Authors:

Aina Errando, Adelaida Afilipoaie, Heritiana Ranaivoson | imec-SMIT, Vrije Universiteit Brussels (Belgium)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2026.2682271

Abstract

News personalisation has become essential in the dynamic news media landscape, leveraging algorithms and user data to curate personalised news feeds. However, the motivations for its (non) adoption in news media organisations and the challenges of aligning technological capabilities with journalistic values remain underreported in the literature. Furthermore, existing work has predominantly focused on technical optimisation of NRS, leaving organisational motivations behind the limited use of personalised news recommender systems (NRS) comparatively underexplored, especially in Southern European media systems. Based on sixteen semi-structured expert interviews with journalists, editors, managers, and data and IT specialists in Spanish generalist news media organisations, the findings show a cautious approach to adopting NRS. Alongside tensions between editorial and technological departments, the results reveal wariness in implementing NRS, with professionals desiring human curation and oversight to ensure that news content meets standards aligned with their editorial values. The study confirms the existence of “tech-editorial gaps” and highlights the practical importance of bridging roles. We illustrate how commercial, organisational, and value-related considerations jointly shape the decision-making process, contributing empirical evidence from a media system where personalisation is at the early stages of deployment.