scholarly journals Contagious accuracy norm violation in political journalism: A cross-national investigation of how news media publish inaccurate political information

Journalism ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 146488492110320
Author(s):  
Bartosz Wilczek ◽  
Neil Thurman
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
Inaccurate Information ◽  
Norm Violation ◽  
Political Journalism ◽  
Press Councils ◽  
Media Markets ◽  
And Shifts ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Media Market

This study introduces social norm theory to mis- and disinformation research and investigates whether, how and under what conditions broadsheets’ accuracy norm violation in political journalism becomes contagious and shifts other news media in a media market towards increasingly violating the accuracy norm in political journalism as well. Accuracy norm violation refers to the publication of inaccurate information. More specifically, the study compares Swiss and UK media markets and analyses Swiss and UK press councils’ rulings between 2000 and 2019 that upheld complaints about accuracy norm violations in political journalism. The findings show that broadsheets increasingly violate the accuracy norm the closer election campaigns approach to election dates. They thereby drive other news media in a media market to increasingly violate the accuracy norm as well. However, this holds only for the UK media market but not for the Swiss media market. Therefore, the findings indicate that the higher expected benefits of accuracy norm violation that exist in media markets characterised by higher competition outweigh the higher expected costs of accuracy norm violation created by stronger press councils’ sanctions, and, thereby, facilitate contagious accuracy norm violation in political journalism during election campaigns.

scholarly journals Misinformation and herd behavior in media markets: A cross-national investigation of how tabloids’ attention to misinformation drives broadsheets’ attention to misinformation in political and business journalism

PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (11) ◽  
pp. e0241389
Author(s):  
Bartosz Wilczek
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Attention Allocation ◽  
Herd Behavior ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
Allocation Process ◽  
Economic Downturns ◽  
Press Councils ◽  
Media Markets ◽  
Business Journalism ◽  
Cross National

This study develops and tests a theoretical framework, which draws on herd behavior literature and explains how and under what conditions tabloids’ attention to misinformation drives broadsheets’ attention to misinformation. More specifically, the study analyzes all cases of political and business misinformation in Switzerland and the U.K. between 2002 and 2018, which are selected based on corresponding Swiss and U.K. press councils’ rulings (N = 114). The findings show that during amplifying events (i.e., election campaigns and economic downturns) tabloids allocate more attention to political and business misinformation, which, in turn, drives broadsheets to allocate more attention to the misinformation as well–and especially if the misinformation serves broadsheets’ ideological goals. Moreover, the findings show differences between Swiss and U.K. media markets only in the case of business misinformation and suggest that the attention allocation process depends in particular on the strength of the amplifying event in a media market. Thereby, this study contributes to the understanding of how and under what conditions misinformation spreads in media markets.

scholarly journals Introduction to special issue about election reporting: Why journalism (still) matters

Journalism ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 985-993 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Cushion ◽  
Daniel Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
News Media ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Campaign Coverage ◽  
Election Coverage ◽  
Social Media Platforms

This introduction unpacks the eight articles that make up this Journalism special issue about election reporting. Taken together, the articles ask: How has election reporting evolved over the last century across different media? Has the relationship between journalists and candidates changed in the digital age of campaigning? How do contemporary news values influence campaign coverage? Which voices – politicians, say or journalists – are most prominent? How far do citizens inform election coverage? How is public opinion articulated in the age of social media? Are sites such as Twitter developing new and distinctive election agendas? In what ways does social media interact with legacy media? How well have scholars researched and theorised election reporting cross-nationally? How can research agendas be enhanced? Overall, we argue this Special Issue demonstrates the continued strength of news media during election campaigns. This is in spite of social media platforms increasingly disrupting and recasting the agenda setting power of legacy media, not least by political parties and candidates who are relying more heavily on sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to campaign. But while debates in recent years have centred on the technological advances in political communication and the associated role of social media platforms during election campaigns (e.g. microtargeting voters, spreading disinformation/misinformation and allowing candidates to bypass media to campaign), our collection of studies signal the enduring influence professional journalists play in selecting and framing of news. Put more simply, how elections are reported still profoundly matters in spite of political parties’ and candidates’ more sophisticated use of digital campaigning.

