Newspaper and Online News Division
Open Competition
* Extended Abstract * Examining Augmented Reality in Journalism: Perceived Usability of AR Visualizations in News Articles • Tanja Aitamurto, University of Illinois at Chicago; Laura Aymerich-Franch, Pompeu Fabra University; Jorge Saldivar, Barcelona Supercomputing Center; Catherine Kircos; Yasamin Sadeghi, University of California in Los Angeles; Sukolsak Sakshuwong, Stanford University • In this study, we examined the usability of augmented reality (AR) visualizations and users’ interest in adopting AR as a storytelling medium in journalism. In a mixed experimental design, 79 participants were randomly assigned to view three New York Times articles in one of three viewing modalities: (1) AR visualizations, (2) interactive (non-AR) visualizations, or (3) non-interactive, static visualizations. There were no statistically significant differences in the perceived usability of the visuals or in the participants’ interest in seeing more visualizations between the viewing modalities. Regardless of the viewing modality, the participants perceived the visualizations as easy, comfortable and desirable to use and as useful ways to learn information. The participants were neither more nor less interested in adopting the technology for their daily use. The findings suggest that usability may not be a major challenge hindering the use of AR in journalism. However, the findings also suggest that the users are not more interested in using AR in their daily lives compared to other, more traditional visual media. These results pose a challenge for news organizations hoping to develop an audience for their AR content: How could they increase the users’ interest in adopting AR as a visual medium for journalistic storytelling?
* Extended Abstract * Statistical numeracy and polling literacy among news readers • Alyssa Appelman, Northern Kentucky University; Mike Schmierbach, Pennsylvania State University • Through an experiment (N = 495), this study tests the effects of errors in polling and statistics on news readers’ perceptions. In all, findings suggest that most readers do not notice these types of errors. Once enough mistakes are included, however, readers do seem to notice, but they do not seem to be bothered by them. This suggests the need for additional media literacy training for readers, as well as additional numeracy training for journalists.
The default motive: Blaming mental illness for violence depicted in news stories • Jessica Roark, Ohio University; Robin Blom, Ball State University • Though the mentally ill are more likely to be the victims of violent crimes than the perpetrators, saturation of negative media images can lead to the belief that the mentally ill are more likely to commit violent acts than others. This study aimed to provide evidence of the degree to which news consumers connected news stories of violent crimes with mental illness as a motive. By examining perceptions of mental illness as a possible motive when presented with composite news stories depicting crimes with different levels of violence, and where mental illness was either included or excluded from the narrative, the researchers were able to demonstrate that news consumers connected mental illness with violent acts, even when mental illness was not part of the narrative.
Truth, Justice, and Sexual Harassment: A comparative analysis of Op-Eds in the Hill-Thomas and Ford-Kavanaugh hearings • Kelli Boling, University of South Carolina; Leigh Moscowitz, University of South Carolina • Using textual analysis to examine Op-Eds during the Hill-Thomas and Ford-Kavanaugh hearings, this paper explores how media can function as an arbiter of public opinion during controversial events. Findings show a shift in Op-Ed contributors, from mostly men in 1991 (60%) to predominantly women in 2018 (70%). Support for women was largely absent in Op-Eds from 1991, replaced by discussions of fairness and justice; while in 2018, Op-Ed authors offered tangible support for Dr. Ford.
Making sources visible: Representation of evidence in news texts, 2007-2019 • Mark Coddington, Washington and Lee University; Logan Molyneux, Temple University • Journalism’s shift toward more aggregative forms of work could be expected to induce a parallel shift in the forms of evidence presented in news texts. A content analysis of news texts from newspapers and digital newsrooms in 2007, 2013, and 2019 shows firsthand evidence is rarely presented. Non-mediated attributed speech was by far the evidence most often presented, but it has become less common over time, with corresponding increases in mediated speech and thirdhand evidence.
Revealing problems, pointing fingers, and creating impact: A survey of investigative reporters/editors regarding journalistic impact • Nicole Dahmen, University of Oregon; Brent Walth, University of Oregon • One measure of success for investigative reporting is impact: Did the story lead to any sort of outcome, from public awareness and dialogue to meaningful policy change? While investigative reporting is historically impact-oriented, there is a dearth of academic scholarship as to what journalists seek and expect when it comes to generating impact. Using data from a national survey of investigative reporters/editors, this research develops a more holistic conceptualization of journalistic impact.
Mapping Peace Journalism: Toward a Shared Understanding of Success • Meagan Doll, University of Washington; Patricia Moy, University of Washington • “Peace journalism has received notable attention in recent decades, though this interest does not necessarily correspond with more peaceful societies around the world. This paper traces three primary domains of peace journalism research—as a concept, as a practice and, by extension, as media content and effects—to demonstrate how uncoordinated metrics for success obscure peace journalism’s normative goals and evaluation. Future work should consider conceptual bridging between research domains alongside mechanisms for cross-institutional assessment.
