Abstract:

This study emphasizes the negative consequences of the digital age on journalism within the framework of the McDonaldization concept introduced by George Ritzer. The McDonaldization thesis is used today to express the situations that lead to the uniformization and standardization of societies and covers all areas where production-consumption processes are involved. Ritzer, who likens the developing societies to a giant McDonald's restaurant, claims that the society is organized according to similar production methods, just like the functioning of McDonald's. According to this idea, criteria such as efficiency, effectiveness, rationality, and profitability are also society's criteria in general. This means the sameness of lifestyles, clothing, social and cultural relations, entertainment, politics, production, and consumption. Thus, McDonaldization covers all areas of society, not just the food industry. This situation also shows itself in the field of journalism. As a matter of fact, in the modern communication age, the news has become a commodity that is rapidly produced and consumed. Therefore, the idea that employees in the McDonaldization thesis should do their job efficiently and quickly is reflected in the news production process in the same way in journalism. For this reason, quantity comes to the fore in the news the number of news begins to increase rapidly, while quality news decreases remarkably. Just as fast-cooked and fast-consumed food harms human health, fast-produced and consumed news might cause the structure of society to deteriorate. Thus, today's news production processes are similar to the principles of the McDonaldization process. In this context, today's news production processes will be discussed in the focus of efficiency, predictability, calculability, and control principles, which Ritzer discussed within the framework of McDonaldization theory. When the relevant literature is investigated, it is noteworthy that few studies are examining the relationship between journalism and the concept of McDonaldization. In this context, the study is vital in dealing with the concept of McDonaldization and the relationship between journalism in detail.

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