Scandalous?! Examining the Differential Effects of News Coverage About (Non-)Severe Political Misconduct on Voting Intentions and News Source Evaluations

Scandal severity may affect public perceptions of both scandalous political actors and news sources reporting political misconduct. Yet, research that has empirically tested these assumptions is lacking. Drawing from theory on anchoring effects, the results of two experimental studies conducted using mediation analyses revealed that severe scandals hurt politicians (candidate evaluation) and weaken voting intentions. Although non-severe scandals have no such effects, they increased news consumers’ exaggerated scandalization perceptions and indirectly degraded news source evaluations. Severe scandals had no effect on the news source. Implications for the coverage of political scandals are discussed.

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Election news in Sweden and the United States: A comparative study of sources and media frames

Journalism ◽

10.1177/1464884911431546 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 13 (5) ◽

pp. 604-619 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Daniela V Dimitrova ◽

Jesper Strömbäck

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

News Coverage ◽

The United States ◽

Issue Framing ◽

Strategic Game ◽

Public And Private ◽

Political Actors ◽

News Sources ◽

The Usa ◽

Election News

This study compares election news coverage in two different countries – Sweden and the United States, focusing on the use of the strategic game frame and the conflict frame and the association between these two frames and different types of news sources. The content analysis includes early evening newscasts from CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News and ABC World News in the USA and Rapport, Aktuellt and TV4 Nyheterna in Sweden. The findings show that the strategic game frame is used more frequently in the US coverage and is correlated with the use of media analysts and campaign operatives in both countries. Ordinary citizens as sources contribute to issue framing while domestic political actors tend to be associated with conflict framing. Differences in media framing between public and private media are also identified and discussed in the context of national political and media systems.

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Making a Difference: U.S. Press Coverage of the Kwangju and Tiananmen Pro-Democracy Movements

Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly ◽

10.1177/107769900007700103 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 77 (1) ◽

pp. 22-36 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Sung Tae Kim

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

News Coverage ◽

New York Times ◽

Political Movements ◽

News Reports ◽

News Sources ◽

News Source ◽

Government Documents ◽

Making A Difference ◽

The U.S

This study examined New York Times and Washington Post news coverage and U.S. government responses and foreign policy decisions concerning two similar East Asian political movements in the 1980s—the Kwangju movement in South Korea and the Tiananmen movement in China. The study was grounded in the interdependent relationship between the U.S. media and government. Based on a content analysis of news reports, supplemented with U.S. government documents, the study found that U.S. elite newspapers used news sources and symbolic terms in a diametrical manner to report the two events. The events were reported in a manner that coincided with the U.S. government definitions. Findings are discussed in relation to news source indexing and journalistic accessibility.

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Story character, news source or vox pop? Representations and roles of citizen perspectives in crime news narratives

Journalism ◽

10.1177/1464884921994060 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 146488492199406

Author(s):

Kobie van Krieken

Keyword(s):

Multiple Roles ◽

Inside Information ◽

Societal Values ◽

News Sources ◽

Crime Narratives ◽

News Source ◽

Crime News ◽

Story Character ◽

News Events ◽

Over Time

This study analyzes citizen representations in a corpus of 300 Dutch newspaper narratives published between 1860 and 2009. Results show that citizen perspectives are more frequently represented than authority perspectives, although the perspectives of authorities have become somewhat more frequent over time. In-depth analyses of the citizen perspectives show that citizens may fulfil multiple roles in the crime narratives, leading up to a functional typology of citizens as (1) story characters experiencing the news events, (2) news sources providing inside information about the events, and (3) vox pops expressing opinions and evaluations of the events. The variety of citizen perspectives included in crime news narratives and the multitude of roles they fulfill may help audience members to become informed as well as engaged and to explore their personal emotions, which may ultimately reinforce moral, cultural and societal values.

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A Study of a Sample of Facebook Users Finds They Do Not Seek Political News through Facebook But Are Exposed to Political News through This Medium

Evidence Based Library and Information Practice ◽

10.18438/eblip29384 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 36-38

Author(s):

Elizabeth Margaret Stovold

Keyword(s):

