines and contextual factors that constrain journalists at work and the development of the Internet as a news medium. Lately, I am part of research groups focusing on audience participation in online media and convergence among newsrooms. I also have followed the evolution of the Internet in Catalonia, my home country, with periodical reports on the social uses of the Net.

Here there is a list of my publications and conference papers, sorted by topic. Full documents and drafts are available when noted.

# Participatory journalism

Domingo, D., Quandt, T., Heinonen, A., Paulussen, S., Singer, J., Vujnovic, M. (in press) Participatory journalism practices in the media and beyond: an international comparative study of initiatives in online newspapers. Journalism Practice, 2(3).

Heinonen, A.; Domingo, D. (2008) “Weblogs and journalism: a typology to explore the blurring boundaries”. Nordicom Review, 29(1). [PDF]

Paulussen, S., Heinonen, A., Domingo, D. & Quandt, T. (2007). “Doing it together: Citizen participation in the professional news making process”. Observatorio (OBS*) Journal, 1(3):131-154. [PDF]

# Convergence

Domingo, David et al. (2007). “Four Dimensions of Journalistic Convergence: A preliminary approach to current media trends at Spain”, paper for the 8th International Symposium of Online Journalism. University of Texas at Austin. [PDF]

# Online journalism

Paterson, C. & Domingo, D. (2008) Making Online News: The ethnography of new media production. New York: Peter Lang. [order book, book blog]

Domingo, D. (2008) "Interactivity in the daily routines of online newsrooms: Dealing with an uncomfortable myth". Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(3), 680-704. [HTML, PDF]

Ph.D. dissertation: Inventing online journalism: Development of the Internet as a news medium in four Catalan newsrooms. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. July 2006. [Abstract, full text]

Domingo, D. (2006) “Material and organizational constrains in the development of online journalism”, paper for the COST A20 Conference: The impact of the Internet in European mass media. Delphi, Greece.

Castelló, E.; Domingo, D. (2006) “Spanish media facing online media: a challenge to journalists?”. International Journal of Iberian Studies. 18(3), 181-200. [Abstract]

Domingo, D. (2005) “The difficult shift from utopia to realism in the Internet era. A decade of online journalism research: theories, methodologies, results and challenges”, paper for the First European Communication Conference. Amsterdam: ECCR, ECA. [Draft in PDF]

Domingo, D. (2005) “Understanding the emergence of digital media. Reviewing 'Digitizing the News: innovation in online newspapers' by Pablo Boczkowski”. International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics. 1(1), 157-160.

Domingo, D. (2005) “La utopia del periodisme digital: innovació i inèrcia en les redaccions digitals catalanes” [Utopia in online journalism: innovation and inertia in Catalan online newsrooms]. Trípodos. Extra 2005, 403-416. [PDF]

Domingo, D. (2004) Periodisme Digital a Catalunya: radiografia de 445 webs informatius [Online journalism in Catalonia: analysis of 445 news websites]. Barcelona: Col·legi de Periodistes de Catalunya.
>> Addendum (maig 2005)

Domingo, D. (2004) “Mapping online news in Catalonia: old and new producers”. In Salaverría, R. and Sádaba, C. (eds.) Towards new media paradigms. II COST A20 International Conference Proceedings. Pamplona: Eunate.


# Internet in Catalonia

Several authors (2005) Informe de l'audiovisual de Catalunya 2004. Barcelona: Consell de l'Audiovisual de Catalunya. Author of the chapter "Internet a Catalunya". [PDF]

Díez, M.; Domingo, D. (2005) “Internet”. In Corominas, M., Moragas, M. de; Guimerà, J.A. (eds.) Informe de la comunicació a Catalunya 2003-2004. Bellaterra: Institut de la Comunicació - UAB.

Domingo, D. (2005) “Internet local: temps de supervivència”. In Corominas, M., Moragas, M. de; Guimerà, J.A. (eds.) Informe de la comunicació a Catalunya 2003-2004. Bellaterra: Institut de la Comunicació - UAB. [PDF]

Domingo, D. (2004) “Internet a Catalunya” [PDF] i “Cobertura informativa a Internet de les eleccions municipals i al Parlament de Catalunya” [PDF]. In Informe sobre l'audiovisual a Catalunya 2003. Barcelona: Consell de l'Audiovisual de Catalunya.

