Global Newsworthiness and Reversed Domestication

This study examines whether news broadcasts across nations are more cosmopolitan or parochial in their essence. To answer this question, the article proposes two unique theoretical concepts: “global newsworthiness” and “reversed domestication.” Global newsworthiness refers to news broadcasts that include ranges of countries, selected by several different reporting criteria. Reversed domestication refers to the connection made between the country of origin of the broadcasting media and the news content. Four television news networks were compared—CNN International, BBC World News, Al Jazeera English and France 24. The findings point to different levels of global newsworthiness and reversed domestication.     

A Squatter on the Fourth Estate: Google News

SUMMARY

Buoyed by its brand name, Google News has grown from its beta stage into a popular news site with a significant share of the Internet market for “Current Events and Global News.” The success of Google News raises questions about the nature of news and even the desirability of Google's presenting news. Where does Google News fit into the myriad news resources available on the Internet and in libraries? How does Google News work? Is Google News an effective source for news research? How will Google News stand up to its competition, in particular a new wave of community news sites?     

REPURPOSING OF CONTENT IN MULTI-PLATFORM NEWS PRODUCTION

One of the characteristics of convergence journalism is the prominence of repurposing of content. This article analyses news production processes at the Norwegian public service broadcaster, NRK, through the concepts of genre and adaptation. Convergent, or cross-media, news journalism involves media content travelling across media boundaries. As different media platforms use different sets of sign systems (audio, video, writing, images and graphics), this requires some form of translation or adaptation. This article analyses some examples of audiovisual content that travels across media platforms; mainly from television and radio to the Web, but also between radio and television. News content made for a specific programme on a specific platform, with a characteristic rhetoric, is adapted in part or as a whole to be republished on a different platform with a different rhetoric. In conclusion, the article outlines a typology of different forms of repurposing in cross-media news journalism, expanding on those found in Dailey et al.'s (2003) “convergence continuum”.     

MORE NEWS FOR LESS

Using an ethnographic case study of the Newschannel at TV2 Norway, this article reveals ways in which the assembly-line mentality required by 24/7 news production nevertheless encourages reporters to negotiate a certain autonomy over their work and the routines required to produce it. By reorganizing its staff's use of time, space, and resources, TV2 was able to generate roughly 18 hours of “live” news coverage a day during the article's research period from 2007 to 2009. This production process is framed in terms of Schlesinger's “reactive” mode, here qualified as “reactive-active”, because it allows for the possibility of broadcasting live and gathering news at the same time. The article also revisits the concept of “professionalism” with regard to a traditional broadcaster's implementation of a 24/7 news channel within its existing newsroom. As a result of this process, more news—and more content concerning that news—is produced more efficiently while the tenets of traditional journalism remain operative.     

NEWS ON NEW DEVICES

News organizations worldwide now deliver content through multiple electronic devices such as computers, smartphones, e-readers, and tablets. While multi-platform news delivery is widely prevalent, is multi-platform news “consumption” a reality? This study examines the extent to which people own, use, and enjoy these electronic devices. Results of a national survey of US Internet users suggested that despite the excitement about newer, more portable devices, not all devices are equally “newsful.” Most people use only one electronic device for news purposes on a weekly basis. We identified the predictors of device ownership and multi-platform news consumption and discussed the implications for multi-platform news publishing.     

Cosmetic surgery as a commodity for ‘sale’ in online news

A controversial but increasingly prevalent aspect of media research suggests that the media contributes to the demand for plastic surgery procedures in modern society. This study analyzes the online news content on cosmetic surgery procedures in Korea. Data were collected from ‘Naver,’ the largest Korean portal news archive, from 2007 to 2013. Based on the findings from a quantitative content analysis, the number of articles that pertain to plastic surgery has dramatically increased each year, and since 2007, more than 60% of the news articles portrayed plastic surgery in a positive light. News articles also used strategic patterns to include promotional content. The findings suggest that amid journalism in a highly market-driven environment that struggles to reconcile its role and commercial challenges, plastic surgery, which is a part of the largest advertising sector of online news, has become a commodity.     

Diversifying Likes

News sharing and commenting are arguably some of the most interesting aspects of how news is consumed and interacted with online. Finding answers to questions regarding who engages in these ways, what type of content gets engaged with, and why certain items are shared and commented upon but not others, are of the utmost importance for those who want to navigate the complex echo system of online news flows. The paper at hand addresses the latter two of the three posed questions—what gets shared or commented on, and why—in the context of the social networking site Facebook. Detailing the influences of Reactions, an expansion of the “Like” button, launched during the spring of 2016, the presented analysis finds that Reactions such as “Love”, “Haha”, “Wow”, “Sad” and “Angry” emerge as somewhat unpopular compared to the original “Like” functionality. Moreover, while more positive forms of Reactions appear to have a hampering effect on the willingness of news consumers on Facebook to engage by means of sharing and commenting, more negative varieties of Facebook Reactions appear to yield adverse influences.     

