News: Mobiles, Mobilities and Their Meeting Points

Abstract

In the field of quantum mechanics (at least in its more accessible and demotic form), Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle states that the more precisely the position of a particle can be established, the less possible it is to determine the direction in which it is moving; while the greater certainty with which the trajectory of a particle can be determined, the less precisely one can say where it is. Journalism finds itself in an analogous situation. The industry is evidently in motion even if its direction is not clear – although on a general level we can likely agree to a direction involving journalism with fewer resources, more precarious employment, more machine-led work in production and distribution, and where reader-revenue for more niche audiences is common.