Same scandal, different standards: The effect of partisanship on expectations of news reports about whistleblowers • Megan Duncan, Virginia Tech; Mallory Perryman, Virginia Commonwealth University; Brittany Shaughnessy, Virginia Tech • The New York Times in 2019 published a story revealing key details about an anonymous whistleblower and included a short quote from the editor defending the decision. The Times did not name the whistleblower, but it revealed enough to ignite a controversy with clear ideological lines. One explanation of Hostile Media Perception is that audiences adjust their standards higher or lower depending on the context of journalism. In this experiment (N=591), we test the different standards explanation on both the perceptions of a story participants just read and their expectations of a follow up story. The experiment manipulates (1) the news brand publishing the news story; (2) the political identification of a politician at the center of a scandal; and (3) the transparency of an editor’s note explaining journalistic process. The results suggest the relationship between an audience member’s ideology and the news story shapes whether the person thinks a whistleblower’s name should be revealed. We find main effects for news brand and politician political identity on current and future journalism. Additionally, the transparent editor’s note improves the perception of the quality of journalism among independents. These results support transparency on the part of news editors to increase perceptions of good reporting. Further, they add to HMP research by suggesting audiences raise and lower the bar of what they consider fair journalism based on who is reporting about whom. In other words, audiences reading about the same scandal have different standards for the details they think should be included.
Constructing city images through local online media: Evidence from 21 major U.S. cities • Lei Guo; Yiyan Zhang • Based on evidence collected from 21 major U.S. cities, this study explores the intermedia agenda setting (IAS) impact of the city-based local online media in transferring the salience of urban issues to the national media agenda. The results suggest a city’s economic power and the scale of its local news industry, especially the traditional media sector, are significantly correlated with its local media’s power to determine how the city is portrayed in the national media.
Varying amounts of information in health news headlines can affect user selection and interactivity • Ronald Yaros, University of Maryland-College Park; Md Mahfuzul Haque, University of Maryland College Park; Md Main Uddin Rony, University of Maryland College Park; Naeemul Hassan, University of Maryland College Park • This experimental study (N = 308) tested if varying the amounts of information in health news headlines significantly affects user selection. Participants exposed to eight headline pairs selected one preferred headline then asked why, and whether they’d like, comment on, or share its content. Results indicate a consistent preference for more informative headlines because they provided more detail. Although fewer low information headlines were selected, the primary reason was they raised curiosity.
* Extended Abstract * Corrections decrease following The New York Times editing consolidation—is this a good thing? • Kirstie Hettinga, California Lutheran University; Elizabeth Smith, Pepperdine University • The New York Times “streamlined” its editing process in 2017 and reduced the editing staff by about half. Through content analysis on corrections (N=1,149), this research examines the effects of these cuts. Preliminary analysis revealed that there were more corrections before the editing process was changed, but that corrections appeared more quickly after the original error occurred following the streamlining of the editing desk. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.
Ideological Hierarchy in Current China • Yezi Hu, Washington State University; Stacey Hust • Since the Chinese Communist Party(CCP) had to come up with a new ideology to supplement communism in China after the cold war, the complex ideology in China has become a mystery. This study analyzed 200 newspaper articles in Peoples’ Daily to examine and compare the salience of the 12 Socialist Core Values that the CCP is currently promoting in the country. It confirmed the existence of the ideological hierarchy and the five latent themes under the discussion of the values in People’s Daily. This study also found some significant ideological changes after 2018 China’s constitutional amendment, which removed the presidential term limit. It is the first quantitative study of the Socialist Core Values, and it helps the world better understand the ideological foundation behind Chinese behavior and policies.
Transparency in the News • Kirsten Johnson, Elizabethtown College; Burton St. John III, University of Colorado-Boulder • An experimental study was conducted to see what impact varying the level of self-disclosure by a journalist, as well as providing information about why and how a story is being covered, has on the perceived credibility of the journalist, the story, and the organization for which the journalist works. A nationwide study was conducted that included 885 participants. Results indicate the group that saw a picture of the journalist, a low level of disclosure regarding the journalist, and information about why and how the story was being covered rated the journalist, story, and organization highest in terms of perceived credibility. These findings indicate that traditional news organizations, when it comes to building audience credibility, should consider including at least some information about the journalist, and perhaps, more importantly, information about why and how the story is being covered.
