scholarly journals ‘Our words are stronger’: Re-enforcing boundaries through ritual work in a terrorist news event

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 422-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Sumiala ◽  
Tiina Räisä
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Online News ◽  
Social Implications ◽  
Communication Research ◽  
Media Ethnography ◽  
Media Events ◽  
News Events ◽  
News Event ◽  
Online News Sites

This article investigates the ritual work in terrorist news events, using the Berlin truck attack as a case in point. The article connects with the larger cluster of anthropologically inspired communication research on media events as public rituals in news media and applies digital media ethnography as its method. Fieldwork is conducted in 15 online news sites. The article identifies three key phases through which the ritual work was carried out: the rupture in the news event (ritualised as the strike), the liminal phase (ritualised as the manhunt) and the reconstitution of order following the attack (ritualised as the mourning). The article concludes with an interpretation of the broader social implications of the ritual work and related naturalisation of ‘friends’ and ‘foes’ and suggests that this type of ritual work contributes to a collective mythologisation of terrorism in news media and society at large.

scholarly journals Writing between the ‘red lines’: Morocco’s digital media landscape

2020 ◽  
pp. 016344372097231
Author(s):  
Abdelfettah Benchenna ◽  
Dominique Marchetti
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Online News ◽  
Political Dissent ◽  
News Websites ◽  
National Networks ◽  
Limited Demand ◽  
Online News Sites

This article presents an overview of the emergence of online news sites, which has radically altered news provision and media consumption patterns in Morocco. This sector has rapidly become a strategic site. Firstly, its precedence over print media and national television networks does not only stem from the high traffic figures of news websites. Along with certain social platforms, these websites are the only vehicules for 24/7 news in a country which currently has just one such news channel and where, in spite of the ‘liberalisation’ of media, national networks provide very institutionalised news programs based on the activities of the state official institutions and of the monarchy. Secondly, certain domestic Arabic-language news websites have become the main platform for the voicing of political dissent. Based on 31 interviews, the article briefly describes the historical development of the online press, since the ‘February 20th Movement’ of 2011. This case study provides a good example of the new challenges surrounding the control of information: an issue long shaped by the limitation of news provision to duly authorised political and journalistic organisations and by limited ‘demand’ resulting from widespread illiteracy. This article describes how the Moroccan establishment react to the explosive growth of online news media by creating new mechanisms to control it.

Een typologie van jonge nieuwsgebruikers in een multimediaal landschap

2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Van Cauwenberge ◽  
Hans Beentjes ◽  
Leen d’Haenens
Keyword(s):  
Cluster Analysis ◽  
News Media ◽  
Television News ◽  
Online News ◽  
Low Countries ◽  
Low Level ◽  
News Consumption ◽  
Combined Use ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Online News Sites

A typology of young news users in the Low Countries A typology of young news users in the Low Countries This article investigates different types of young news users (15-34 years) in the Low Countries. Therefore a survey among 1200 Flemish and Dutch youngsters and adolescents was conducted, analyzing the combined use of media platforms for news consumption and time spent with these news carriers. The cluster analysis identified five types of news users: the sound and vision group, characterized by the use of mainly audiovisual news platforms, combined with online news sites; the e-news users, who give most prominence to online news sites but also rely on traditional news platforms, the all rounders, depending on a range of off- and online news channels; the traditionalists, who spent most time with offline news media; and the dabblers, a group with an overall low level of news consumption. Our results indicate that Flemish and Dutch youngsters combine online and traditional news platforms for their news gathering, giving most prominence to traditional news media, especially television news.

Transnational News Flows

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daya Kishan Thussu
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Online News ◽  
Global Market ◽  
The West ◽  
News Agencies ◽  
American Media ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
Undersea Cables

The international flow of news has traditionally been dominated by that from North to South, with the West being at the core. Within the West itself, news flow is dominated by Anglo-American media, a situation which has its roots in the way that journalism developed historically. The historical context of global news begins with the introduction of the telegraph and undersea cables in the nineteenth century, which created a global market for news. Major players emerged—including news agencies—and shaped the transnational news flows. What emerges is that, in all ages, key innovations in transnational news flows have been closely linked to commerce, geopolitics, and war, from the telegraph to online news outlets. The increasing availability and use of news media, from major non-Western countries, are now affecting transnational news flows. Global journalism has been transformed in the digital age by internet-based communication and the rise of digital media opportunities—allowing for multi-directional news flows for growing global news audiences.

