Gutenberg's death in the Balkans: news values in Kosovo and Albania

Abstract

When the audience shifted online in the age of social media and platformization, the gulf amongst journalists on what constitutes news today grew. Television journalists and editors continue to feel that the public should be provided with the information they need, i.e. the elite-centric method, whereas digital journalists and social media managers believe that the public should be presented with what the public wants, i.e. the popular-centric approach. As a result, the aim of this article is to investigate the news values considered by journalists and editors in Kosovo and Albanian media. The results of in-depth semi-structured interviews with journalists, editors, and social media managers demonstrate that Kosovo, which has the youngest population in Europe, has no paper press since the beginning of 2020, although the press in Albania survives for traditional third-age readers. Televisions are elite-focused; however, in Kosovo, televisions adapt items for social media, aimed at a younger audience. In both countries, digital journalism is increasingly audience-focused, with sensation, entertainment, and conflict as the primary news values. Regardless of the standardized methods, the article proposes that different countries be evaluated for newsworthiness based on their political and socioeconomic environments.