* Extended Abstract * Organizational Culture in a Converged Community Radio Station – A Case Study Look at How News Is Made • Angelica Kalika, University of Colorado Boulder • Abstract: As nonprofit community journalism shifts its resources to digital endeavors, this case study examines the organizational culture of a converged community radio station newsroom. Using participant observation and in-depth interviews, the role journalism plays in a nonprofit and independent newsroom is analyzed. Schein’s definition of culture demonstrates how community digital journalistic practices are described and fulfill a community’s information needs. The author makes a case for the professional relevance of the role culture plays in an organization and how news is made in a converged radio newsroom.
A Missed Opportunity? President Trump, the Truth Sandwich, and Journalistic Monitoring of the Executive Office Across Ideological Mainstream Outlets • Linda Jean Kenix, University of Canterbury; Jovita Manickam, University of Canterbury • Journalists have called for a ‘truth sandwich’ in the reporting of President Donald Trump to better ascertain the certitude of his public comments. This paper first reviews the norms of journalism to better understand the present challenges and then attempts to examine journalism in the era of President Trump. It is easier to understand how different contemporary journalism might be if there is a better understanding of the how the practice has evolved. This research then employs quantitative content analysis to examine online articles from four newspapers across the ideological spectrum to uncover sources, tone and presence of the truth sandwich in The United States. Minimal evidence of the truth sandwich was found and coverage of President Trump was largely negative in tone, with differences noted between conservative and liberal media. The stark differences found here have potentially profound implications for democracy and for journalism in America, which are discussed.
Comparative Frame Analysis of a False Ballistic Missile Alert Crisis • Ji Young Kim; Ann Auman, University of Hawaii • News media framing of a community crisis can be studied to better understand the impact of government messages on community reaction. Government is a powerful political actor and source in an emergency for the news media and the public. This study evaluates Hawai’i news media reports and interpretations of state government’s messages about a false missile attack alert. A content analysis was conducted using news frames to evaluate news media’s response to the crisis and compared that to government message frames.
News and Online Public Agenda for the Environmental Health Risk Issues in S. Korea • Ji Young Kim • Grounded in the agenda-setting framework, a total of 587 news and public online messages were analyzed. First, news media articles were collected from the Integrated News Database System where articles were retrieved from nine different daily newspapers in Korea, and then public’s online messages were also collected from an online portal site using the same keywords. Results of this study show some useful communication patterns in terms of sub-issues, stakeholders, and issue frames in the context of environmental health risk. Moreover, this study found some differences between the news and public agendas on the environmental health risk issues.
Audience Engagement with Individual News Organizations and Their News Content, and Influencing Factors • Jisu Kim, Yale Law School; Jisu Huh, University of Minnesota • Using survey data from the audience of six national news organizations in the United States, this article explores the influences of factors for audience engagement with the news organization at the organizational level. The result shows that familiarity with the news organization, frequency of getting news from the news organization, trust in the news in social media, trust in the news organization, and demographics affect audience engagement with news content and the news organization differently.
Third-party candidates, newspaper editorials and political debates • John Kirch, Towson University • This paper examines how newspapers in Virginia covered Sarvis’s campaign and the 2013 gubernatorial election on their editorial pages. In addition to comparing the volume and type of coverage each candidate received, the study analyzed whether newspapers in Virginia supported, opposed, or were indifferent to the Libertarian’s inclusion in the debates. Central questions include: Were newspapers interested in broadening political discourse beyond the confines of the major parties? How did newspaper editorial boards respond once they learned that Sarvis was not invited to the debates? Did any newspaper endorse the Libertarian? And did the news media fulfill its role as a forum of robust discussion, or did it act as an “agent of power,” helping the establishment stifle political discourse rather than enhancing it? The paper finds that third-party candidates receive significantly less coverage than major-party candidates on newspaper editorial pages. Most newspapers also were indifferent to the Libertarian’s exclusion from the debates.
* Extended Abstract * Early Coverage of the Coronavirus Pandemic at US Local Newspapers • Beth Knobel, Fordham University • The outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic provides an opportunity to investigate several aspects of the work of local newspapers in the United States, including gatekeeping, the effect of news wires and news syndication services, and the possible effect of political polarization on hard news coverage. To provide insight on these issues, this study examines the early coverage of COVID-19 at a selection of American local newspapers in 28 states—15 Republican-dominated and 13 Democrat-dominated.
* Extended Abstract * 12 years left—how a climate change action deadline influences attitudes • Patrice Kohl; Neil Stenhouse • “Following the release of a 2018 IPCC report, numerous news media announced we have only “12 years” to avoid abrupt, catastrophic climate change. This experiment tested the influence of this climate change “deadline-ism” narrative on participant attitudes and behavioral intentions. A news article presenting the “deadline-ism” narrative increased support for prioritizing climate change and reduced fatalism, compared to a control condition. It also increased a sense of response efficacy in addressing climate change among liberals.”