Moragas, M. de; i Domingo, D. (2003) “Internet”. In Corominas, M.; Moragas, M. de (eds.) Informe de la comunicació a Catalunya 2001-2002. Bellaterra: Institut de la Comunicació - UAB.

Moragas, M. de; Domingo D.; López, B. (2002) “Internet and local communications: first experiences in Catalonia”. In Jankowski, N.; Prehn, O. (eds.) Community media in the information age. New Jersey: Hampton Press.

Domingo, D.; Esteve, T.; Benet, A. (2002) “El català a Internet: l’oferta lingüística a la Xarxa”. In El català en els mitjans de comunicació: situació actual i perspectives. Barcelona: Societat Catalana de Comunicació.

Rabadan, V.; Bonet, M.; Guimerà, J.A.; Moragas, M. de; Domingo, D.; López, B. (2000) “La comunicació local”. In Corominas, M.; Moragas, M. de (eds.) Informe de la comunicació a Catalunya 2000. Bellaterra: Institut de la Comunicació - UAB.


# Online media research methodology

Castelló, E. and Domingo, D. (2004)“Poking our noses into the production process: benefits and risks of researchers’ involvement in new media projects”, paper for the 2nd Symposium New Research for New Media: Innovative Research Methodologies. Tarragona: Universitat Rovira i Virgili.

Domingo, D. (2003) “Ethnography for new media studies: a field report of its weaknesses and benefits”, paper for the 1st Symposium New Research for New Media: Innovative Research Methodologies. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota.


# Other research production

Domingo, D. (2005) “Lenguajes de la comunicación digital”. In Alberich, Jordi i Roig, Antoni (coords.) Comunicación audiovisual digital: nuevos medios, nuevos usos, nuevas formas.
Barcelona: Editorial UOC, pp. 177-208.

Domingo, D. (2005) “Publicar a Internet: guia de serveis i eines”. Mosaic.

Domingo, D. (2005) “Medios digitales: donde la juventud tiene la iniciativa”. Revista de Estudios de Juventud. 68, 91-103. [PDF]

Domingo, D. (2005) “Grup de Periodistes Digitals: una experiència associativa de Catalunya”. Mediatika. Cuadernos de Medios de Comunicación. 11, 185-197. [PDF]

Photoblog reflecting about digital Finland, during my research stage at the journalism department of University of Tampere during Winter 2004-05.


Last updated: Septembrer 2006

Ph.D. dissertation abstract


Inventing online journalism: Development of the Internet as a news medium in four Catalan online newsrooms

David Domingo. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. 2006

Online journalism has developed in several directions and rhythms, taking different shapes in different online news projects. Scholars have offered empirical evident that these directions are, in many occasions, far from the utopias envisioned in the 90s. We are still inventing online journalism. A comparative research focused on four case studies of Catalan online newsrooms traces the material and organizational constrains in the definition and use of hypertext, multimedia and interactivity –those hyped Internet features– by online journalists.

Professional routines and values of the four online newsrooms are analyzed, with the aim of finding the similarities and divergences among different media traditions: a national newspaper (El Periódico), a public broadcasting corporation (CCRTV), a local newspaper (Diari de Tarragona) and a public-funded news portal (laMalla.net). Observation of the journalists at work and in-depth interviews provide a close look at the context and development of each case, interpreted with a constructivist approach to the social adoption of new technologies.

Some of the findings of the study include: immediacy is the main value in three of the online newsrooms; the rest of the online journalism utopias are shaped by this decision; news wires are the main –and almost only– source for most of online news; small sized staffs and the culture of immediacy discourage online journalists from going out or contacting first-hand sources, specially in traditional media online newsrooms; online journalists in traditional media environments tend to downgrade the value of their work in regard to their offline mates; the online-only project overcomes some of the problems with a specialization strategy, having each journalist focused on particular topics, and they are more sensitive to explore utopias.

The author argues that more comparative studies at an international level on the organizational and material structure of online newsrooms are needed to offer media companies a realistic stand point to continue the invention of the internet as a news medium.

[Full text available in PDF]