Looking over the channel: The balance of media coverage about the “refugee crisis” in Germany and the UK

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus Maurer ◽  
Jörg Haßler ◽  
Simon Kruschinski ◽  
Pablo Jost
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Television News ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Value Theory ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
British Government ◽  
News Value ◽  
The Uk

Abstract This study compares the balance of newspaper and television news coverage about migration in two countries that were differently affected by the so-called “refugee crisis” in 2015 in terms of the geopolitical involvement and numbers of migrants being admitted. Based on a broad consensus among political elites, Germany left its borders open and received about one million migrants mainly from Syria during 2015. In contrast, the conservative British government was heavily attacked by oppositional parties for closing Britain’s borders and, thus, restricting immigration. These different initial situations led to remarkable differences between the news coverage in both countries. In line with news value theory, German media outlets reported much more on migration than did their British counterparts. In line with indexing theory, German news coverage consonantly reflected the consensual view of German political elites, while British news media reported along their general editorial lines.

scholarly journals Financing Political Parties in France, Germany and The United Kingdom

2016 ◽  
pp. 91-110
Author(s):  
Jan Misiuna
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Financial Information ◽  
Public Access ◽  
Final Conclusion ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
Low Level ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Uk

The paper compares the systems of financing political parties in France, Germany and the UK. The analysis concentrates on effectiveness of collecting contributions, dependency on large donors for providing funds for financing election campaigns and daily operation of political parties, and the level of transparency of finances of political parties. The final conclusion is that only introducing limits on expenditures on election campaigns allows to keep the costs of election campaigns and political parties at a low level, while mandatory common accounting standards and public access to financial information is necessary to preserve transparency of finances of political parties.

How Twitter drives the global news agenda: Tweets from Brazil, Russia, India, China, the UK and US and online discourse about the 2016 US presidential election

2021 ◽  
pp. 174276652110399
Author(s):  
Jane O’Boyle ◽  
Carol J Pardun
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
News Media ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Online Discourse ◽  
Political Communications ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Presidential Election ◽  
The Uk ◽  
India And China

A manual content analysis compares 6019 Twitter comments from six countries during the 2016 US presidential election. Twitter comments were positive about Trump and negative about Clinton in Russia, the US and also in India and China. In the UK and Brazil, Twitter comments were largely negative about both candidates. Twitter sources for Clinton comments were more frequently from journalists and news companies, and still more negative than positive in tone. Topics on Twitter varied from those in mainstream news media. This foundational study expands communications research on social media, as well as political communications and international distinctions.

Social Media in the UK Election Campaigns 2008-2014

2015 ◽  
pp. 325-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darren G. Lilleker ◽  
Nigel Jackson ◽  
Karolina Koc-Michalska
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
The Uk

How Media Shapes the Public Discourse and Influences Health

2020 ◽  
pp. 23-35
Author(s):  
Alonzo L. Plough
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Multiple Roles ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
The Public ◽  
Inaccurate Information ◽  
Modern Media ◽  
Multiple Media ◽  
American Society ◽  
The Many

This chapter describes the multiple roles of modern media in determining not only what consumers know, but also how and what they think. The exponential growth of ideologically driven cable channels and social media, dovetailing with cutbacks in newspaper staffing and coverage, point to the many ways that the power and reach of media are shifting even as they continue to reshape American society and norms. In this environment, multiple media compete for viewers, readers, and listeners who will click on their websites, buy their products, sign their petitions, and often accept their spin, especially if it reinforces personal perspectives. Thoughtful information about complex public health issues is easily lost in that context, leading too many people to base their decision-making on incomplete, biased, and even inaccurate information. For the news media to help build a Culture of Health, people need to understand how it works, what it does, and how it can be used for widespread benefit.

Manufacturing Consent in Venezuela: Media Misreporting of a Country, 1998–2014

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-290
Author(s):  
Alan MacLeod
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
News Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Propaganda Model ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Uk

This article assesses Western news media coverage of Venezuela between 1998 and 2014. It found that the major newspapers in the UK and US reproduce the ideology of Western governments, ignoring strong empirical evidence challenging those positions. The press portrayed Venezuela in an overwhelmingly negative light, presenting highly contested minority opinions as facts while barely mentioning competing arguments, as Herman and Chomsky’s (2002) propaganda model would predict. After conducting interviews, it is clear that a small cadre of pre-selected journalists is immersed into a highly antagonistic newsroom culture that sees itself as the “resistance” to the Venezuelan government and its purpose to defeat it. As a result, hegemony of thought reigns and some journalists report self-censorship.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document