https://www.mediekultur.dk/ Journal of media and communication research SMiD - Association for media and communication researchers in Denmark en-US MedieKultur: Journal of media and communication research 0900-9671 <p>Copyright Author and Journal.<br />Articles published after January 1 2024 are licensed under CCBY 4.0. <br />Articles published until December 31 2023 are licensed under CCBYNCND.<br /><span style="font-size: 0.875rem;">Articles submitted to MedieKultur should not be submitted to or published in other journals.</span></p> <p> </p> https://www.mediekultur.dk/article/view/141898 <p>This article presents an exploratory study of the communication practices of professional tradespeople on Instagram, a topic that has received little scholarly attention so far. The research is based on mediatization theory and maps the communicative practices of “ordinary” Danish carpenters and woodworkers in the building industry through an emergent coding scheme quantitative content analysis. The study analyzes the content that these tradespeople share as well as the textual characteristics of their posts and the engagement they receive from their audience. The findings indicate that both groups primarily use Instagram for marketing and promoting their work, showcasing images of ongoing or completed projects. While woodworkers receive more engagement than carpenters in terms of likes and comments, overall interaction from the audience is relatively low. The study also explores other types of communication, such as professional discussions, personal reflections, and engagement with societal/political issues, which are limited in both groups. This baseline study contributes to our understanding of the mediatization of craft as reflected in the communication practices of tradespeople on Instagram. Further research is needed to explore the motivations and experiences of tradespeople on social media platforms in more depth.</p> Troels Fibæk Bertel Copyright (c) 2025 Author and journal https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 2025-05-28 2025-05-28 40 78 10.7146/mk.v40i78.141898 https://www.mediekultur.dk/article/view/136534 <p>Parasocial relationships (PSR) have been viewed and defined as one-sided relationships between a viewer and a media figure. However, recent literature has suggested that advances in computer mediated communication on social media and live-streaming sites have complicated the traditional definition. This manuscript investigates not only the complexity of how PSR have evolved in the area of live-streaming, but also how streamers categorize and handle the relationships within their community. Using in-depth semistructured interviews with Twitch affiliate and partnered streamers, this manuscript argues that streamers have found that their communities have PSR with them during live-streams and on social media. Streamers cited PSR but also issues such as privacy concerns, audience disclosure of personal mental health concerns, and toxicity within their streams. This manuscript is not only able to investigate PSR from the side of the streamer, but also to further understand PSR and the evolution of the definition.</p> Emory S. Daniel Jr. Steph Orme Arienne Ferchaud Copyright (c) 2025 Author and journal https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 2025-05-28 2025-05-28 40 78 10.7146/mk.v40i78.136534 https://www.mediekultur.dk/article/view/137268 <p>Today, work is increasingly performed on or through various digital platforms. This article aims to study workers at the forefront of digital labour. Drawing on 29 qualitative interviews with professional gamers, influencers, and platform workers, this study explores how digital platform affordances across diverse types of platform-mediated work shape the performance of emotional labour. The article’s main contribution is showing how workers experience the affordances of the platforms and, further, how the affordances of the platforms demand the performance of extensive emotional labour from the workers. This article shows how two high-level affordances mainly contribute to this: the capacity to transcend physical space and the immediacy and multiplicity of the digital distribution of information and data.