Меметизирана журналистика: професионални и етични дилеми в епохата на алгоритмично споделяне
Memetized Journalism: Professional and Ethical Dilemmas in the Age of Algorithmic Sharing

Author(s): Gergana Boneva
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Media studies, Communication studies, Fake News - Disinformation
Published by: Факултет по журналистика и масова комуникация, Софийски университет „Св. Кл. Охридски”
Keywords: memetization; journalism; digital culture; social media; media ethics; algorithms; visual communication
Summary/Abstract: Within platform culture and algorithm-driven distribution, journalistic content is increasingly transformed into short, visually dominant, and ironic formats characteristic of memetic communication. The purpose of this study is to examine the phenomenon of the “memetization of journalism” and the professional and ethical dilemmas associated with it. The research applies qualitative content analysis combined with a case study approach based on global and local media events. The results identify four main models of memetization: reduction of complexity, ironic re-semantization, memetic personi¿cation and the algorithmic viral accelerator. The analysis demonstrates that while memetization enhances the visibility of socially significant topics, it also challenges key journalistic standards such as contextualization, verification and responsibility. The study contributes to understanding the transformed role of journalism in digital environments and highlights the need for ethically and visually informed professional practices.

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