Centralized Networks for Journalism in the Fourth Industrial Revolution: The Platform’s Role

Still going through a period of adaptation to the emerging technologies of the previous revolution, journalism has entered in the fourth industrial revolution with the growing presence of big data and artificial intelligence in news production. The joint functioning between human and virtual systems on a global scale is one of the characteristics of this new revolution and has reached journalism through various technologies, but also through platforms, which already had an important presence in journalism, but are now present at all stages of news production. The platformization of journalism fits into a broader movement that affects the whole society and that materializes in the daily use of computer programs based on algorithms that automatically respond to user requests, using for this purpose the transformation of previously compiled data. In the case of journalism, platformization has facilitated the processes of information gathering, content production, and distribution. This chapter will discuss the platforms used by the media and their influence on the reconfiguration of journalistic activity.