Wikipedia versus Encyclopedia Britannica: A Longitudinal Analysis to Identify the Impact of Social Media on the Standards of Knowledge

The collaboratively edited online encyclopedia Wikipedia is among the most popular websites in the world. Subsequently, it poses a great challenge to traditional encyclopedias, which for centuries have set the standards of society's knowledge with their printed editions. It is, therefore, important to study the impact of social media on the standards of our knowledge. This longitudinal panel study analyzed the framing of content in encyclopedia entries of top Fortune companies in Wikipedia and the online version of Encyclopedia Britannica in 2006, 2008, and 2010. Content analyses of the length, tonality, and topics of 3,985 sentences showed that Wikipedia entries were significantly longer, were more positively and negatively framed, and focused more on corporate social responsibilities and legal and ethical issues than the online entries of the traditional encyclopedia, which were predominantly neutral. The findings stress that the knowledge-generation processes in society appear to be fundamentally shifting because of the use of social media collaboration. These changes significantly impact which information becomes available to society and how it is framed.     

Mediating at the Student–Wikipedia Intersection

ABSTRACT

Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia. The encyclopedia is openly edited by registered users. Wikipedia editors can edit their own and others' entries, and some abuse of this editorial power has been unveiled. Content authors have also been criticized for publishing less than accurate content. Educators and students acknowledge casual use of Wikipedia in spite of its perceived inaccuracies. Use of the online encyclopedia as a reference resource in scholarly papers is still debated. The increasing popularity of Wikipedia has led to an influx of research articles analyzing the validity and content of the encyclopedia. This study provides an analysis of relevant articles on academic use of Wikipedia. This analysis attempts to summarize the status of Wikipedia in relation to the scope (breadth) and depth of its contents and looks at content validity issues that are of concern to the use of Wikipedia for higher education. The study seeks to establish a reference point from which educators can make informed decisions about scholarly use of Wikipedia as a reference resource.     

COLLABORATION,CONSENSUS, AND CONFLICT

Wikinews began in November 2004 as a collaborative online journalism project and sister project of Wikipedia, the well-known collaborative online encyclopedia. This article explores how Wikinews members have defined “news” and the ramifications of that definition for how they have been able to produce news collaboratively. One of the defining characteristics of Wikinews is a dedication to the neutral point of view (NPOV) policy, which was adopted from Wikipedia. NPOV serves as a structuring device for defining news, but also conducts a great deal of organizational work and is in turn structured by the discourses and debates of NPOV in stories. Further, a commitment to an organizational culture of consensus and collaboration, although not without handicaps in a news production environment, is a laudable achievement among Wikinews participants and could be a precursor to the way that citizen journalists will become more involved in news production in a sustainable way.     

Where populist citizens get the news: An investigation of news audience polarization along populist attitudes in 11 countries

This article presents a secondary analysis of two multi-national cross-sectional surveys conducted in 2015 (11 countries, N?=?10,570) and 2017 (4 countries, N?=?2165) to examine the relationship between populist attitudes and media use. The results indicate that populist citizens are more likely to consume news than non-populist citizens. Specifically, populist citizens exhibit a preference for commercial television (TV) news, as well as a tendency to read tabloid newspapers. While they use fewer quality newspapers, public TV news are not systematically avoided. Regarding the online news environment, populist citizens prefer Facebook over Twitter as a source of political information. This selective pattern will be discussed in light of the debates on news audience polarization and political polarization.     

Framing controversy over language policy in Malaysia: the coverage of PPSMI reversal (teaching of mathematics and science in English) by Malaysian newspapers

In 2003, the Malaysian Government announced the policy of Teaching of Mathematics and Science in English [ETeMS or better known by its Malay acronym, Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris (PPSMI)]. The policy has, however, caused a furore, with both Malay nationalists and Chinese educationists treating the decision as an attack on their identity. Later in July 2009, the Malaysian Government announced to reverse the PPSMI policy starting from 2012. Researchers have long understood news as an artefact of a socially constructed reality. In making news, journalists shape a reality that reflects the political economic and ideological boundaries within which they work. By employing framing as the theoretical framework and content analysis as the research method, this study examined what pictures newspapers have created for citizens' understanding of the reversal of PPSMI policy. It was found that the mainstream newspapers framed the issue in similar ways, which was to explain and justify the reversal. Meanwhile, the alternative newspaper reflected what was mostly left outwhile the alternative newspaper reflected what was mostly left out and provided a counter-hegemonic discourse.     

