scholarly journals Porous Chambers, Echoes of Valence and Stereotypes

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate M. Turetsky ◽  
Travis A. Riddle
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Emotional Valence ◽  
Selective Exposure ◽  
Online News ◽  
News Sources ◽  
News Organizations ◽  
Echo Chambers ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
High Connectivity

Selective exposure to one-sided news coverage, especially of controversial geopolitical events, may contribute to growing social polarization. Existing research on “echo chambers”—fragmented information environments that amplify homogeneous perspectives—focuses on the degree to which individuals and social media platforms shape informational segregation. Here, we explore whether news organizations directly contribute to echo chambers through the hyperlinks they embed in online articles. Using network and text analysis, we examined coverage of the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO, and found that online news media exhibited weak community structure and high connectivity across news outlets. However, analyses also indicated that media sources were more likely to link to coverage that was similar to their own in terms of emotional valence and stereotype-relevant aspects of the events. While hyperlinking to diverse news sources may ameliorate fragmented information environments, selectively linking to similar coverage may contribute to growing polarization.

scholarly journals Reinforcing spirals at work? Mutual influences between selective news exposure and ideological leaning

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter M Dahlgren ◽  
Adam Shehata ◽  
Jesper Strömbäck
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Political Attitudes ◽  
Significant Degree ◽  
Selective Exposure ◽  
Online News ◽  
Political Polarization ◽  
Print News ◽  
News Sources ◽  
Reciprocal Influences ◽  
Consistent Information

The growth of partisan news sources has raised concerns that people will increasingly select attitude-consistent information, which might lead to increasing political polarization. Thus far, there is limited research on the long-term mutual influences between selective exposure and political attitudes. To remedy this, this study investigates the reciprocal influences between selective exposure and political attitudes over several years, using a three-wave panel survey conducted in Sweden during 2014–2016. More specifically, we analyse how ideological selective exposure to both traditional and online news media influences citizens’ ideological leaning. Findings suggest that (1) people seek-out ideologically consistent print news and online news and (2) such attitude-consistent news exposure reinforces citizens’ ideological leaning over time. In practice, however, such reinforcement effects are hampered by (3) relatively low overall ideological selective exposure and a (4) significant degree of cross-cutting news exposure online. These findings are discussed in light of selective exposure theory and the reinforcing spirals model.

scholarly journals From the Deeming Rule to JUUL—US News Coverage of Electronic Cigarettes, 2015–2018

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
pp. 1816-1822 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivia A Wackowski ◽  
Jennah M Sontag ◽  
Binu Singh ◽  
Jessica King ◽  
M Jane Lewis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Electronic Cigarettes ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
High Volume ◽  
The United States ◽  
Online News ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The Public ◽  
News Sources ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Introduction News media may influence public perceptions and attitudes about electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), which may influence product use and attitudes about their regulation. The purpose of this study is to describe trends in US news coverage of e-cigarettes during a period of evolving regulation, science, and trends in the use of e-cigarettes. Methods We conducted a content analysis of e-cigarette topics and themes covered in US news articles from 2015 to 2018. Online news databases (Access World News, Factiva) were used to obtain US news articles from the top 34 circulating newspapers, four national wire services, and five leading online news sources. Results The number of articles increased by 75.4% between 2015 and 2018 (n = 1609). Most articles focused on policy/regulation (43.5%) as a main topic, followed by health effects (22.3%) and prevalence/trends (17.9%). Discussion about flavor bans quadrupled (6.1% to 24.6%) and discussion of youth e-cigarette use was most prevalent (58.4%) in 2018, coinciding with an increase in coverage about JUUL. JUUL was mentioned in 50.8% of 2018 articles. Across years, articles more frequently mentioned e-cigarette risks (70%) than potential benefits (37.3%). Conclusions E-cigarettes continue to be a newsworthy topic, with coverage both reflecting numerous changes and events over time, and providing repeated opportunities for informing the public and policymakers about these novel products. Future research should continue to track how discourse changes over time and assess its potential influence on e-cigarette perceptions and policy changes. Implications E-cigarette news coverage in the United States increased between 2015 and 2018 and predominantly focused on policy and regulation. Notable spikes in volume were associated with some but not all major e-cigarette events, including the FDA’s deeming rule, Surgeon General’s report, and release of the National Youth Tobacco Survey data in 2018. Coverage of the 2018 National Academy of Medicine, Engineering, and Sciences report on the Public Health Consequences of E-cigarettes received minimal news coverage. The high volume in 2018 was driven in large part by coverage of the e-cigarette brand JUUL; over half of news articles in 2018 referenced JUUL specifically.