</p> Louise Yung Nielsen Jo Krøjer Mette Lykke Nielsen Copyright (c) 2025 Author and journal https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 2025-05-28 2025-05-28 40 78 10.7146/mk.v40i78.137268 https://www.mediekultur.dk/article/view/141577 <p>This article examines how Burgaz islanders use media productions – novels, memoirs, documentaries, and interview-based books – to represent and rekindle conviviality, resilience, and solidarity in response to political crises and forced migration within a post-Ottoman homogenising context. By combining media studies and anthropology, I analyse narratives and representations in these media productions, conduct expert interviews with authors and documentary producers, and juxtapose these findings with long-term ethnographic research. The role of media produced by Burgaz islanders is threefold: 1) representing conviviality, solidarity, and diversity as an ebru (marbling)-like pattern, serving as a pillar of a strong, cohesive, and resilient community in times of political crisis; 2) critiquing nationalism and homogenisation processes; and 3) serving as a collective healing mechanism that fosters hope for reuniting the dispersed islanders.</p> Deniz Neriman Duru Copyright (c) 2025 Author and journal https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 2025-05-28 2025-05-28 40 78 10.7146/mk.v40i78.141577 https://www.mediekultur.dk/article/view/147132 <p>Dette mediehistoriske essay om tilblivelsen af DR2 er skrevet af to forfattere med nær tilknytning til processen. Erik Nordahl Svendsen (f. 1945) var medieforsker i DR fra 1979 til 2001 og blev medlem af den projektgruppe kaldet ”Nissebanden”, som i 1994 udarbejdede den Redegørelse om DR 1995-2005, der lancerede forslaget om en anden tv-kanal til DR. Frands Mortensen (1942-2023) var professor i Medievidenskab ved Aarhus Universitet og var formand for Arbejdsgruppen om elektroniske mediers vilkår i Statsministeriets Medieudvalg 1994-96. Desuden blev han ofte brugt som oplægsholder ved konferencer i DR. De to forfattere var allerede den gang fortrolige kolleger. Erik Nordahl Svendsen skrev en TV-dagbog gennem flere år om sine oplevelser i DR, som citeres. Personlige dagbøger og erindringer kan anses for usikre kilder. Derfor er det afgørende, at vi derudover også henviser til andre dokumenter, hvoraf flere blev offentliggjort i personalebladet DRåben, samt til de daglige presseresumeer fra DR. Som hovedregel får man ikke adgang til at forske i DR’s egne arkiver. Materialet findes desuden i Frands Mortensens arkiv, som er opbevaret på Enigmamuseet i København. Essayet redegør for, hvordan en traditionel public service-organisation går gennem en stor indre forandring under omgivelsernes pres for at styrke public service som seernes valgmulighed.</p> Frands Mortensen Erik Nordahl Svendsen Copyright (c) 2025 Author and journal https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 2025-05-28 2025-05-28 40 78 10.7146/mk.v40i78.147132 https://www.mediekultur.dk/article/view/147197 <p>This article investigates how public service media’s (PSM) distinctiveness becomes evident in their video-on-demand (VoD) catalogues in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany, and the UK, when comparing them to the relevant local, regional, and global non-PSM players in the markets. The analysis builds on the European Audiovisual Observatory’s Lumiere VoD database. The European content in 65 relevant PSM and non-PSM catalogues in the five countries noted above was examined on 1 July 2024, focusing on levels of exclusivity, overlap, domestic content, transnational circulation, genre, first-run versus returning series, and theatrical releases for film. The article evidences how exclusivity of rights prevails in the VoD market and showcases the relativity and multi-dimensional nature of distinctiveness across the five markets. It advocates for a combination of traditional measures of distinctiveness (genre, country of origin) with data on exclusivity, international content circulation, reliance on returning seasons and theatrical release to make visible local specificity and risk-taking.</p> Cathrin Bengesser Marius Øfsti Martin Broholt Trans Copyright (c) 2025 Author and journal https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 2025-05-28 2025-05-28 40 78 10.7146/mk.v40i78.147197 https://www.mediekultur.dk/article/view/147085 <p>Based on an empirical production study, this article demonstrates the multifaceted implications of the Danish public service media organisation DR’s digital transition. Focusing on the role of the publishing editors and their concept of the active choice, the article proves how the perception of the video-on-demand users has repercussions for DR’s production culture, as the streaming service is strongly prioritised in the content publishing. The term streamability is coined to illustrate how the content on offer as well as the production-related requirements of the single programme are adjusted accordingly. Broadcasters worldwide experience a cross-pressure from competition with global platforms, political interference, technological development, and changing media usage. The case of DR illustrates how digital transition can entail greater organisational orientation towards the users. However, the article concludes by cautioning against the risk of losing the legitimacy of a public service organisation when introducing AI-supported personalisation.