Online Survey ◽

Online News ◽

Social Utility ◽

Future Research ◽

Political News ◽

High School Degree ◽

News Sources ◽

News Source ◽

Tv News ◽

The Mean

A Review of: Schaferm, S., Sulflow, M., & Muller, P. (2017). The special taste of snack news: an application of niche theory to understand the appeal of Facebook as a source for political news. First Monday, 22(4-3). http://dx.doi.org/10.5210/fm.v22i4.7431 Abstract Objective – To investigate Facebook as a source of exposure to political news stories and to compare the reasons for using Facebook as a news source and the gratifications obtained, compared with other news sources. Design – Survey questionnaire. Setting – Facebook. Subjects – 422 German Facebook users. Methods – An online survey was developed to investigate the use of Facebook as a news source compared with other sources. Specific research questions were informed by the ‘theory of niche’ (Dimmick, 2003) which examines the coexistence and competition between different media outlets by examining the breadth, overlap and superiority of one platform over another. The survey was distributed using a ‘snowball’ technique between July and August 2015. The survey was shared by 52 student research assistants on their Facebook profiles. They asked their friends to complete the survey and share it with their own networks. Main results – The mean (M) age of the 422 respondents was 23.5 years (SD=8.25). The majority were female (61%) with a high school degree (89%). TV news and news websites were the most frequently used sources of political news. Facebook ranked third, ahead of newspapers, search engines, magazines, email provider websites, and Twitter. The mean score for the importance of Facebook as a news sources was 2.46 (SD=1.13) on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is low and 5 is high. This fell in the middle of the range when compared with the top ranked source assessed by importance (TV news, M 4.40, SD=0.88) and the lowest (email providers, M 1.92, SD=0.97). Users rarely visited Facebook with the purpose of finding news (M 1.59, SD=0.73). However, they estimated around 24% of the posts they see were concerned with political news, and when encountered, these stories are frequently read (M 3.53, SD=1.18). However, the level of interaction as measured by liking, commenting, sharing or status updates was low (M 1.94 SD=1.09; M 1.37, SD=0.79; M 1.51, SD=0.85 and M 1.4, SD=0.78 respectively). The ‘gratification’ categories where Facebook as a news source scored the highest were for killing time (M 2.97, SD=1.29), entertainment (M 2.92, SD=1.05), and surveillance (M 2.77, SD=1.01). When compared to newspapers and TV news, it was found that Facebook has a lower score for niche breadth, meaning that it serves a specific rather than general news function. Facebook also had a lower overlap score when compared with the other media, thereby performing a complementary function, while TV news and newspapers perform similarly. TV news scored better for providing balanced information, surveillance and social utility while Facebook scored highest for killing time. There was no difference in the category of entertainment. There was a similar picture when comparing Facebook with newspapers. Conclusion – The authors conclude that while users do not actively seek political news through Facebook, they are exposed to political news through this medium. Respondents did not consider the news to be well balanced, and that currently Facebooks’ niche is restricted to entertainment and killing time. The authors note that this may be disappointing for news organisations, but there is potential to expose large audiences to political news when they are not actively seeking it. The findings represent a specific time point in a changing landscape and future research will need to take these changes into account. Comparisons with other online news sources and the use of objective measures to validate self-reported data would be valuable areas for future research.

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Structural Pluralism, Corporate Newspaper Structure, and News Source Perceptions: Another Test of the Editorial Vigor Hypothesis

Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly ◽

10.1177/107769909807500311 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 75 (3) ◽

pp. 572-592 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

David K. Demers

Keyword(s):

Social Systems ◽

Structure Theory ◽

Value Systems ◽

Police Chiefs ◽

Corporate Structure ◽

Letters To The Editor ◽

News Sources ◽

Corporate Form ◽

News Source ◽

Alternative Methodology

A recent content analysis of newspaper editorials and letters to the editor disputes the conventional wisdom that newspapers become less vigorous editorially as they acquire the characteristics of the corporate form of organization. However, many scholars remain skeptical. This study tested the editorial vigor hypothesis using an alternative methodology: a national probability survey of mainstream news sources (mayors and police chiefs). The data provide partial support for the corporate structure theory - the more structurally complex the newspaper, the more news sources perceived that paper as being critical of them and their institutions. Drawing on previous research and these findings, the author argues corporate newspapers are more critical because they are more likely to be located in pluralistic communities, which contain more social conflict and criticism of dominant groups and value systems, and because they are more insulated from local political pressures. From a broader perspective, the results may be interpreted as supporting theories which hold that the pace of social change quickens as social systems become more structurally pluralistic.

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Reality Asserts Itself: Public Opinion on Iraq and the Elasticity of Reality

International Organization ◽

10.1017/s0020818310000172 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 64 (3) ◽

pp. 443-479 ◽

Cited By ~ 48

Author(s):

Matthew A. Baum ◽

Tim Groeling

Keyword(s):

