ARTICLE: Social connection motivates people to share news

In order for making news go viral it needs to be shared by masses of online media users. Key element in understanding news flows is what makes a piece of content worth sharing with others, write Ike Picone, Ralf De Wolf and Sarie Robijt. Study draws on a survey amongst Belgian online media users. Writers identified four sharing profiles based on … Continued

Tags: ,
Published: 27 Apr 2016

NODA16: Takeaways from the preconference

The Nordic Data Journalism conference (NODA16) ended with a well-attended presentation on the so-called Panama Papers project, on Saturday (23.4.). In addition to its professional focus, the event featured an academic pre-conference on Thursday (21.4.). The full academic sessions are available as videos, but here are some of our favourite takeaways. Paul Bradshaw, of Birmingham … Continued

Tags: , , , , ,
Published: 25 Apr 2016

ARTICLE: Twitter users distrust Russian news on Ukraine

Twitter users mainly distrust the narratives offered by Russian mainstream media, write Irina Khaldarova and Mervi Pantti, of University of Helsinki. The authors analysed 6043 Twitter messages which referred back to the ten most popular Russian news stories declared fake by the Ukrainian fact-checking website StopFake.org. Just over half (50.7 per cent) of the analyzed … Continued

Tags: , ,
Published: 15 Apr 2016

ARTICLE: Participants’ perspective on participatory journalism

This article focuses on ‘participatory journalism’ from the perspective of participants. How do they view and evaluate their participation in journalism? The study is based on 32 in-depth interviews with participants from two different participatory journalistic environments. Study is written by Merel Borger,  Anita van Hoof, both of University Amsterdam, and José Sanders, of Radboud University Nijmegen. The data revealed that participants had … Continued

Tags: , ,
Published: 13 Apr 2016

ARTICLE: Local newspaper and folk theories of journalism

To understand journalism, we need to understand how people understand journalism, writes Rasmus Kleis Nielsen. To make sense of journalism examining so-called “folk theories of journalism” is crucial. By “folk theories of journalism” the writer means the popular beliefs about what journalism is, what it does, and what it ought to do. The study presents three folk theories that … Continued

Tags: ,
Published: 12 Apr 2016

ARTICLE: Personal data as a currency for accessing news

In changing media environment news organizations need to enrich the services they offer to their readers. Tom Evens and Kristin Van Damme investigate whether and to what extent people would be willing to share personal data with news organisations as a new currency for accessing more news content. Article presents the results of a Belgian big data project … Continued

Tags: ,
Published: 11 Apr 2016

ARTICLE: Live online coverage of breaking news

Has the adoption of live online coverage, such as Twitter, facilitated a more “multiperspectival” journalism through the inclusion of “non-official” sources? ask Daniel Bennett. The article looks at the opportunities and limitations of live pages for the incorporation of “non-official” sources. Writer analyses the BBC’s coverage of Utøya killings in 2011 and the Mumbai terror attacks in … Continued

Tags: , ,
Published: 11 Apr 2016

MEVI2016: Trust in the globalized media

The Finnish Conference for Media and Communication Research began on Friday 8 April. It takes place in Helsinki, Finland and lasts until Saturday afternoon. The conference is themed around trust in the media, and the lack thereof. The keynote speakers to the event are Andrew Chadwick of University of London, and Gunn Enli of University … Continued

Tags: , ,
Published: 8 Apr 2016

ARTICLE: Reader comments should be seen as journalism

Readers’ contributions posted below online news stories can serve to extend journalism, not just comment on it, writes James Morrison, of Robert Gordon University. The author analysed the reader comments to 308 online news stories posted on the websites of national UK newspapers. According to Morrison, many of the comments offered not only opinion, but … Continued

Tags: ,
Published: 6 Apr 2016

REPORT: Robo-journalism, ad blocking, and other predictions

Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ) has published a forecast of the digital media trends of 2016. Authored by the Institute’s own Nic Newman, the report covers developments in media business, technology, and consumer tendencies. Among Newman’s predictions is the coming-of-age of virtual reality, the continued decline of television viewership, surge in ad … Continued

Tags: , , , ,
Published: 4 Apr 2016