scholarly journals The Production of Information in an Online World

2019 ◽  
Vol 87 (5) ◽  
pp. 2126-2164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Cagé ◽  
Nicolas Hervé ◽  
Marie-Luce Viaud
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Detection Algorithm ◽  
High Reactivity ◽  
Online News ◽  
News Production ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Commercial Viability ◽  
Incentive Problem ◽  
News Event

Abstract News production requires investment, and competitors’ ability to appropriate a story may reduce a media’s incentives to provide original content. Yet, there is little legal protection of intellectual property rights in online news production, which raises the issue of the extent of copying online and the incentives to provide original content. In this article, we build a unique dataset combining all the online content produced by French news media during the year 2013 with new micro audience data. We develop a topic detection algorithm that identifies each news event, trace the timeline of each story, and study news propagation. We provide new evidence on online news production. First, we document high reactivity of online media: one quarter of the news stories are reproduced online in under 4 min. We show that this is accompanied by substantial copying, both at the extensive and at the intensive margins, which may constitute a severe threat to the commercial viability of the news media. Next, we estimate the returns to originality in online news production. Using article-level variations and media-level daily audience combined with article-level social media statistics, we find that original content producers tend to receive more viewers, thereby mitigating the newsgathering incentive problem raised by copying.

scholarly journals RULES OF ENGAGEMENT: WHAT TERMS AND CONDITIONS MODERATING READER COMMENTS TO AUSTRALIAN ONLINE NEWS SITES SAY ABOUT TRUST IN THE AUDIENCE

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Jane Son
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Public Trust ◽  
Online News ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Democratic Participation ◽  
Audience Participation ◽  
News Websites ◽  
Reader Comments ◽  
Online News Sites

Reader comments to online news websites have become a critical component of civic engagement and debate since the introduction of digital media. While many online news organisations encourage reader comments to maintain a loyal audience, audience participation is often constrained by the terms and conditions used to govern reader comments. By imposing strict moderation policies, news organisations demonstrate a lack of trust towards the audience. Yet, many organisations continue to demand high levels of public trust in their brands and the institution of journalism. Using critical discourse analysis, this study examines the terms and conditions used to moderate reader comments to four Australian online news sites, and assesses the level of trust afforded to audiences through comment moderation policies. Public statements from each of these organisations about public trust in their organisation or the institution of news are also assessed, to contrast the level of trust these organisations expect with that which is afforded to the audience through moderation policies. This research finds that the moderation policies analysed represent significant impediments to audience expression, and demonstrate a discrepancy between the level of trust afforded to participants and that which the organisations demand from their readers. Despite early hopes that online reader comments may facilitate greater opportunities for democratic participation for citizens, the potential for substantial democratic debate on the online news sites examined in this research remains unrealised.  

scholarly journals Populist online communication: Interactions among politicians, journalists, and citizens (Dissertation summary)

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sina Blassnig
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
Online News ◽  
Self Presentation ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Multimethod Approach ◽  
Reader Comments ◽  
Western Democracies

The recent rise of populist politicians in Western democracies is often associated with their allegedly successful use of digital media. However, for a long time, there has been little research specifically on populist online communication. To address this substantial research gap, the thesis pursues two major research aims: First, it investigates drivers of populist communication in politicians’ online self-presentation and online news media representation. Second, the thesis examines the effects of populist online communication on citizens’ behavior in the form of user reactions to politicians’ social media posts and reader comments on online news articles. Based on five internationally comparative studies and the overarching synopsis, the cumulative thesis demonstrates that populist online communication is driven by the reciprocal interactions among politicians, journalists, and citizens and is influenced by various factors on the macro, meso, and micro level. Furthermore, it shows that populist online communication resonates with citizens and is multiplied by them – specifically by citizens with prior strong populist attitudes. By analyzing the interactions of three key actor groups – politicians, journalists, and citizens – and by following a multimethod approach the dissertation connects research on both the supply and demand side of populism.

scholarly journals Mediated temporal consciousness: memory and concepts of time through engagement with online news archives

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Terry Lynn Britt
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Online News ◽  
British Petroleum ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Past ◽  
Temporal Consciousness ◽  
Memory Content ◽  
News Events ◽  
News Event ◽  
Other Regarding