Public Opinion ◽

Public Attitudes ◽

Public Support ◽

News Coverage ◽

Public Perceptions ◽

The Public ◽

Sustained Change ◽

Disaggregated Data ◽

Original Survey ◽

Over Time

AbstractPrevailing theories hold that U.S. public support for a war depends primarily on its degree of success, U.S. casualties, or conflict goals. Yet, research into the framing of foreign policy shows that public perceptions concerning each of these factors are often endogenous and malleable by elites. In this article, we argue that both elite rhetoric and the situation on the ground in the conflict affect public opinion, but the qualities that make such information persuasive vary over time and with circumstances. Early in a conflict, elites (especially the president) have an informational advantage that renders public perceptions of “reality” very elastic. As events unfold and as the public gathers more information, this elasticity recedes, allowing alternative frames to challenge the administration's preferred frame. We predict that over time the marginal impact of elite rhetoric and reality will decrease, although a sustained change in events may eventually restore their influence. We test our argument through a content analysis of news coverage of the Iraq war from 2003 through 2007, an original survey of public attitudes regarding Iraq, and partially disaggregated data from more than 200 surveys of public opinion on the war.

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News Sources and Framing of Responsibility on Devolution in Kenya, 2013–2017

Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly ◽

10.1177/10776990211066510 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 107769902110665

Author(s):

Jimmy Ochieng

Keyword(s):

News Media ◽

Newspaper Coverage ◽

Attribution Of Responsibility ◽

News Sources ◽

News Source ◽

Official Sources

The present research examines two aspects of newspaper coverage of devolution during a 4-year period between March 27, 2013, and May 28, 2017: first, through the lens of attribution of responsibility, who the news media most blamed for problems facing devolution; second, whether reliance on official sources in reporting of devolution mirrors the indexing hypothesis. Findings show that the most-blamed actor and dominant news source on devolution is the county executive. Journalists continue to rely on the elite as their main news source and as a result they shape the discourse on devolution.

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A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF “MALAYSIAN-LAHAD DATU” CRISIS AND CRISIS RESPONSES IN ETHNIC NEWSPAPERS IN MALAYSIA

International Journal of Law, Government and Communication ◽

10.35631/ijlgc.4170013 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4 (17) ◽

pp. 132-143

Author(s):

Manimegalai Ambikapathy ◽

Hasmah Zanuddin

Keyword(s):

Content Analysis ◽

Communication Theory ◽

News Coverage ◽

Analysis Data ◽

Crisis Response ◽

Attribution Of Responsibility ◽

Response Strategies ◽

News Sources ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Crisis Responses

This research was to examine the portrayal of crisis response strategies in Malaysian local vernacular printed dailies in covering terrorism crises which is the Lahad Datu crisis in Malaysia. The researcher relied on Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) and Framing theory to identify the news coverage and appropriate solutions through newspaper framing. Five variables were identified by the researcher in examining crisis response strategies such as news category, news slants, news framing, news sources and portrayal of visuals. Through quantitative content analysis, data revealed that the solution category was portrayed by Nanban daily, but Sin Chew focused on the problem category. For the news slants, Sin Chew daily framed negative slants of news most but Nanban daily portrayed issues in positive slants. In measuring the news frame, both dailies focused more on the attribution of responsibility frame. In examining the crisis response strategies, the researcher found, justification crisis response was portrayed predominantly but there is a significant difference between two different vernacular dailies in the portrayal of justification crisis response followed by concern crisis response. Kruskal Wallis’s test revealed that there is a significant difference in the portrayal of concern response between two dailies however, both newspapers having significant associations in portraying compensation crisis response.

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Top Two News Words (By Hour)

Media-N ◽

10.21900/j.median.v13i1.9 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Rick Valentin

Keyword(s):

Online News ◽

Simple Concept ◽

News Sources ◽

News Source ◽

Online Archive ◽

Continuous Sheet ◽

Covering the Campaign: News, Elections, and the Information Environment in Emerging Democracies

10.31235/osf.io/af9jq ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jeffrey B. Arnold ◽

Aaron Erlich ◽

Danielle F. Jung ◽

James D. Long

Keyword(s):

News Coverage ◽

Information Environment ◽

Machine Learning Techniques ◽

Government Performance ◽

Emerging Democracies ◽

Political Actors ◽

Electoral Outcomes ◽

Learning Techniques ◽

Election Coverage

Scholars debate whether and how campaigns influence political behavior and electoral outcomes. No consistent theoretical framework, however, defines, measures, and analyzes election-related content from within the media's coverage, particularly in emerging democracies. We apply machine learning techniques on texts from nearly 100,000 news articles during South Africa's 2014 election, and use a theoretically-informed classification of election coverage to demonstrate how the conceptual scope of elections shapes voters' campaign information environment. Our results produce distinct representations of political actors and institutions during elections: a narrow classification provides heuristics cuing race, party, and incumbent performance; a broad definition reflects policy and service concerns parties debated. Topic models and word vectors show that campaign content clusters with parties and their associations with government performance and policies, but candidates vary in how much distinct coverage they obtain on valence issues. We provide methods and evidence to replicably study electoral news coverage across developing countries.

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