</p> Julie Münter Lassen Copyright (c) 2025 Author and journal https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 2025-05-28 2025-05-28 40 78 10.7146/mk.v40i78.147085 https://www.mediekultur.dk/article/view/147182 <p>The public service media (PSM) shift to digital-first strategies has generated a rethinking of priorities in content production and distribution. This not only involves the integration of algorithms for the curation of their video-on-demand portals, but also a far-reaching<br />reform at the organisational level. As personalisation through recommender systems is increasingly popularised by commercial streaming services, PSM are faced with a balancing act between market pressures and fulfilling their public mission. This article contributes to this discussion by investigating how public service algorithms are developed in practice in the cases of the BBC (UK) and VRT (Flanders-Belgium), and how their implementation is guided by the organisations’ remits. Through document analysis and semi-structured interviews conducted in 2024 with 16 PSM representatives, we discuss the ways in which market, policy, and organisational contexts inform the use of algorithms by the two organisations and suggest the need for a re-theorisation of public service algorithms.</p> Catalina Iordache Daniel Martin Catherine Johnson Copyright (c) 2025 Author and journal https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 2025-05-28 2025-05-28 40 78 10.7146/mk.v40i78.147182 https://www.mediekultur.dk/article/view/147202 <p>This article explores how the growing incorporation of entertainment formats into video-on-demand (VOD) services is transforming publishing logics and commercial strategies in the streaming sector. Focusing on the twelfth edition of <em>Operación Triunfo</em> (<em>OT</em>), streamed on Prime Video between 2023 and 2024, we analyse the adaptation of this legacy format to the non-linear paradigm. The research pursues two main objectives: 1) to explain how entertainment television formats can reshape traditional content publishing logics in VOD services; and 2) to analyse their commercial strategies and integration into the business model of a major transnational company operating in this sector. Through a mixed-methods approach, including content and qualitative document analysis, the study identifies power dynamics between the production company and the streamer, as well as significant shifts in scheduling dynamics – such as shorter durations, earlier releases, and different cross-media strategies – and reveals Amazon’s diversified monetisation tactics, including product placement, brand sponsorships, and alignment with its broader corporate business lines.</p> Pedro Gallo Juan Ignacio Fernández-Herruzo Copyright (c) 2025 Author and journal https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 2025-05-28 2025-05-28 40 78 10.7146/mk.v40i78.147202 https://www.mediekultur.dk/article/view/146723 <p>This article examines the motivations, advantages, and challenges of implementing a novel narrative strategy for online news video: the Batman Affective Structure (BAS). The BAS prioritizes emotional engagement as a response to the platformization of news and shifting audience behaviors in digital environments. The model was introduced to three Danish public service organizations – DR, TV 2, and TV 2 Fyn – during a workshop to explore its applicability in newsrooms. Follow-up collaboration with these industry partners examined both its benefits and the tensions it creates within journalistic practice. Findings indicate that public service broadcasters have implemented the BAS to enhance audience engagement and strengthen their presence on streaming platforms. However, the transition also uncovered challenges, such as journalistic resistance to narrative standardization, difficulties in applying the BAS across different news genres, and the evolving role of the studio anchor. The study shows both the strategic potential of the BAS for public service news and the complexities of aligning emotional narrative structures with public service values in a rapidly transforming media environment.</p> Lene Heiselberg Lucía Cores-Sarría Copyright (c) 2025 Author and journal https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 2025-05-28 2025-05-28 40 78 https://www.mediekultur.dk/article/view/156657 Hanne Bruun Mads M. Tommerup Andersen Copyright (c) 2025 Author and journal https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 2025-05-28 2025-05-28 40 78 10.7146/mk.v40i78.156657