scholarly journals Digitalization of Conflicts: An Analysis of Social Media Coverage of Palestine-Israel Conflict by Traditional News Organizations

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (I) ◽  
pp. 10-20
Author(s):  
Muhammad Imran Rashid
Author(s):  
Jacob Groshek

The notion of news networks has changed from primarily one of print and broadcast networks to one of social networks and social media. This study examines the intersection of technological affordances, dialogic activity, and where traditional news gatekeepers are now situated in the contemporary multigated and networked media environment. Using genetically modified organisms (GMOs) as a topical issue, social data was collected from Twitter. The most connected (and connecting) users were algorithmically identified and then sorted into ‘community' groups. The resultant graphs visually and statistically identify which users were important gatekeepers and how the flow of information on this topic was being structured around and by certain users that acted as ‘hubs' of communication in the network. Results suggest that the ongoing evolution of networked gatekeeping has led to the virtual absence of journalists and news organizations from prominence in social media coverage on certain topics, in this instance GMOs. Normative implications are discussed.


Author(s):  
Jacob Groshek

The notion of news networks has changed from primarily one of print and broadcast networks to one of social networks and social media. This study examines the intersection of technological affordances, dialogic activity, and where traditional news gatekeepers are now situated in the contemporary multi-gated and networked media environment. Using genetically modified organisms (GMOs) as a topical issue, social data was collected from Twitter. The most connected (and connecting) users were algorithmically identified and then sorted into ‘community' groups. The resultant graphs visually and statistically identify which users were important gatekeepers and how the flow of information on this topic was being structured around and by certain users that acted as ‘hubs' of communication in the network. Results suggest that the ongoing evolution of networked gatekeeping has led to the virtual absence of journalists and news organizations from prominence in social media coverage on certain topics, in this instance GMOs. Normative implications are discussed.


Author(s):  
Amit Kumar

The face of a news room in India has been changed radically with the ever growing popularity of social media, where it sets agenda for the news organizations to follow. The #Lalitgate is a classical example, where the Ex IPL Commissioner, Lalit Modi, who has gained a notorious image due to his controversies, broke news on twitter, from there it has been picked up by 24x7 news channels, subsequently online portals do a piece on it, again there is a prime time discussion on that news, followed by a morning coverage by the news papers. As a person gain ability to create sensationalism, he utilizes the ability of social media to create some dialogues, with a larger worldwide audience, which was earlier not possible due to the monologue approach of traditional media. The ability of that piece of information to get retweeted by followers allows it to trend high on twitter. As the number become astonishing some time, it automatically qualifies for the attention of the editors of media organizations and eventually sets the agenda of the day. The social media platforms; Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp etc. have become the essential tool of news gathering of a modern news room. Twitter with its 302 million followers worldwide, eventually became a credible online source of news gathering as the tweets are usually came through a first person, citing his/her views or, opinion on a subject matter. This research paper aims to critically analyze the role of twitter as an agenda setting tool in #Lalitgate, where, the cricket administrator turned whistleblower, Lalit Modi, used twitter effectively for his revelations, and he not only trolled successfully on twitter but news media as well. The scope of this paper is limited to the media coverage by English medium news channels and papers only.


2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracy Tuten ◽  
Victor Perotti