Anchoring in the past, tweeting from the present: Exploring cognitive bias among reporters in 2016 presidential election coverage • Jihye Lee, Stanford University; James Hamilton • This study explores how cognitive biases influence news coverage by journalists facing uncertainty and time-pressures on the campaign trail. Examining text corpora generated by 81 reporters covering the 2016 presidential election, we found that journalists who had covered previous presidential elections anchor in the past by making more references to previous political events in their 2016 reporting. Comparing text of their articles and broadcasts to language in their tweets, we found journalists used language on Twitter reflecting more emotion, greater certainty, and a focus on the present. These results were consistent with Kahneman’s model of System 1 versus System 2 thinking.
The Synergistic Effects of Solutions Journalism and Corporate Social Responsibility Advertising • Minjie Li, The University of Tampa • This study explores the synergistic effects of solutions journalism and corporate social responsibility advertising. More specifically, it experimentally investigates how news story orientation (i.e. Problem-Oriented, Solution-Oriented) interacts with the relevance of the advertisement (i.e. Irrelevant, Low-Relevance, High-Relevance) displayed alongside the news story to redirect people’s affective and cognitive responses to the news story and advertisement. The findings demonstrated that the solution-oriented story elicited more positive affect, issue interest, self-efficacy, and favorable evaluations of the advertisement.
The Discursive Construction of Forza Nuova in Italy’s Corriere della Sera: Legitimizing the Ultra-Right? • Cinzia Padovani, Scuola Normale Superiore/Loughborough University • “What is the role of mainstream media in the discursive construction of ultra-right political actors? In order to answer this question, I propose a case study in which I draw from critical discourse studies to investigate Italy’s newspaper of record (Corriere della Sera)’s coverage of the ultra-right party Forza Nuova (FN). I argue that Corriere, one of the most important news organizations in the country, has tended to represent this party as a legitimate player in the political and public sphere, rather than providing the reader with the necessary background on its neo-fascist roots and ideology. The findings provide us with insight into the potential dangers and pitfalls of some core principles of ethical journalism (such as impartiality and fairness) when reporting on ultra-right political actors. This case study shows the importance of a journalism that is shaped by the post-WWII core values of anti-fascism and anti-racism, in a more contextualized and historicized practice.
“Setting Your Own Agenda”: Selective Exposure as a Mechanism for Re-Enforcing Issue Importance • George Pearson, The Ohio State University; Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick; Birkan Gokbag • “Classic agenda setting hypotheses suggest audiences take cues from media as to the most important issues in society. However, this is challenged by a high-choice media environment that allows users to choose topics based off pre-existing interests. A selective exposure experiment found pre-exposure issue importance and media emphasis both predict selective exposure which in turn predicts post-exposure importance. However, media emphasis did not directly predict post-exposure importance, implying selective exposure is necessary for agenda setting.
* Extended Abstract * Covering Parkland: How reporters cope with living through a school shooting • Theodore Petersen • When tragedy strikes, journalists are often among those who run toward the danger. This qualitative study explores the lived experience of 10 South Florida journalists who covered the Parkland school shooting. The journalists shared moving stories. For example, one had her Twitter account faked and received death threats; another worried about his brother who taught at the school. By understanding these experiences, newsroom leaders and journalism professors can better prepare journalists to handle these situations.
News Story Aggregation and Perceived Credibility • Chris Roberts, University of Alabama; Stan Diel, Francis Marion University • The practice of aggregating news content—repurposing content created by other news organizations—raises questions about credibility. This experimental study suggests that news organizations can boost credibility of aggregated content by more clearly identifying originating sources than by increasing or decreasing the use of aggregation. Relationships between levels of aggregation and credibility showed little or no significance, while relationships between credibility and receivers’ confidence in identifying originating sources were significant.
* Extended Abstract * A Qualitative Analysis of US Immigration Coverage by Media During the Obama and Trump Presidencies • Jennifer Sadler • This qualitative analysis examines the frequency of immigration-related posts by media organizations and audience reactions on Facebook from the last three years of Barack Obama’s Presidency and the first three years of Donald Trump’s Presidency: January 2014 – December 2019. The results of this analysis indicate that media have significantly increased posting about this topic since 2014 and audiences have also elevated their participation through comments, shares, and reactions.
A Frame Analysis of Climate Change Solutions in Online News and Media • Michelle Seelig; Huixin Deng, University of Miami; Songyi Liang, University of Miami • Even though the public is aware of climate change, deficient is an adequate discussion about real solutions, preventive measures, or necessary actions that may prevent further deterioration or damage to Earth. The present study seeks to know how online news and media discusses (a) actions to address climate change, (b) self, external, and response efficacy of actions that may be taken to address it, and (c) how are climate solutions visually framed in the news.
