Hypertextuality in net-native health news: A quantitative content analysis of hyperlinks and where they lead to

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 367-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joyce Stroobant ◽  
Karin Raeymaeckers
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Online News ◽  
Pharmaceutical Companies ◽  
Research Groups ◽  
Quantitative Content Analysis ◽  
Health News ◽  
Quantitative Content ◽  
News Websites ◽  
Government Websites

By means of a quantitative content analysis of two Belgian net-native health news websites, this article investigates the reliability and usability of the hyperlinks in various forms of online news. Hyperlinks in our sample overwhelmingly redirect readers to government websites and websites that contain scientific information such as websites of universities, scientific research groups and peer-reviewed academic journals. Hyperlinks to information generally perceived as less reliable and possibly biased such as user-generated content or pharmaceutical companies are used rarely. This suggests that online health journalists strongly share the preferences of their offline colleagues. However, in terms of the potential of hypertext to tailor health news to the needs of the audience, for instance by including multimedia content or even simply by hyperlinking to webpages in the same language as the original, there are clear indications that Belgian online net-native health news falls short. The practical hindrances and hurdles identified in this content analysis constitute an invitation for online health journalists to consider the possibilities of hypertext in the light of how users might appreciate this practice.

scholarly journals Expert quotes and exaggeration in health news: a retrospective quantitative content analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 56
Author(s):  
Francien G. Bossema ◽  
Peter Burger ◽  
Luke Bratton ◽  
Aimée Challenger ◽  
Rachel C. Adams ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Press Releases ◽  
Quantitative Content Analysis ◽  
Health News ◽  
Quantitative Content ◽  
External Expert ◽  
Independent Expert ◽  
The Uk

BackgroundThis research is an investigation into the role of expert quotes in health news, specifically whether news articles containing a quote from an independent expert are less often exaggerated than articles without such a quote.MethodsRetrospective quantitative content analysis of journal articles, press releases, and associated news articles was performed. The investigated sample are press releases on peer-reviewed health research and the associated research articles and news stories. Our sample consisted of 462 press releases and 668 news articles from the UK (2011) and 129 press releases and 185 news articles from The Netherlands (2015). We hand-coded all journal articles, press releases and news articles for correlational claims, using a well-tested codebook. The main outcome measures are types of sources that were quoted and exaggeration of correlational claims. We used counts, 2x2 tables and odds ratios to assess the relationship between presence of quotes and exaggeration of the causal claim.ResultsOverall, 99.1% of the UK press releases and 84.5% of the Dutch press releases contain at least one quote. For the associated news articles these percentages are: 88.6% in the UK and 69.7% in the Netherlands. Authors of the study are most often quoted and only 7.5% of UK and 7.0% of Dutch news articles contained a new quote by an expert source, i.e. one not provided by the press release. The relative odds that an article without an external expert quote contains an exaggeration of causality is 2.6.ConclusionsThe number of articles containing a quote from an independent expert is low, but articles that cite an external expert do contain less exaggeration.

scholarly journals Targeting dominant publics: How counterpublic commenters align their efforts with mainstream news

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 2011-2027 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Toepfl ◽  
Eunike Piwoni
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Study Design ◽  
Common Currency ◽  
Quantitative Content Analysis ◽  
Electoral Success ◽  
Case Study Design ◽  
Alternative Für Deutschland ◽  
Quantitative Content ◽  
News Websites

This study illustrates how the emphasis structure of counterpublic discourses surfacing online can be predicted by that of the dominant publics that these counterpublics—at the argumentative level—so resolutely oppose. Deploying a single common case study design, the article scrutinizes a counterpublic discourse that surfaced in the comment sections of Germany’s opinion-leading news websites in the week after the surprising electoral success of a new anti-Euro party, the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). Quantitative content analysis identifies 75% of all comments posted ( N = 2955) to all articles about the AfD ( N = 19) as part of an anti-Euro counterpublic. While this counterpublic sharply opposed the editorial lines of Germany’s unanimously pro-common-currency media, it still aligned its efforts closely with this dominant public—albeit at a deeper level. As the findings demonstrate, the frequencies with which commenters adopted six emphasis frames were significantly predicted by the frequencies of these frames in mainstream news.

scholarly journals Expert quotes and exaggeration in health news: a retrospective quantitative content analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francien G. Bossema ◽  
Peter Burger ◽  
Luke Bratton ◽  
Aimée Challenger ◽  
Rachel C. Adams ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Press Releases ◽  
Quantitative Content Analysis ◽  
Health News ◽  
Quantitative Content ◽  
External Expert ◽  
Independent Expert ◽  
The Uk

BackgroundThis research is an investigation into the role of expert quotes in health news, specifically whether news articles containing a quote from an independent expert are less often exaggerated than articles without such a quote.MethodsRetrospective quantitative content analysis of journal articles, press releases, and associated news articles was performed. The investigated sample are press releases on peer-reviewed health research and the associated research articles and news stories. Our sample consisted of 462 press releases and 668 news articles from the UK (2011) and 129 press releases and 185 news articles from The Netherlands (2015). We hand-coded all journal articles, press releases and news articles for correlational claims, using a well-tested codebook. The main outcome measures are types of sources that were quoted and exaggeration of correlational claims. We used counts, 2x2 tables and odds ratios to assess the relationship between presence of quotes and exaggeration of the causal claim.ResultsOverall, 99.1% of the UK press releases and 84.5% of the Dutch press releases contain at least one quote. For the associated news articles these percentages are: 88.6% in the UK and 69.7% in the Netherlands. Authors of the study are most often quoted and only 7.5% of UK and 7.0% of Dutch news articles contained a new quote by an expert source, i.e. one not provided by the press release. The relative odds that an article without an external expert quote contains an exaggeration of causality is 2.6.ConclusionsThe number of articles containing a quote from an independent expert is low, but articles that cite an external expert do contain less exaggeration.

scholarly journals Joining the clash or refusing to bash? Bystanders reactions to online celebrity bashing

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaëlle Ouvrein ◽  
Charlotte J.S. De Backer ◽  
Heidi Vandebosch
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Online News ◽  
Huge Number ◽  
Specific Context ◽  
Quantitative Content Analysis ◽  
Quantitative Content ◽  
Negative News ◽  
Celebrity News

Researchers, in studies of online news-site commenting, have found a huge number of aggressive comments and have indicated that such comments should be interpreted within the discussion context that other bystanders, such as journalists and other readers, have created. In this study, we aimed to offer insights into bystanders’ reactions to negative news articles and other bystanders’ aggressive comments in the specific context of celebrity news. Therefore, we subjected Flemish celebrity-news articles (N = 69) and the Facebook reactions (N = 5,529) to those articles to a content analysis. First, using a quantitative content analysis, we coded each comment as having a negative, neutral, or positive tone. Next, we conducted a qualitative content analysis, which consisted of a vertical coding phase and a horizontal coding phase, so as to investigate the comments’ content in more depth and to determine which elements resulted in some comments’ negative and even aggressive tone. The results indicate that most readers’ reactions stayed on topic, thus merely contributing to the negative atmosphere that the journalist had already created. However, unlike the journalists, who tended to express their emotions rather subtly, the readers reacted using extreme aggressive language. Furthermore, although these aggressive reader reactions generally seemed to set an aggressive tone for future reactions, some readers broke this aggressive cycle and explicitly disapproved of the aggressive expressions.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document