Search

This paper critically explores the use of satire and humour by fast-foods outlets in South Africa and Zimbabwe to advertise and market their menu through digital media platforms, Facebook and Twitter. Using Nando's South Africa and Mambo's Chicken, in Zimbabwe, as case studies, we examine how satire and humour are used as advertising strategies, and as a reflection of these countries' economic and political environments. Consumers are overwhelmed with information coming from different sources such as Television, radio, newspapers and Internet. The paper's theoretical approach is gleaned from advertising and satire. We argue that through their encounter with food, consumers tend to understand the reason behind their 'empty stomach', and mediate on prevailing socio-political and economic issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In May 2020 at the height of Australia's first national COVID lockdown, NewsCorp Australia announced that more than 125 regional newspapers would either be closed or become available online-only. Queensland was hit hard with 22 regional and 20 community newspapers shifting to online formats, and 15 community newspapers closing. Yet within months of the NewsCorp changes, a significant number of new print newspapers were being announced to fill the 'news deserts'. Broadly welcomed by those in these local communities, the new publications suggest a reinvigoration of long-standing norms and tenets, many of which are specific to regional print news media, such as community-centred, locally-shaped news values and high reliance on 'micro-ads' (i.e. classifieds) and hyper-local business revenue. But given the dire prognostications about print business models, what are the aims and intentions of these start-ups (n = 22), and how do they translate their notions of community-centric news into business models they perceive as viable? Drawing on Hanitzsch and Vos framework for the discursive constructions of journalists' role in society, we find these newspaper start-ups both reassert and claim more vigorously the normative values associated with community journalism as 'social glue', while also developing 'lean start-up' business models that capitalise on the sense of a local newspaper's 'social good' functions through an affective rationale. We argue this represents a shift to a new 'hybrid' model, with strong elements of a traditional and still feisty monitorial news values fusing with a more 'morale-enhancing' and explicitly social cohesion-centric role conceptions. We call it a 'community cohesion model'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many new media technologies have emerged in modern society. The application of new media technologies has impacted traditional TV news media, which not only faces great challenges, but also brings some lessons for the development of TV news media. New media technology relies on powerful information processing technology and data storage technology to develop and grow continuously. Compared with traditional news, new media technology has more powerful information storage capacity and dissemination capacity. Firstly, this paper briefly introduces the concept of new media technology, summarizes the typical characteristics of new media technology, and analyzes the existing problems in the application of new media technology in the news communication industry based on the necessity of applying new media technology. Finally, some Suggestions are put forward based on this, hoping to provide some reference for the development of news communication industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The future of journalism is being shaped by the convergence of technology and societal shifts. For indigenous language press in Africa battling to stay afloat amidst stiff competition from traditional media, the pervasive and rapidly encroaching digital transformation holds both opportunities and potential threats. Using a qualitative approach, this paper examined the implication of the shift to digital media for the future of the indigenous language newspaper in Africa and identifies opportunities for its sustainability within the framework of the theories of technological determinism and alternative media. The analysis indicates poor funding, shrinking patronage, and competition from traditional and social media as the major factors facing indigenous newspapers. It emerged that for indigenous language newspapers to thrive in the rapidly changing and technology-driven world they need to not only adapt to the digital revolution but also explore a business model that combines a futuristic outlook with a practical approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the use of quotations in offline (the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal) and online (Huffington Post and Newsmax) newspapers in terms of verb objectivity and source qualification (transparency and credibility). Individual analyses showed offline papers relatively focused more on verb objectivity, whereas online papers concentrated on source qualification. On analyzing verbs and sources together, the study found better journalistic performance in online papers. While offline papers employed verb objectivity as a sole standard for desirable quotation usage, online papers utilized source qualification and verb objectivity as leverages. More transparent-credible sources outnumbered less transparent-credible sources and objective verbs outnumbered unobjective verbs in online papers, but offline papers only had more objective than unobjective verbs and ignored desirable source use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the commercialization of content in print and online newspapers in Iceland over the past decade in the context of international trends. Market forces are said to be guiding the values and priorities of editorial decisions in news media in Western countries more than ever before. Traditional revenue models have been shattered and competition for audiences and advertising has intensified, not least because of technological changes. Research indicates that media in some countries are more resistant to commercialization than others and that online newspapers may be more susceptible to market pressures than print media. This study explores the amount and prominence of hard and soft news in the main Icelandic newspapers and their online counterparts in 2005, 2009, and 