News-seekers and Avoiders: Exploring Patterns of Total News Consumption Across Media and the Relationship to Civic Participation

This study examines patterns of news consumption across multiple media platforms and relates them to civic participation. Analyzing a national sample of close to 25,000 respondents, nearly half the adult population in America is classified as news “Avoiders,” and the other half as “News-seekers.” Testing the relationship between civic participation and news consumption for each of 6 media platforms individually, and to an overall index combining those sources into 1 measure, the results show a positive relationship with civic participation, but the influence of Total News Consumption on civic participation is greater for Avoiders than for News-seekers.     

THE MOJO IN THE THIRD MILLENNIUM

Digital technology has revolutionized the journalist's toolkit with affordable miniaturized still and video cameras for producing high-quality multimedia, and connection equipment enabling that content to be transmitted via satellite from almost anywhere on the globe for publication on the Internet. Two results have been the advent of news production by an innovative type of lone, multimedia reporter, known as a “mojo” (mobile journalist) or “sojo” (solo journalist), and an increasing focus on “hyper-local” news on media websites. In an era of heightened newspaper and television competition driven by steadily declining North American readership and viewer numbers, many media managers have embraced with enthusiasm the solo journalist—able to move fast and travel light, at lower cost than traditional news teams. This paper surveys the impact that developments in multimedia publishing have had on the news produced by such solo journalists. It finds evidence of degradation of the genre in some, but not all, cases and concludes that since the Pandora's box of mojo journalism has been opened, if used judiciously by journalists with sufficient experience, there is some hope that the new modalities may result in responsible journalism enriched with multifaceted storytelling.     

Branding Television News in a Multichannel Environment: An Exploratory Study of Network News Brand Personality

Adopting the construct of “brand personality,” this article examines the perceived differences among various television news brands, investigates the distinction between cable and broadcast news brands, and explores the applicability of brand personality in this market. CNN was found to possess the most distinct, positive personality, whereas CBS news had the least differentiated brand personality. Fox News was seen as the most dynamic and conservative. Overall, broadcast network news was perceived to be more traditional and liberal than cable network news. Three modified dimensions—competence, timeliness, and dynamism—were found to represent the personality facets of the television news product.     

BREAKING NEWS OR BROKEN NEWS?

Television news directors increasingly utilize live shots in their newscasts for reasons other than journalistic value. Reporters and viewers alike react negatively to such “black hole” live shots. Nine news directors and nine senior reporters participated in this qualitative study designed to reveal their differing attitudes toward various aspects of live reporting. Analysis revealed significant tensions between the two groups. The news directors, who are responsible for the news program as a whole, include non-journalistic reasons such as presentation and station identity for including remote live shots. Senior reporters are chiefly concerned with their own contributions to the overall news program. They claim to understand these justifications but often disagree with how they are asked to execute them. The data also reveal one station violating the Radio Television Digital News Association Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct by allowing sponsors to determine editorial content.     

All the Polling (Data) That’s Fit to Print? An Analysis of Online News Coverage of 2016 Primary Polls

As U.S. news outlets grapple with the challenges of delivering news in a digital era, journalists cover elections with tighter deadlines and fewer resources. Consequently, we are seeing an explosion in coverage of polls, which require little original reporting and attract readers through their “horse race” appeal. As the number of polls increases, news professionals are culling data from a wider spectrum of sources that vary in methodology and credibility. What remains unclear is how effective the news media are in providing polling context in their online coverage that is less limited by the space and time constraints of more traditional mediums. Utilizing the 2016 U.S. primaries, this exploratory study examines online news articles focused on polls to evaluate the quality of digital coverage across national news outlets.

Keywords: Campaigns and Elections; Content Analysis; Journalism; News Media; Political Communication     

When Words Collide Online: How Writing Style and Video Intensity Affect Cognitive Processing of Online News

This experiment explored how the writing style of online news, defined as inverted pyramid versus narrative, affects the cognitive processing of accompanying video clips. Forty seven participants read 4 online news stories and viewed the accompanying video clips. Results suggested that reading inverted pyramid stories may require allocation of more cognitive resources to encoding a related video clip. Recognition for story details was more accurate for stories in narrative than inverted pyramid style. Results are discussed in terms of a distinction between cognitive processing involved in “getting there” versus “being there” during exposure to online news.     

IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY IN THE NEWSROOM?

In an attempt to produce more news stories, faster and on different platforms, the national Danish Broadcasting Corporation, DR, has introduced a new workflow. This new workflow is based on principles and practices known internally as “the news engine,” and it has brought with it changes in regards to both the news products, the news processes and the individual news producers. This article is based on newsroom observations, interviews with employees and content analyses, and it shows how the practice of journalism at DR News has been altered in several ways after the implementation of the news engine. The changes in DR News have become the inspiration for other television stations, and the study concludes by discussing how this particular workflow affects the profession of journalism. Rather than a proletarianization of the profession, this study points to a polarization where some journalists experience a deskilling and a decrease in autonomy, while others experience an increase in autonomy as part of a process of reskilling and multiskilling.     

What Makes “Good” News Newsworthy?

To combat the constant supply of negative news, some online news outlets focus solely on “good” news. But what is the value of “good” news? A content analysis was conducted to determine which traditional news values (timeliness, conflict, impact, etc.) appear in stories on Web sites dedicated to positive news. The researcher compared “good” news sites to the New York Times. Results indicated that the majority of “good” news stories were entertaining and emotional, whereas the majority of New York Times stories involved authority figures and conflict. Good news stories were less committed to journalism’s core functions, such as holding power accountable and providing the public with information necessary for creating an informed electorate.     

Visual materials on local television news programs

When sight was added to sound, the problems of presenting the news of the day multiplied, as did the cost of such coverage. Nevertheless, few news directors are satisfied with the strict “man‐on‐camera” approach; they prefer to use the additional information channel for a certain amount of visual augmentation of the audio channel's content. Beacuse television stations in a given market rarely have a chance to examine the output of stations in other markets, the survey reported in the following article was made'. Both the sources of visual news materials and their uses are studied in a sample of midwestern stations. It is interesting to examine this report after a review of William Hazard's study for the Radio‐Television News Directors Association, “Adequacy of Coverage by Still Picture and Film Services” published in the Journal of Broadcasting, Vol. IV, No. 1, pp. 64–76, Winter, 1959–60.     

Tweeting the Agenda

It is becoming exceedingly important for scholars to study and understand how Twitter is influencing news reporting. Using quantitative content analysis, this paper examines the use of tweets as quotes in alternative web-only news organizations compared to traditional print organizations. This study uses a quantitative content analysis of more than 1000 quoted tweets and more than 3000 news articles from The New York Times, The Washington Post, Buzzfeed News, and The Huffington Post. Findings suggest that while print news publications most often use Twitter to quote official sources and for opinion comments, alternative web-only news publications use the medium differently. Additionally, alternative web-only news publications quote Twitter in a higher proportion of articles.     

THE THIRST TO BE FIRST

This article explores the growth and character of breaking news on two 24-hour news channels in the United Kingdom, Sky News and BBC News 24. Our purpose is to examine, in detail, the nature and role of breaking news and, more generally, its impact on the quality of television news journalism. We draw upon a series of content analyses of news programming conducted in 2004, 2005/6 and 2007, and compare the elements of a breaking news item with more conventional forms of news. Our findings indicate that “breaking news” has become an increasingly important part of the 24-hour news culture. This growth means that the typical breaking news item is becoming increasingly predictable and routine. Moreover, by most measures, breaking news items are less well informed and feature less independent reporting than conventional news items. As a consequence, we argue, the decision to cover more breaking news stories impoverishes the quality of journalism.     

From Journalism to Information: The Transformation of the Knight Foundation and News Innovation

Amid the digital disruption for journalism, the U.S.-based Knight Foundation has made a highly publicized effort to shape the nature of news innovation. This growing influence raises questions about what it is trying to accomplish for mass communication and society. This qualitative case study shows how and why the Knight Foundation has sought to change journalism by renegotiating its boundaries. Namely, by downplaying its own historical emphasis on professionalism, the foundation has embraced openness to outside influence—for example, the wisdom of the crowd, citizen participation, and a broader definition of “news.” These rhetorical adaptations have paralleled material changes in the foundation's funding process, typified by the Knight News Challenge innovation contest. In recent times, the foundation has undergone a further evolution from “journalism” to “information.” By highlighting its boundary-spanning interest in promoting “information” for communities, the Knight Foundation has been able to expand its capital and influence as an agent of change among fields and funders beyond journalism.