Archival news content no longer exists solely in physical collections at a limited number of public institutions and media organization storerooms. Instead, digitized and digital-native content of the past can be found online through multiple venues, including the venerable online video sharing site, YouTube. This research looks at how online videos of major news events within the past 10 years provide a chance to re-engage with memories of the news events and other memories connected to the time of the given news event. Through a qualitative research method known as video elicitation, the study uses semi-structured interviews with participants to look at recalled semantic and episodic memory content connected to a recent news event featured in a YouTube-based archival news video -- one regarding the 2014 Ferguson, Missouri, protests after local police shot and killed African-American teenager Michael Brown, and the other regarding the 2010 British Petroleum (BP) Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and underwater oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The study considers the characteristics and comparative states of the interview responses in building a new media concept -- mediated temporal consciousness (MTC) â€" to understand the awareness and articulation of episodic and semantic memory content associated with past news events or the time at which the person first learned of the news event. MTC is a proposed extension of presence (also known as telepresence) theory in the sense of presence as transportation; in this case, transportation from the present to past points in time coinciding with initial mediated dissemination of news events.

Fighting biased news diets: Using news media literacy interventions to stimulate online cross-cutting media exposure patterns

2020 ◽  
pp. 146144482094645
Author(s):  
Toni G.L.A. van der Meer ◽  
Michael Hameleers
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Media Literacy ◽  
News Media ◽  
Online News ◽  
Party Affiliation ◽  
Literacy Interventions ◽  
Issue Publics ◽  
Exposure Patterns ◽  
Immigration Attitudes ◽  
Media Environments

Online news consumers have the tendency to select political news that confirms their prior attitudes, which may further fuel polarized divides in society. Despite scholarly attention to drivers of selective exposure, we know too little about how healthier cross-cutting news exposure patterns can be stimulated in digital media environments. Study 1 ( N = 553) exposed people to news media literacy (NML) interventions using injunctive and descriptive normative language. The findings reveal the conditional effect of such online interventions: Participants with pro-immigration attitudes engaged in more cross-cutting exposure while the intervention was only to a certain extent effective for Democrats, ineffective for Republicans, and even boomeranged for partisans with anti-immigration attitudes. In response to these findings, Study 2 ( N = 579) aimed to design interventions that work across issue publics and party affiliation. We show that NML messages tailored on immigration beliefs can be effective across the board. These findings inform the design of more successful NML interventions.

Consensus building on trust in government

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-185
Author(s):  
Vanessa De Macedo Higgins Joyce ◽  
Zahra Khani
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Online News ◽  
Consensus Building ◽  
Trust In Government ◽  
Tv News ◽  
Societal Level

Abstract This study contrasts the effects of news media to those of neighborhood in building consensus regarding trust in government. Consensus building is a consequence of agenda setting at a societal level. It conducts a secondary data analysis from an online survey with a panel of 983 older Texans from November/December 2015. We found significant correlation between trust and following the news, accessing TV news, using digital media, online news and newspapers. We found that news media in general and online news increased consensus both within education and location; radio and television increased consensus for education and digital media for income. Our spatial auto-correlation test found a minimal tendency of similar values of trust to be clustered. We cannot infer that neighborhood contributes in the formation of trust. We found evidence, in a case study of older Texans, that the news media may bring us closer together than next-door neighbors

scholarly journals Populist Attitudes and Selective Exposure to Online News: A Cross-Country Analysis Combining Web Tracking and Surveys

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 426-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Stier ◽  
Nora Kirkizh ◽  
Caterina Froio ◽  
Ralph Schroeder
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Web Sites ◽  
News Media ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
The United States ◽  
Selective Exposure ◽  
Online News ◽  
News Sources ◽  
Data Limitations ◽  
Demographic Attributes

Research has shown that citizens with populist attitudes evaluate the news media more negatively, and there is also suggestive evidence that they rely less on established news sources like the legacy press. However, due to data limitations, there is still no solid evidence whether populist citizens have skewed news diets in the contemporary high-choice digital media environment. In this paper, we rely on the selective exposure framework and investigate the relationship between populist attitudes and the consumption of various types of online news. To test our theoretical assumptions, we link 150 million Web site visits by 7,729 Internet users in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States to their responses in an online survey. This design allows us to measure media exposure more precisely than previous studies while linking these data to demographic attributes and political attitudes of participants. The results show that populist attitudes leave pronounced marks in people’s news diets, but the evidence is heterogeneous and highly contingent on the supply side of a country’s media system. Most importantly, citizens with populist attitudes visit less Web sites from the legacy press, while consuming more hyperpartisan news. Despite these tendencies, the Web tracking data show that populist citizens still primarily get their news from established sources. We discuss the implications of these results for the current state of public spheres in democracies.

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