scholarly journals Incidental Exposure to Non-Like-Minded News through Social Media: Opposing Voices in Echo-Chambers’ News Feeds

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 53-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pere Masip ◽  
Jaume Suau ◽  
Carlos Ruiz-Caballero
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Selective Exposure ◽  
Online News ◽  
Audience Participation ◽  
News Content ◽  
Media System ◽  
Weak Association ◽  
Echo Chambers ◽  
Incidental Exposure

Debates about post-truth need to take into account how news re-disseminates in a hybrid media system in which social networks and audience participation play a central role. Hence, there is a certain risk of reducing citizens’ exposure to politically adverse news content, creating ‘echo chambers’ of political affinity. This article presents the results of research conducted in agreement with 18 leading Spanish online news media, based on a survey (N = 6625) of their registered users. The results highlight that high levels of selective exposure that are a characteristic of offline media consumption are being moderated in the online realm. Although most of the respondents get news online from like-minded media, the figures related to those who also get news from media with a different media ideology should not be underestimated. As news consumption is becoming more ‘social,’ our research points out that Spanish citizens who are more active on social media sites are more likely to be exposed to news content from different ideological positions than those who are less active users. There is a weak association between the use of a particular social network site and gaining access to like- and non-like-minded news.

scholarly journals The development trends and features of online news websites in Bangladesh

2021 ◽  
pp. 41-58
Author(s):  
Abdul Kabil Khan ◽  
Anna Shnaider
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Online News ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Development Trends ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
News Organizations ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Basic Features

This article refers to the brief history of the development of online media in Bangladesh starting from the beginnings of the Internet to the contemporary stage. Since 2006 Bangladeshi news organizations have been reshaping their strategy towards being a digital-only news outlet. News organizations are now using different features of mobile devices and social media to tell stories and engage with their target audiences. Today both the digital-only news outlets and mainstream media use QR codes, messengers, social media platforms, which enable them to reach a wider area of audiences. By using yet inexpensive digital tools journalists can easily create and distribute content for digital-only platforms. We consider digital-only platforms as new media, social media, and convergence media platforms. Social media platforms have provided the opportunity for traditional journalists to share news quickly, get feedback from the audience, and have two-way communication with the reader. Previous studies have looked at the genres of online journalism from a western perspective. Little has been done on the topic from the context of Bangladesh. In this article, we analyze the basic features of online news media that exist in contemporary Bangladesh and provide an account of the development trends. We outline the new genres, techniques, and use as a sample two most famous online news platforms: The Daily Star and bdnews24. A series of semi-structured interviews were conducted with 5 different professionals from Journalism and mass media. This study is based on both primary and secondary sources of qualitative data to understand the new genres of online news media, challenges, and opportunities to work in the ever-changing media landscape.

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.

scholarly journals Echo chamber detection and analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giacomo Villa ◽  
Gabriella Pasi ◽  
Marco Viviani
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Community Detection ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Selective Exposure ◽  
Social Needs ◽  
News Sources ◽  
Detection Strategy ◽  
Echo Chambers ◽  
Echo Chamber ◽  
Content Aware

AbstractSocial media allow to fulfill perceived social needs such as connecting with friends or other individuals with similar interests into virtual communities; they have also become essential as news sources, microblogging platforms, in particular, in a variety of contexts including that of health. However, due to the homophily property and selective exposure to information, social media have the tendency to create distinct groups of individuals whose ideas are highly polarized around certain topics. In these groups, a.k.a. echo chambers, people only "hear their own voice,” and divergent visions are no longer taken into account. This article focuses on the study of the echo chamber phenomenon in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, by considering both the relationships connecting individuals and semantic aspects related to the content they share over Twitter. To this aim, we propose an approach based on the application of a community detection strategy to distinct topology- and content-aware representations of the COVID-19 conversation graph. Then, we assess and analyze the controversy and homogeneity among the different polarized groups obtained. The evaluations of the approach are carried out on a dataset of tweets related to COVID-19 collected between January and March 2020.