Partisan Selective Exposure on Social Media: Individual Preference vs. Community Structure • Jieun Shin, University of Florida • This study examined two different levels of selective exposure phenomenon: the individual level (i.e., a tendency to favor like-minded sources) and network level (i.e., partisan community structures). We linked survey responses from a representative sample of twitter users in the U.S. with their digital trace data from Twitter including media following and exposure to news via their friends. We found that selectivity bias was present in all types of data including self-reported media consumption (survey), media following (digital trace), and indirect exposure to media (digital trace). However, individual- level preferences did not translate into macroscopic network structures in which partisan groups are clustered and isolated. A moderate level cross-cutting exposure and a common use of neutral media hindered extreme partisan segregation. Additionally, we observed an asymmetric pattern of selective exposure between conservatives and liberals. The implications of these findings are discussed with reference to the roles of mainstream media, selective avoidance, and incidental exposure.
National Prisms of a Global Phenomenon: A Comparative Study of Press Coverage of Climate Change in the US, UK and China • Yunya Song, Hong Kong Baptist University; Zeping Huang; Jonathon P. Schuldt, Cornell University; Connie Yuan, Cornell University • Although a number of studies have compared media coverage of climate change issues across countries, most focus on comparisons between the European and US contexts. Chinese media, by comparison, has received much less scholarly attention. This study examines the US, UK versus Chinese media coverage of climate change from 2013 to 2018. Our analysis entails a 39.4 million-word corpus of news texts retrieved from six leading national newspapers. A combination of computer-assisted quantitative linguistic analysis with critical discourse analysis was used to identify and compare linguistic elements as well as the moral reasoning that underpins the journalistic positioning across large corpuses. The findings suggested that the US and UK newspapers tended to frame climate change coverage as a domestic issue, while Chinese media tended to frame it as a global issue that the world at large needs to tackle. Moreover, the Chinese media were more likely to adopt one-sided rhetoric than their Western counterpart, and whereas the U.S. and UK newspapers more often adopted the balanced reporting norm to include a wider range of views. Our finding showed mixed support for the contrast between the West and the East in moral reasoning underlying their climate change stance. Even if the media in these three countries shared certain moral values and concerns regarding climate issues, their relative importance nevertheless varied due to their different socio-political systems and cultural repertoires.
Identity Denied: An Examination of News, Affective Responses, and Behavioral Tendencies among Audiences • David Stamps, Louisiana State University • It is well documented that news coverage of racial minorities impacts audiences’ cognitive, affective, and behavioral responses. Yet, our knowledge is limited in understanding the influence of news coverage of whites on white audiences. By applying assumptions for social identity, self-categorization, and the black sheet effect, the current study experimentally examines these relationships. Results indicate that race-focused, versus non-racialized news, provoke heightened, complex affective and behavioral responses based on group identification.
The Strategic Ritual of Emotionality in Trafficking, Immigration, and Asylum News • Allison Steinke, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; Valerie Belair-Gagnon, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities • Human trafficking, immigration, and asylum are crucial elements of international human rights covered frequently in American news media. A qualitative content analysis of articles published in three leading U.S. newspapers reveals that the strategic ritual of emotionality provides a helpful lens and analytic framework through which scholars can examine news media discourse on these topics that cultivates a sense of cosmopolitan citizenship while at the same time reproducing established norms of journalism.
* Extended Abstract * The competing ‘content studio’ agenda: A large-scale analysis of sponsored content in elite U.S. newspapers and its agenda cutting effect on corporate news • Chris Vargo, University of Colorado Boulder; Michelle Amazeen, Boston University • 2,711 sponsored content articles from 27 major U.S. corporations were analyzed across five years in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal. The degree to which sponsored predicted significant changes in news coverage for elite media and 2) the U.S. online media was investigated. Half of the corporations change in salience across the media landscape. Agenda cutting was the most common effect observed, happening both inside of elite media and across the media landscape. Corporate sponsored content mildly suppresses coverage of that corporation in online news. Agenda building, however is very rare, or perhaps nonexistent. In this way we suggest that “content studios” may be acting more like advertisers, which have been known to suppress critical coverage of their corporation from time to time, and less like public relations practitioners who amplify and boost the salience of a company’s good deeds.
Greater Expectations: How the Public Perceives News Bias and Journalistic Routines • Tamar Wilner, University of Texas at Austin; Dominique Montiel Valle, The University of Texas at Austin; Gina M. Masullo, School of Journalism, The University of Texas at Austin • “This study, using the hierarchy of influences model, investigates how individuals conceive of bias in the news and of how journalists do their jobs. We find that focus group participants’ conception of bias is broad, actually penalizing reporters for following journalistic routines. Data also shows participants hold high and possibly unattainable expectations for journalists’ adherence to ethics, such as reporting the truth and holding power to account. Implications for media trust are discussed.