The gods are drinking milk! Word‐of‐mouth diffusion of a major news event in India

The objective of this study is to explore whether the US media overemphasized recalled Chinese products in 2007 and, if so, how news coverage in the US media differed from that of the Chinese media. By using a framing analysis of the coverage in two US media and two Chinese media, this study pursues answers to these questions. After comparing the news coverage of the recalled Chinese products and a real world indictor, this study found that neither US nor Chinese media mirrored the real world phenomenon as it was. By comparing news coverage of the issue in The New York Times and The Associated Press with China Daily, and The Xinhua News Agency, the study found that news coverage of the recalled issues differed significantly in terms of the sources used, the nationality of the source, the dominant frames employed, and the attribution of responsibility for the problems. In particular, Chinese media more frequently employed government officials as their main sources, which inherently increased the use of thematic frames. By contrast, US media often used episodic frames. Likewise, American media approached the issues using ‘Customers' Worries’ and ‘Broken System’ frames, whereas Chinese media often attempted to defend the quality of Chinese products and criticized Western media for exaggerating the issues. Owing to the news framing process, US audiences might have acquired more negative images of Chinese products and China in general. By contrast, their Chinese counterparts might have experienced increased antipathy and distrust concerning the American media.     

Public Trust or Mistrust? Perceptions of Media Credibility in the Information Age

This article explores perceptions of news credibility for television, newspapers, and online news. A survey was administered to a randomly selected sample of residents in Austin, Texas, to assess people's attitudes toward these 3 media channels. Contingent factors that might influence news credibility perceptions, such as media use and interpersonal discussion of news, were incorporated into the analysis. Findings suggest that people are generally skeptical of news emanating from all 3 media channels but do rate newspapers with the highest credibility, followed by online news and television news, respectively. Furthermore, opinions about news credibility seem to be correlated across media outlets. The data also show a moderate negative linkage between interpersonal discussion of news and perceptions of media credibility for television news but not for newspapers. When controlling for basic demographics, a positive correlation was found between interpersonal communication and online news credibility. Finally, a marginal association was noted between media use and public perceptions of credibility across all 3 media channels.     

中文维基百科编辑参与率低的原因分析及对策研究

维基百科是一部具有开放性、自由性、中立性和公众集体参与编撰的在线百科全书.网络百科全书的成功依赖于广大用户的积极参与和贡献.但是,在国内维基用户的编辑参与率不高.论文探讨了维基编辑参与率低的原因,有技术设施因素、网民心理因素和管理制度因素.针对其原因,提出了相应对策：降低门槛,让人们入门不难;提供服务满意度,激发兴趣回报社区;完善激励机制,精神和物质双重奖励.     

Peace Journalism: Principles and Structural Limitations in the News Coverage of Three Conflicts

This study expands on the work in operationalizing Johan Galtung's classification of peace journalism and war journalism by describing and comparing the news coverage of three Asian conflicts—India and Pakistan's dispute over Kashmir, the Tamil Tigers movement in Sri Lanka, and the Indonesian civil wars in Aceh and Maluku. By including vernacular newspapers in the analysis, this study adds to a research locus that has largely been ignored. A content analysis of 1,973 stories from 16 English-language and vernacular newspapers suggests that, overall, peace journalism as an alternative to traditional war reporting is subject to a body of structural limitations that have not been previously addressed. Media and institutional constraints in the form of story characteristics such as language, story type, and production source as well as contextual variables such as a conflict's length and intensity shape the patterns of war/peace journalism framing. The findings suggest that structural changes are needed for peace journalism to evolve into a viable, mainstream approach to news coverage of war and conflict.     