Purpose The purpose of this study is to illustrate the influence of media coverage and sentiment about brands on user-generated content amplification and opinions expressed in social media. Design/methodology/approach This study used a mixed-method approach, using a brand situation as a case example, including sentiment analysis of social media conversations and sentiment analysis of media coverage. This study tracks the diffusion of a false claim about the brand via online media coverage, subsequent spreading of the false claim via social media and the resulting impact on sentiment toward the brand. Findings The findings illustrate the influence of digital mass communication sources on the subsequent spread of information about a brand via social media channels and the impact of the social spread of false claims on brand sentiment. This study illustrates the value of social media listening and sentiment analysis for brands as an ongoing business practice. Research limitations/implications While it has long been known that media coverage is in part subsequently diffused through individual sharing, this study reveals the potential for media sentiment to influence sentiment toward a brand. It also illustrates the potential harm brands face when false information is spread via media coverage and subsequently through social media posts and conversations. How brands can most effectively correct false brand beliefs and recover from negative sentiment related to false claims is an area for future research. Practical implications This study suggests that brands are wise to use sentiment analysis as part of their evaluation of earned media coverage from news organizations and to use social listening as an alert system and sentiment analysis to assess impact on attitudes toward the brand. These steps should become part of a brand’s social media management process. Social implications Media are presumed to be impartial reporters of news and information. However, this study illustrated that the sentiment expressed in media coverage about a brand can be measured and diffused beyond the publications’ initial reach via social media. Advertising positioned as news must be labeled as “advertorial” to ensure that those exposed to the message understand that the message is not impartial. News organizations may inadvertently publish false claims and relay information with sentiment that is then carried via social media along with the information itself. Negative information about a brand may be more sensational and, thus, prone to social sharing, no matter how well the findings are researched or sourced. Originality/value The value of the study is its illustration of how false information and media sentiment spread via social media can ultimately affect consumer sentiment and attitude toward the brand. This study also explains the research process for social scraping and sentiment analysis.


Author(s):  
Musharaf Zahoor ◽  
Najma Sadiq

The news coverage of conflicts has transformed with the introduction of digital media. The available literature on media coverage of Palestine-Israel conflict is mainly focused on traditional news coverage or social media dimension of the conflict information. There exists a literature gap on social media coverage of Palestine-Israel conflict by the traditional news organizations. This study explores the changing pattern of traditional media’s coverage of the longstanding conflict in the wake of new communication technologies through appraisal of the existing literature. The analysis revealed that the traditional news organizations have adopted social networking platforms as a business model to cover Palestine-Israel conflict. It was found that the traditional news outlets use the new media because it is cost-effective and have instantaneous outreach to maximum number of netizens. The new tools of communication offer multimedia platforms where conflict-related text, videos and images can be posted simultaneously. The study proposes to conduct future research on media-conflict relationship by focusing the use of new communication tools by the traditional media.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhaohui Su ◽  
Dean McDonnell ◽  
Jun Wen ◽  
Metin Kozak ◽  
Jaffar Abbas ◽  
...  

AbstractDuring global pandemics, such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), crisis communication is indispensable in dispelling fears, uncertainty, and unifying individuals worldwide in a collective fight against health threats. Inadequate crisis communication can bring dire personal and economic consequences. Mounting research shows that seemingly endless newsfeeds related to COVID-19 infection and death rates could considerably increase the risk of mental health problems. Unfortunately, media reports that include infodemics regarding the influence of COVID-19 on mental health may be a source of the adverse psychological effects on individuals. Owing partially to insufficient crisis communication practices, media and news organizations across the globe have played minimal roles in battling COVID-19 infodemics. Common refrains include raging QAnon conspiracies, a false and misleading “Chinese virus” narrative, and the use of disinfectants to “cure” COVID-19. With the potential to deteriorate mental health, infodemics fueled by a kaleidoscopic range of misinformation can be dangerous. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of research on how to improve crisis communication across media and news organization channels. This paper identifies ways that legacy media reports on COVID-19 and how social media-based infodemics can result in mental health concerns. This paper discusses possible crisis communication solutions that media and news organizations can adopt to mitigate the negative influences of COVID-19 related news on mental health. Emphasizing the need for global media entities to forge a fact-based, person-centered, and collaborative response to COVID-19 reporting, this paper encourages media resources to focus on the core issue of how to slow or stop COVID-19 transmission effectively.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Yanfang Wu

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] The debate about boundaries in journalism amid the rise of citizen journalism, the crisis of business models in the news industry and the use of social media in the news-gathering and dissemination process, has become a central focus in the media industry and academia. There is no doubt that the digital transition is a trend. Based on the Carlson's (2015) boundaries of journalism theory and Shoemaker and Vos' (2009) levels of analysis in the gatekeeping theory, administering a cross-sectional, self-administered questionnaire, national online survey (N=1063), conducting a Structural Equation Model (SEM) analysis, the study seeks to find out the relationships between socialization and perceptions of digital impact on journalism, journalists and news organizations. The findings showed news organizations' social media culture affects journalists' use of social media. Twitter interactivity mediates journalists' social media internalization and their attitude toward social media. However, this mediating effects does not apply to Facebook and other social media interactivity. The distinguishing line between reporters and editors is blurring in news organizations. Older journalists (age>40) are picking up social media as additional journalistic tools and developing a positive attitude toward them. However, there still may be a long way to go before old journalists become experts in social media.