Political Journalism and Democracy: How journalists reflect political viewpoint diversity in their reporting • David Wolfgang, Colorado State University; Tim Vos, Michigan State University; Kimberly Kelling; Soo Young Shin, MSU • Journalists express support for providing a diversity of viewpoints in their reporting, but how is this reflected in their content? This study compared survey results of U.S. political journalists’ statements with a content analysis of their reporting. There was limited support for journalists reflecting a diversity of viewpoints in their reporting, but only for those who support civic or direct models of democracy. Results related to sourcing and trust in institutions are also discussed.
Collective Sensemaking with Big Data: Sentiment Analysis of Tweet Content for Journalistic Inquiry • Yanfang Wu • Twitter is recognized by journalists as a powerful journalistic instrument. However, it consumes a great deal of journalists’ time and effort in order to verify the accuracy of the flood of information and transform raw information from social media to reportable results. Moreover, there is a lack of research on how journalists may classify Twitter content. This study seeks to fill in the knowledge gap by utilizing sentiment analysis and sensemaking theory to differentiate Twitter content from a journalistic perspective. This case study focused on 1,771,785 tweets from August 22 to September 16 in the Hurricane Dorian in 2019. The study found analysis of large-scale user-generated data on Twitter helps journalists in sensemaking in a crisis. The impact of opinion leaders on information diffusion on Twitter is declining. Although both subjectivity and polarity predict retweets, a negative association was recognized between subjectivity of a tweet and retweet counts. Moreover, tweets with negative polarity opinions were retweeted more.
* Extended Abstract * Digital News Work: Skills and Attributes Online-only News Websites Seek in their Employees • Casey Yetter, University of Oklahoma; Asma Khanom; Peter Gade • This research looks at the skills and attributes digital-native news sites look for in their employees. A quantitative content analysis of 246 job advertisements from 37 digital native news websites was conducted. Results reveal that these sites seek previous experience more than any other attribute or skill, and while several digital-based skills are common in the ads, those most related to emerging areas of professionalism are seldom present. Online news sites are more niche-oriented than traditional media, and results show that although core journalism skills remain important, there are some important differences the skills these sites seek.
What’s Wrong with Newspapers’ Digital Readership? An Empirical Analysis of the Top 50 U.S. Newspapers’ Online Metrics with the Multidimensional Web Attention Model • Nan Zheng; Iris Chyi; Yee Man Margaret Ng, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; Kelly Kaufhold • This study applies the Multidimensional Web Attention Model to 50 U.S. newspapers’ digital readership using Scarborough and Comscore metrics data, showing a less optimistic view of newspaper online readership across all dimensions. National newspapers outperform local newspapers only in audience size. Mobile users surpass the number of desktop users but lack loyalty and depth. Users age 18-24 are a small group and read fewer pages than those 45 or older. Managerial implications are discussed.
Student Papers
* Extended Abstract * Reporting on Syrian conflict from exile: Examining advocacy journalism in diaspora journalists’ online productions and networks • Rana Arafat, University of Lugano • Searching for an inclusive definition of diaspora journalism and the changing roles of journalists in exile, this paper employs an inductive approach to examine how diaspora journalists build online networks that blur boundaries between journalism, activism, human rights advocacy, social movements, and civil society work. Using digital ethnography, qualitative content analysis, and in-depth interviews, the study further investigates the online textual productions of two Syrian opposition news websites to explore their media advocacy strategies and the main topics their reporting activism agendas involve as well as examining the diaspora journalists’ own perceptions of the changing nature of their profession after fleeing the Syrian repressive political spheres. Preliminary findings demonstrate that diaspora journalism poses various challenges to traditional journalism paradigms as journalists’ roles go beyond merely collecting information and publishing stories to include fundraising, training local citizen journalists, collaborating with civil society organizations and carrying out various forms of institutional work. State intervention, objectivity, cyber threats, funding, and accessibility of sources pose other limitations to diaspora journalists’ advocacy efforts.
Intermedia Attribute Agenda-Setting among Hong Kong, U.S. and Mainland Chinese Media • Yining Fan; Vincent Wong • “This study integrates the Protest Paradigm into the analysis of intermedia agenda-setting among major newspapers in Hong Kong, the U.S., and Mainland China concerning the 2019 anti-extradition bill protests. A total of 9,646 news headlines/headings were analyzed. Granger causality tests revealed that paradigm-related attributes transferred from the more “elite” U.S. media to Hong Kong newspapers, while a bottom-up effect was also identified, with Hong Kong newspapers influencing U.S. ones regarding Chinese authority and international society.