Practice of Hypertext

Despite scholarly research inconsistencies in conceptualizations of hypertext, there seems to be a consensus among scholars from different epistemological grounds that hypertextuality as a communication potential refers to the interconnectivity and interlayering of textual parts in an extended nonlinear chain of integrated content that enables innovation in practices within the triad journalist–text–reader. However, within this rather large area of research, media and journalism scholars have paid minimal attention to hypertext as practice despite hypertext raising many questions regarding the processes and relations of news making. In this paper the author attempts to fill this research gap and to investigate how hypertext shapes different phases of online news making, that is, gathering, selecting, and assessing information, and how these processes influence journalist–source–audience relations. This study thus provides analysis of data gathered through participant observation in the online departments of two leading Slovenian print media organizations, Delo and Dnevnik, and in-depth interviews with their online journalists and editors. The analysis indicated that (1) lack of reasoning and a conservative mind-set prevail among online staffers when conceptualizing hypertext; (2) the normalization of hypertextual news making is subordinated to speed and timeliness in news delivery; and (3) nurtured journalist–source–audience relations bring little to strengthen the social relevance of news. These results confirmed hypertext as a commodity rather than emphasizing its public character. The practice of hypertext at the two Slovenian newspapers indicates a phenomenon that could be labelled as journalistic deskilling in online news making.     

From theft to racist brawl: the framing of Low Yat incident by Malaysian newspapers

This study aimed to conduct a framing analysis on the coverage of the Law Yat incident, whereby a theft case was escalated into racist brawl in Malaysia. The study compared the coverage of mainstream Malay-, English- and Chinese-language as well as alternative newspapers. The findings indicated that the newspapers reported the incident with different intensity, prominence, news sources, news frames and valence. It was found that the Law Yat incident has been highly racialized by irresponsible bloggers, social media users and politicians in the country. The findings also reflected that race and ethnicity issues remain highly politicized in Malaysia.     

网络时代的百科全书--维基百科

维基百科是在互联网基础上产生的一种新型百科全书。与传统百科全书不同，它采用全球志愿者协作的方式完成，目前已经取得了令人瞩目的成就。文章介绍了这种新型的百科全书，并对其相关功能进行了评介。     

How partisan newspapers represented a pandemic: the case of the Middle East respiratory syndrome in South Korea

This study analyzed the coverage by two partisan South Korean newspapers of the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) pandemic, examining differences in their use of news frames and cited sources. A content analysis revealed that Hankyoreh, the left-wing newspaper, placed more emphasis on attributing responsibility to the government and society. In contrast, Chosun Ilbo, the right-wing newspaper, placed more emphasis on attributing responsibility to the individual. Severity/uncertainty, economic consequences, and statistical data frame were utilized more in Hankyoreh than the expected frequency. On the other hand, human interest and reassurance frame were utilized more in Chosun Ilbo than the expected frequency. Regarding the sources used in news stories, Hankyoreh used significantly more sources from local governments than did Chosun Ilbo. On the other hand, Chosun Ilbo used significantly more sources from medical agencies and experts than did Hankyoreh. This study advances previous research on the framing of a pandemic in the media by exploring how the partisan leanings of newspapers influence the framing.     

Still the Same?

This article analyses whether a specific news event is reported differently online compared to print newspapers. The question is hardly new but has increased in importance as more readers pass from print newspapers to online news. The conditions of news selection and production are discussed departing from the theories of market-driven journalism and media logic, and are related to aspects of audience needs and gratifications, as well as professional norms and standards. A content analysis of news reporting during the 2010 Swedish election campaign reveals no significant differences between how major newspapers reported the aspects, issues and actors online compared to in print. Individuals using online news received the same information about the election campaign as those reading the print paper, which indicates a displacing rather than complementary effect of online journalism on print journalism.     

Tracing the Sources

This article explores health journalists’ sourcing patterns in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium across a range of different media including newspapers, magazines, radio, television and online health news websites. A cross-sectional quantitative content analysis of health news items collected in February 2015 (N?=?981) was established to examine the number and origin (e.g. industry, citizens, experts) of sources (N?=?1998) mentioned in health news stories with particular attention paid to differences across various media types. Despite recent claims of media convergence, cross-media comparisons are scarce and, for a specialized beat such as health, nonexistent. The key findings of this study indicate that ordinary citizens and academic experts constitute the two largest source categories. The small share of industry-related sources confirms journalists’ skeptical attitude towards content provided by the industry. But on closer inspection, large differences can be observed across various media types. On the one hand, ordinary citizens occur with relatively high frequency on television but hardly make an appearance in online news items. Academic sources, on the other hand, are dominant online but nearly absent in television news items. In sum, this analysis demonstrates that health journalists’ source uses differ across various media platforms.     

