ARTICLE: Sensationalism in online news publications

Danielle K Kilgo, of University of Texas, Summer Harlow, of Florida State University, Víctor García-Perdomo, of University of Texas, and Ramón Salaverría, of University of Navarra examine how sensationalism impacts social sharing. The study is based on analysis of 400 articles from online news organizations across the Americas. The article evaluates the sensational treatment of … Continued

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Published: 10 Jan 2017
Untitled by PublicDomainPictures, licence CC0 1.0

ARTICLE: News media is not everyone’s go-to source for news information

People can be roughly divided into those who rely on news media for current information, and those who avoid it, Stephanie Edgerly, of Northwestern University, writes. Edgerly interviewed 21 young American adults over where they would search information in six, hypothetical situations. Ten of the interviewees described news media centric approaches, many even naming specific … Continued

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Published: 9 Jan 2017

ARTICLE: The upper class does not exclusively read high-brow news

Individuals with more cultural capital are not necessarily “snobbish” but rather “omnipotent” in their news consumption, write Jonas Ohlsson and Sofia Arkhede, both of University of Gothenburg, with Johan Lindell, of Karlstad University (names not in original order). The authors analysed the survey results from a 2014 national survey on Swedes’ opinions, demographics and lifestyles. … Continued

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Published: 23 Dec 2016
Screen capture from startribune.com

ARTICLE: Pageviews less influential for news agenda than feared

Audience attention has fairly little effect on what the journalists position as a news website’s leading story, Rodrigo Zamith, of University of Massachusetts, writes. Zamith captured the home pages of 14 large US newsrooms every 15 minutes for two months in 2014. He then compared the stories’ position on the websites to their popularity, as … Continued

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Published: 20 Dec 2016
Interview by Tim Dorr, licence CC BY-SA 2.0

ARTICLE: User generated content not central to public journalism

Contrary to earlier formulations, user generated content does not seem to be a core element of contemporary public journalism initiatives, Patrick Ferrucci, of University of Colorado Boulder, writes. Ferrucci interviewed 19 US journalists working for digitally native news nonprofits (DNNN) over their work routines and methods. The author was particularly interested in the four key … Continued

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Published: 19 Dec 2016
Mikael Karlsson interview

VIDEO: What is good journalism?

Michael Karlsson, a professor at Karlstad University, has studied what people think is good journalism. With his colleagues he has conducted focus group interviews with citizens. He shares the findings about what they have found. In the near future, Karlsson is focusing on studies about hyperlinking and how news “travel” within newsrooms in different countries. … Continued

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Published: 16 Dec 2016
Soldiers patrolling in Afghanistan by Cpl Mike O'Neill / Defence Images, licence CC BY-SA 2.0

ARTICLE: War veteran reactions to media’s condemnation

The sterilized image of war presented by media is disconnected from its gruesome reality, Katy Parry, of University of Leeds, writes. When the reality of war is brought to light by soldiers’ private photographs, the media condemns the soldiers. This reveals the chasm between the two worlds, making it difficult for veterans to find understanding … Continued

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Published: 15 Dec 2016
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REPORT: Fear of too many alerts holds back news apps

A large number of smartphone users have downloaded news apps and are interested in using them – yet only a minority of them use said applications, a recent Reuters Institute report, authored by Nic Newman, shows. 7 577 British, American, Taiwanese and German adults completed an online survey over their news consumption on smartphones. Overall, … Continued

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Published: 12 Dec 2016

ARTICLE: Habits and generational media use

New article by Marina Ghersetti and Oscar Westlund, both of University of Gothenburg, studies how how different generations’ media habits interrelate with media use during societal crises. The study is based on Swedish survey data from 2012. The media habits of the elderly generation primarily comprise legacy news media, while the younger generation mainly uses digital media. … Continued

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Published: 23 Nov 2016