2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Al-Rawi ◽  
Jacob Groshek ◽  
Li Zhang

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine one of the largest data sets on the hashtag use of #fakenews that comprises over 14m tweets sent by more than 2.4m users.Design/methodology/approachTweets referencing the hashtag (#fakenews) were collected for a period of over one year from January 3 to May 7 of 2018. Bot detection tools were employed, and the most retweeted posts, most mentions and most hashtags as well as the top 50 most active users in terms of the frequency of their tweets were analyzed.FindingsThe majority of the top 50 Twitter users are more likely to be automated bots, while certain users’ posts like that are sent by President Donald Trump dominate the most retweeted posts that always associate mainstream media with fake news. The most used words and hashtags show that major news organizations are frequently referenced with a focus on CNN that is often mentioned in negative ways.Research limitations/implicationsThe research study is limited to the examination of Twitter data, while ethnographic methods like interviews or surveys are further needed to complement these findings. Though the data reported here do not prove direct effects, the implications of the research provide a vital framework for assessing and diagnosing the networked spammers and main actors that have been pivotal in shaping discourses around fake news on social media. These discourses, which are sometimes assisted by bots, can create a potential influence on audiences and their trust in mainstream media and understanding of what fake news is.Originality/valueThis paper offers results on one of the first empirical research studies on the propagation of fake news discourse on social media by shedding light on the most active Twitter users who discuss and mention the term “#fakenews” in connection to other news organizations, parties and related figures.


Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 24
Author(s):  
Muhammad Mainuddin Patwary ◽  
Mondira Bardhan ◽  
Matthew H. E. M. Browning ◽  
Asma Safia Disha ◽  
Md. Zahidul Haque ◽  
...  

Unverified information concerning COVID-19 can affect mental health. Understanding perceived trust in information sources and associated mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic is vital to ensure ongoing media coverage of the crisis does not exacerbate mental health impacts. A number of studies have been conducted in other parts of the world to determine associations between information exposure relating to COVID-19 and mental health. However, the mechanism by which trust in information sources may affect mental health is not fully explained in the developing country context. To address this issue, the present study examined associations between perceived trust in three sources of information concerning COVID-19 and anxiety/stress with the mediating effects of COVID-19 stress in Bangladesh. An online cross-sectional study was conducted with 744 Bangladeshi adults between 17 April and 1 May 2020. Perceived trust in traditional, social, and health media for COVID-19 information, demographics, frontline service status, COVID-19-related stressors, anxiety (GAD-7), and stress (PSS-4) were assessed via self-report. Linear regression tested for associations between perceived trust and mental health. Mediation analyses investigated whether COVID-19-related stressors affected perceived trust and mental health associations. In fully adjusted models, more trust in social media was associated with more anxiety (B = 0.03, CI = 0.27–0.97) and stress (B = 0.01, CI = −0.34–0.47), while more trust in traditional media was associated with more anxiety (B = 0.09, CI = 0.17–2.26) but less stress (B = −0.08, CI = −0.89–0.03). Mediation analyses showed that COVID-19-related stressors partially explained associations between perceived trust and anxiety. These findings suggest that trusting social media to provide accurate COVID-19 information may exacerbate poor mental health. These findings also indicate that trusting traditional media (i.e., television, radio, and the newspaper) may have stress-buffering effects. We recommend that responsible authorities call attention to concerns about the trustworthiness of social media as well as broadcast positive and authentic news in traditional media outcomes based on these results.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 143-149
Author(s):  
Tanu Solanki ◽  
Mousumi Karmakar ◽  
Sumit Kumar Banshal ◽  
Vivek Kumar Singh

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