News Grazing in the Era of Information Overload: The Underlying Motivations and Technological Affordances for News Grazing • Li Xuan Hong; Xiang Yuan Brenda Pong; Wan Xin Rachelle Lye; Ngiag Gya Trisha Sng • “Guided by the niche theory, this study explored news grazing — the act of skimming through bite-sized news intermittently, or at regular interstices of time, in a summarised format, underpinned by the prioritisation of efficiency. News grazers are motivated by individuals’ increasing demand for efficiency, information motivation and socialisation needs. News grazing is facilitated by the affordances of customisability, accessibility, aesthetics, and simultaneity within the given app (i.e., Telegram) that this study examined.
* Extended Abstract * It doesn’t flow through the taps for free: Framing of Detroit’s water shutoffs by mainstream newspapers • Kelsey Mesmer, Wayne State University; Scott Burgess, Wayne State University; Darryl Frazier, Wayne State University • This content analysis of news stories about the Detroit water shutoffs seeks to understand how the on-going water crisis is framed in the local news—as a human rights issue, or in relation to the city’s financial burden. Using a deductive framing approach, we pay special attention to the frames used within stories and whether articles contained context related to the water shutoffs, specifically about health implications and the cost of water in Detroit.
Framing Media Disinformation in a Time of Crisis: Social Media’s Response to COVID-19 • Hoa Nguyen; Sara Browning • This study examines traditional mainstream media stories published online (N=107) by domestic and international news outlets in January 2020 to decipher how stories frame disinformation in the media during a crisis event. The study draws on Doris Graber’s crisis journalism concept that focuses on audiences’ perceptions that coverage of hazardous events is insufficient to fulfill audiences’ information needs. To this end, the study explores how mainstream journalists educate audiences concerning disinformation types. We find that traditional mainstream media criticize social media for serving as a conduit for disinformation and that mainstream journalists rely mostly on interest group members to correct disinformation.
Law enforcement “journalism” in the modern age: How does social media erode journalistic authority? • Elizabeth (Beth) Potter, University of Colorado Boulder • “In the age of social media, both journalists and law enforcement personnel have changed their news-gathering and dissemination routines. Specifically, journalist interactions with law enforcement sources have changed, both in number and in timing.
What does this say about eroding journalistic authority, if anything? This study finds that journalists continue to follow industry norms of objectivity and verification – especially verification through multiple sources – while using social media tools to help them find information they need to do their work. Law enforcement public information officers often decide not to talk to journalists. Instead, law enforcement officers post information directly to social media site “followers”. This study poses questions about both journalistic and law enforcement authority. It also examines how social media blurs journalists’ “watchdog role” in a modern democracy. While the study is limited to less than 50 participants because of the small number of people working in this particular area (both journalists and public information officers in one western state), it provides valuable insights into the changing nature of who is considered authoritative in providing public information, which can pave the way for a systematic analysis of this issue across the United States.”
Get engaged: Newsletters as a new habit • Elizabeth (Beth) Potter, University of Colorado Boulder • “This study explores the relationship between news engagement and public participation in the digital age at a time when the number of local news outlets around the country has dropped precipitously. As such, this study appears to be the first to look at how online news newsletter subscribers engage in civic life. Participants (N=315) were recruited through the online-only Colorado Sun newsletter – The Sunriser (www.coloradosun.com) and the legacy newspaper, the Denver Post newsletter – Mile High Roundup (www.denverpost.com). This relationship has been studied many times as it pertains to other news platforms and other forms of public participation – particularly voting. But it rarely has been studied as it pertains to other forms of civic engagement. This theme is particularly pressing now, after more than 2,100 local news outlets have gone out of business in the last 15 years (Abernathy, 2018; Pew Research Center, 2018.) Despite the rapid changes going on in the media industry – including increased financial turmoil for virtually every news outlet – findings show that these particular e-newsletter consumers are more likely to follow the news and are more likely to be engaged in their communities. Specifically, the more time that the e-newsletter subscribers spend with the news, the more likely they are to be engaged in specific types of public participation, including attending community meetings, addressing community issues, and attending rallies or protests. People with higher household incomes who subscribe to online news newsletters also are more likely to be engaged in their communities.”
Defending Credibility in Attacks on Online News • Erika Schneider, University of Missori; Courtney Boman, University of Missouri • In the growth of online news, the industry faces new threats on a polarized landscape, such as online astroturfing attacks, that result in real consequences. This research informs scholarship and practice with how news organizations can raise their credibility while lowering the astroturfer’s credibility. As online news has not been immune to these attacks, it recognizes how organizations can effectively inoculate themselves by warning stakeholders and exposing the nature of ongoing malicious campaigns.