Frames as Boundaries: Rhetorical Framing Analysis and the Confines of Public Discourse in Online News Coverage of Vegan Parenting

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-170
Author(s):  
Ryan J. Phillips
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Boundary Work ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Online News ◽  
Framing Analysis ◽  
Public Issues ◽  
Boundary Properties ◽  
Blind Spots

This article examines the boundary work of frames and the methodological significance of understanding this work when conducting rhetorical framing analysis. While the boundary properties of frames have been theorized by scholars, there remains a lack of clear engagement with how to effectively address these discursive boundaries methodically. I argue that agenda-dismissal, which makes use of both prolepses and blind spots, ought to be addressed in addition to agenda-setting and agenda-extension when conducting rhetorical framing analysis. A case study is provided in which the rhetorical framing of vegan parenting in online news media is analyzed and critiqued for confining the issue within a dominant health-based frame. Strategies for dismantling discursive boundaries and reframing public issues are also considered within the context of the case study.

scholarly journals Analysis of News Coverage of Kashmir Crisis by Global News Channels After the Abolition of Article 370

2021 ◽  
Vol Volume 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 215-227
Author(s):  
Taufiq Ahmad ◽  
Saba Sultana ◽  
Ayesha Riaz
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Online News ◽  
Al Jazeera ◽  
Government Leader ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Insight Into

This study analyzes the Kashmir conflict by little empirical work on Kashmir News after the abolition of Article 370. The purpose here is to identify the nature of news coverage by the global news media. For this purpose, 193 new stories were selected which were appeared at the web sources of three global news channels BBC, CNN, Aljazeera. This study primarily focusses on Content analysis of how CNN, BBC and AL JAZEERA designed Kashmir in their online news broadcasting with time frame of from 5 August to 30 September 2019 soon after the revocation of Article 370 while determining the difference in storytelling and the search for stories of information about Kashmir. By using an original coding program that extract on the coverage of Kashmir conflict, media effects and agenda-setting theories, the analysis is found that AL JAZEERA has heavily relied on episodic coverage and focued on international condemnation frame in its coverage than CNN which heavily focused on the Human-interest frame as well as BBC relied on the responsibility frame in its coverage related Kashmir. The study investigates the sources of the stories where AL JAZEERA cited government leader and official statements; CNN added journalists’ views whereas BBC heavily relied on their correspondents’ version. However, the investigation provides the insight into the worldwide media coverage of the issue and their view

scholarly journals Public Opinion Polls and Experts in Election News

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 127
Author(s):  
Guðbjörg Hildur Kolbeins
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
News Media ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Online News ◽  
Parliamentary Election ◽  
Radio Stations ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Election News ◽  
Public Opinion Polls ◽  
Opinion Polls

By employing the theoretical framework of framing, the present paper attempts to examine the Icelandic media’s coverage of the 2013 parliamentary election by paying particular attention to coverage of public opinion polls and the policies of the political parties, i.e. the “horse-race” frame and the issue frame, and to examine media’s reliance on experts for interpretation of election news. Seven online news media, two newspapers, two radio stations and two television channels were monitored for 25 days prior to Election Day, i.e. from April 2 to April 26, 2013, - resulting in 1377 election news stories. The findings show, for example, that 29.8% of all the election news stories had public opinion polls as their primary angle while 12% of the stories were primarily issue-oriented. In addition, the media rely on experts for interpretation of the polls; five of the 10 most interviewed or quoted sources on public opinion surveys were political science experts who were affiliated with universities. Finally, news coverage of polls was generally amplified as media outlets had a tendency to report on public opinion polls that were commissioned by other media.

scholarly journals Who to Trust on Social Media: How Opinion Leaders and Seekers Avoid Disinformation and Echo Chambers

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 205630512091399
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Dubois ◽  
Sara Minaeian ◽  
Ariane Paquet-Labelle ◽  
Simon Beaudry
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Political Information ◽  
Opinion Leaders ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Dependent Variables ◽  
Echo Chambers ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Information Verification ◽  
Low Levels

As trust in news media and social media dwindles and fears of disinformation and echo chambers spread, individuals need to find ways to access and assess reliable and trustworthy information. Despite low levels of trust in social media, they are used for accessing political information and news. In this study, we examine the information verification practices of opinion leaders (who consume political information above average and share their opinions on social media above average) and of opinion seekers (who seek out political information from friends and family) to understand similarities and differences in their news media trust, fact-checking behaviors, and likeliness of being caught in echo chambers. Based on a survey of French Internet users ( N = 2,000) we find that not only opinion leaders, but also opinion seekers, have higher rates across all three of these dependent variables. We discuss the implications of findings for the development of opinion leadership theory as well as for social media platforms wishing to increase trust.

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