A human-centered design approach to creating tools to help journalists monitor digital political ads: insights and challenges

McKernan, B., Stromer-Galley, J., Korsunska, A., Bolden, S. E., Rossini, P. and Hemsley, J. (2023) A human-centered design approach to creating tools to help journalists monitor digital political ads: insights and challenges. Digital Journalism, 11(3), pp. 411-430. (doi: 10.1080/21670811.2022.2064321)

Abstract

Political actors have increasingly incorporated digital advertising into their persuasive efforts. Greater transparency of how political actors are using digital ads is necessary given concerns that they may be using digital ads to suppress voter turnout and spread disinformation and xenophobia. We apply a human-centered design framework to identify the design requirements necessary to create tools that satisfy journalists’ needs for covering digital political ads. Based on interviews with journalists, our findings indicate that they are interested in covering how political actors are using digital advertising as well as reporting on the platforms, such as their policies. Our findings also reveal serious obstacles that impede journalists’ ability to effectively cover digital political advertising. From the currently available tools, journalists we interviewed found it difficult to quickly identify key takeaways that could result in or contribute to stories. Journalists also need information that the most popular technology platforms do not offer. Supporting journalists’ efforts to provide greater transparency of digital political ads will require a collective effort on the part of designers and technology platforms to provide information that journalists need via tools that surface and synthesize this information in a way that satisfies journalists’ professional demands.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Rossini, Dr Patricia
• Authors: McKernan, B., Stromer-Galley, J., Korsunska, A., Bolden, S. E., Rossini, P., and Hemsley, J.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Politics
• Journal Name: Digital Journalism
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• ISSN: 2167-0811
• ISSN (Online): 2167-082X
• Published Online: 29 April 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor and Francis Group
• First Published: First published in Digital Journalism 11(3): 411-430
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher