Twitter as a space for interaction in political journalism. Dynamics, consequences and proposal of interactivity scale for social media

Abstract

This article goes in depth into the key mechanisms that enable a digital interaction between journalists and expert sources in political journalism, developing a scale that articulates these interaction mechanisms on Twitter. On the basis of this analytical proposal, this study tries to reflect the potential professional consequences which are generated by this social network throughout the journalistic work as well as some changes in important professional skills, such as data verification and contact with expert sources. Those are key aspects to determine the opportunities of the journalists in the future of the profession. It also tries to analyse the relationship between journalists and politicians into a digital context by assessing the impact of using different new media tools on the journalistic culture and political discussion.