Epidemic arrives in political times: Comparing Hong Kong Newspaper Reporting on SARS and COVID-19 • Cheryl S.Y. SHEA, The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Wendy L.Y. LEUNG, The Chinese University of Hong Kong • “This study compares how Hong Kong newspapers with distinctive political affiliations adopt contextual frames in discussing the outbreak of SARS and COVID-19 from a socio-political angle through content analysis (N = 764). We propose a new frame, resistance, to show how the local government’s legitimacy crisis, which arose due to the unresolved Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Movement, is reflected in the presumably unrelated health crisis and how people reacted to the legitimacy crisis through public resistance.”
Ideal Image for News Media: A Typology for Repairing Public Trust • Soo Young Shin, MSU • This study proposes the use of a multidimensional construct of news media—news media image—to better understand the public’s perception and potentially, to repair the public’s trust. Through a multidisciplinary literature review, and qualitative and quantitative analysis, the research identified seven categories of news media image as a heuristic which uncovered: respondents evaluate the public’s perception based on their daily utilities, journalists’ empathetic capabilities, and accessibility to news content, adding to traditional understanding of credibility. The seven categories of news media image were: news usefulness, empathy, news selection bias, personality, credibility, usability, and social responsibility.
Journalism Ethics Shift as Native Advertising Evolves • Ava Sirrah, Columbia • The goal of the study is to see if the creation and dissemination of native advertising shapes the values journalists are asked to uphold and protect. Native advertising is commercial content that is designed to mimic non-advertising content— like stories crafted by journalists— and it is placed alongside non-commercial content. This study examines if a news publisher’s values are challenged when they allow their advertising and marketing departments to produce native ads. The method of inquiry draws upon a series of 35 in-depth interviews with people who sell, help produce, or disseminate native advertising and 10 interviews with people who work in the newsroom. The interviews suggest that a subset of people inside branded content studios are able to shape or influence the work of newsroom journalists and editors.
Mitigating the Negative Bias of the News • Christian Staal Bruun Overgaard, The University of Texas at Austin • An experiment (N = 270) tested the effects of exposure to constructive journalism on social media. Subjects read a series of constructive – or a series of negative – updates made by a fictitious news organization. Compared to those reading negative updates, subjects who read constructive updates perceived the news organization as more credible, expressed stronger intentions to like the updates, felt more efficacy regarding solving societal problems, and experienced more positive – and less negative – affect.
Who Sets the Media Agenda for Nonprofit News Organizations? • Jiehua Zhang, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa; Danielle Deavours, University of Alabama • “Nonprofit news organizations are expected to fill the reporting voids left by traditional news outlets; traditional, commercial media sources have recently experienced extreme financial difficulties, and they’ve had to cut content and laid off staff. Nonprofit news organizations have been able to overcome some of those financial challenges through donations and sponsors. However, their heavy reliance on contributions and donations raises concerns about their objectivity and independence. The present study applies issue ownership theory to examine agenda and regional bias of news coverage from two nonprofit news organizations: ProPublica (N=186) and the Center for Public Integrity (N=141). The results showed that both nonprofit news organizations put more focus on performance issues, such as government functioning, than Democrat- or Republican-owned issues. However, both organizations covered significantly more Democratic issues than Republican issues. The study also examined the partisan preferences of donors for the organizations. While the Republican Index showed that donors for both news organizations donated more money to Democratic than to Republican politicians, further research is still needed to identify whether or not there was relationship between issue coverage and donors’ political predispositions. Implications and limitations are discussed.
Newspapers as propaganda: How Communist Party of China newspapers frame images on the South China Sea disputes for national and international audiences • Runping Zhu • “Using both quantitative and qualitative content analysis, this study offers a comparative analysis of how two Chinese Communist Party newspapers frame the South China Sea disputes to international and national audiences over the period 2014 to 2016. Building on Lee and Lee’s classification of propaganda techniques, the study examines how a Chinese language paper targeting domestic readers and an English language newspaper targeting the international community use different techniques when presenting the same story to different audiences to create positive images of China and negative images of its opponents. Papers for the domestic market adopted news frames that buttressed citizens’ support for the state’s actions on a foundation of nationalism. In contrast, the primary objective of the newspaper aimed at international readers was to undermine foreign governments’ arguments opposing China’s viewpoint. The empirical findings illustrate how propaganda techniques originally developed and applied in Western and democratic countries have been adopted and refined by newspapers in a state-run Communist press environment to create frames that best align with the cultural and political predispositions of domestic and international readers. These textual techniques are augmented by a variety other article features tailored to the two different target audiences to enhance the credibility of articles. The findings indicate Chinese authorities understand Western communication theory and appreciate how that theory can be applied to disseminate propaganda messages to both foreign and domestic audiences.
Print friendly