A Different Ball Game: Physical Education Students' Experiences in Librarian-led Wikipedia Assignments

Wikipedia editing assignments in the classroom provide unique transformative learning experiences to students and educators alike. Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia that anyone can edit. In lieu of a traditional essay or research paper, professors are increasingly asking their students to edit Wikipedia articles. This active and collaborative pedagogical approach encourages the development of a host of student skills: information literacy, critical thinking, media literacy, collaboration, online communication, writing, and critical digital literacy skills.This study examines Kinesiology and Physical Education students' perceptions, attitudes, and experiences before and after completing a librarian-led Wikipedia assignment. Using modified pre- and post-surveys the authors surveyed 63 Kinesiology and Physical Education (KPE) students completing a librarian-led Wikipedia assignment in an Educational and Counselling Psychology course. While overall the experience was positive and met most student expectations, they are not committed to editing Wikipedia in the future, nor are they necessarily in favour of replacing the traditional research essay with Wikipedia editing assignments.     

FOUR RUMOURS AND AN EXPLANATION

Our analysis of 2207 domestic news reports in a structured sample of UK “quality” (the Guardian, The Times, the Independent and the Telegraph) and mid-market (Daily Mail) newspapers, revealed journalists’ extensive use of copy provided by public relations sources and news agencies, especially the UK-based Press Association. A political economic explanation for this reliance on news stories produced “outside the newsroom”, draws inspiration from Gandy's notion of information subsidies and presents findings from a substantive content analysis of selected UK national newspapers, interviews with journalists working on national titles and news agencies, as well as detailed archival analysis of UK newspaper companies’ annual accounts across 20 years to deliver information about newspapers’ profitability, their expansive editorial pagination as well as the number of journalists they employ. The argument here is that this reliance on public relations and news agency copy has been prompted by the need for a relatively stable community of journalists to meet an expansive requirement for news in order to maintain newspapers’ profitability in the context of declining circulations and revenues.     

Modeling the Effects of Political Information Source Use and Online Expression on Young Adults’ Political Efficacy

This online survey conducted at a public university in the Northwest (N = 434) examines the influence of political involvement, information source attention, and online political discussion on young adults’ political efficacy. A factor analysis indicated that political information sources loaded into three factors including conventional and online hard news media such as newspapers, opinion and social media such as blogs or social networking websites, and public affairs websites including government and candidate websites. A path analysis revealed significant differences in their association with online political expression and external efficacy. As an entry point in the theoretical model, involvement in public affairs positively associated with attention to political information sources, online political expression, and external political efficacy. Attention to hard news and to public affairs websites positively predicted political efficacy. Attention to online opinion and social media and to public affairs websites positively predicted online political expression.     

Poll Reporting and Journalistic Paradigm: A Study of Popularity Poll Coverage in Hong Kong Newspapers

Opinion polling has become a common feature in news and public discourse in Hong Kong. This study examines how local newspapers cover popularity polls about the government and its leaders. It is hypothesized that newspapers adhering to different journalistic paradigms would cover such popularity polls differently in terms of the inclusion of methodological information, use of news sources, emphasis on negative versus positive results, treatment of polls conducted by different entities, and use of visual means of representations. A content analysis was conducted on four newspapers which represent the professionalism, populism, and propaganda paradigms, respectively. The results show that there are both similarities and differences in the poll coverage of the newspapers, with the differences mostly corresponding to the differences in journalistic paradigms. The results also point to a number of phenomena about news media in Hong Kong and poll reporting in general.     

The bad guy is one of us: framing comparison between the US and Korean newspapers and blogs about the Virginia Tech shooting

This study examines cross-national and cross-media differences in framing, particularly regarding the salience of collectivistic storytelling, based on the US and Korean newspapers and blogs about the Virginia Tech campus shooting incident. Although collectivistic storytelling is a common practice of news domestication, the degree of its salience is affected by a nation's orientation toward collectivism. Cross-media level of difference also exists because journalistic perspectives and the public's interpretation of those perspectives, as reflected in newspapers and blogs, are different. Findings indicate that while there are some consistent framing patterns, the degree of collectivism was different between the two nations and between the two media.