{"resolved":true,"match_type":"uuid","source_type":"original_book","book_id":"1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053","title":"If...Then Algorithmic Power and Politics","author":null,"edition":null,"publisher":null,"year":null,"isbn":"2017054909","requested_by":"printed_page","book":{"source_type":"original_book","book_id":"1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053","id":"1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053","uuid":"1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053","title":"If...Then Algorithmic Power and Politics","normalized_title":"ifthenalgorithmicpowerandpolitics","author":null,"edition":null,"publisher":null,"year":null,"isbn":"2017054909","isbns":["2017054909","9780190493042","9780190493059"],"parsed":true,"ai_readable":true,"document_type":"book","page_count":211,"navigation_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/ai/book/1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053","title_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/ai/title/If...Then%20Algorithmic%20Power%20and%20Politics","fixed_page_url_template":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/ai/book/1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053/page/{printed_page}","path_api_url_template":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/book/1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053/page/{printed_page}","read_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/read/1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053","page_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/books/1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053/page","search_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/books/1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053/search"},"page":{"printed_page":134,"pdf_page":144,"physical_index":144,"physical_index_base":0,"printed_page_status":"recognized","page_sha256":"fc307ba1224ad5d3b2784e92fcb737c67042b7ed4762da7858b866016c109524"},"chapter":"IF...THEN","content":"A key part of making a story algorithm-ready (which, in this case, refers to preparing the news items in such a way that they can be processed and, subsequently, ranked by an algorithm) is seting news and lifetime values for each story. Before editors can publish the edited stories, they have to assign each and every one a  unique news value on a 5-point scale and a lifetime value on a 3-point scale. As Gustafsson explains, these values act as tokens of relevance and newsworthiness, and are subsequently fed into an algorithm that, ultimately, “decides exactly where and how to show the news” (Interview 8, April 2014). The algorithm ranks every story based on a combination of news and lifetime value, the reader’s personalized setings, time decay, and the relative weights predefined for each major news category (i.e., foreign news is weighted slightly higher than sports). The news and lifetime values that editors assign, Gustafsson suggests, are “subjective values” based on journalistic know-how and gut feeling (Interview 9, March 2015). The algorithm’s job, then, is to process the subjective values in an objective and predictable way. While the news-ranking algorithm is rather “banal and simple,” and the human efforts involved are “crucial and decisive,” Gustafsson is clear when he suggests that they “couldn’t have done it without the algorithm,” as “it does, in fact, influence quite a lot” (Interview 9, March 2015, and notes from field observations). There’s algorithmic potential in providing a beter user experience but, perhaps, “first and foremost in making the work flow more eficient and time-saving” (Interview 9, March 2015).\n\nThe (Un)Problematic Algorithm\n\nWhile the notion of potentiality is an important aspect of how algorithms are talked about in journalism, algorithms are simultaneously conceptualized as more or less problematic. I say more or less because, when the algorithm appears as unproblematic it is largely due to its role being downplayed as trivial or insignificant. As with the notion of potentiality, algorithms become problematic in specific situations.\n\n134\n\nI F . . . T H E N","previous_page":133,"next_page":135}