2013. The findings suggest that commercialization increased considerably in online newspapers that published significantly more soft news in 2013 compared to 2005. In print newspapers, the increase in soft news coverage was significantly less during the same period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although measuring the ideal points of news media is essential for testing political communication theories based on spatial theory, prior methods of estimating ideal points of media outlets have various shortcomings, including high cost in terms of time and human resources and low applicability to different countries. We propose that unsupervised machine learning techniques for text data, specifically the combination of a text scaling method and latent topic modeling, can be applied to estimate ideal points of media outlets. We applied our proposed methods to editorial texts of ten national and regional newspapers in Japan, where prior approaches are not applicable because newspapers have never officially endorsed particular parties or candidates, and because high-quality training data for supervised learning are not available. Our two studies, one of which analyzed editorials on a single typically ideological topic while the other investigated all editorials published by the target papers in one year, confirmed the popular view of Japanese newspapers' ideological slant, which validates the effectiveness of our proposed approach. We also illustrate that our methods allow scholars to investigate which issues are closely related to the respective ideological positions of media outlets. Furthermore, we use the estimated ideal points of newspapers to show that Japanese people partially tend to read ideologically like-minded newspapers and follow such newspapers' Twitter accounts even though their slant is not explicit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competing theories have been put forward about the effect of Internet and social media use for news on political engagement. Some argue that Internet use for news reduces political engagement while others suggest that it increases political participation. Similar arguments have been advanced for the effects of social media use. This study tests both claims using representative data of over 2000 Kenyans. Bivariate results show that Internet and social media use for news has a positive relationship with political participation in Kenya. After controlling for demographic variables, political orientation variables, and traditional news use, digital media use (i.e., Internet and social media use for news) shows no significant associations with political participation in Kenya. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanical properties of molded pulp materials are the basis of the structural optimum design of molded pulp products. Therefore, the correlations between Poisson's ratio and fiber structure, molding process, and thickness were found for materials including wood pulp, bamboo pulp, sugarcane pulp, white mixed pulp, black mixed pulp, recycled corrugated board pulp, and recycled newspaper pulp by the uniaxial tensile test and digital image correlation method. The fiber structures of the selected molded pulp materials were investigated by scanning electron microscopy. The results revealed Poisson's ratios of wood pulp, bamboo pulp, sugarcane pulp, white mixed pulp, black mixed pulp, recycled corrugated board pulp, and recycled newspaper pulp to be 0.169, 0.108, 0.202, 0.120, 0.166, 0.098, and 0.044, respectively. Microstructural investigation further revealed that Poisson's ratios of molded pulp materials were related to the fiber structure and drying method. The pulp material dried outside mold under lower pressure and temperature had a smaller Poisson's ratio, while that dried inside mold under higher pressure and temperature had a larger Poisson's ratio. The layered phenomenon of the molded pulp materials was also found by scanning electron microscopy images: the outer layer was denser than the inner layer. These results can provide guidance for the numerical simulation analysis and optimal design of molded pulp products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study answers calls of previous research to analyze the content of online news, assessing differences between print and online newspapers in frequency of ‘mobilizing information’ (MI)—information aiding people to act on pre-existing attitudes. Conceptual and operational definitions of locational, identificational, and tactical MI are included. Results revealed that online newspapers did not have significantly more MI than their print counterparts. This finding counters the assumption that online newspapers have more mobilizing content than print. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanical properties of molded pulp materials are the basis of the structural optimum design of molded pulp products. Therefore, the correlations between Poisson's ratio and fiber structure, molding process, and thickness were found for materials including wood pulp, bamboo pulp, sugarcane pulp, white mixed pulp, black mixed pulp, recycled corrugated board pulp, and recycled newspaper pulp by the uniaxial tensile test and digital image correlation method. The fiber structures of the selected molded pulp materials were investigated by scanning electron microscopy. The results revealed Poisson's ratios of wood pulp, bamboo pulp, sugarcane pulp, white mixed pulp, black mixed pulp, recycled corrugated board pulp, and recycled newspaper pulp to be 0.169, 0.108, 0.202, 0.120, 0.166, 0.098, and 0.044, respectively. Microstructural investigation further revealed that Poisson's ratios of molded pulp materials were related to the fiber structure and drying method. The pulp material dried outside mold under lower pressure and temperature had a smaller Poisson's ratio, while that dried inside mold under higher pressure and temperature had a larger Poisson's ratio. The layered phenomenon of the molded pulp materials was also found by scanning electron microscopy images: the outer layer was denser than the inner layer. These results can provide guidance for the numerical simulation analysis and optimal design of molded pulp products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there is a consensus that mass media play an important role in the rise and fall of political trust in Western democracies, existing research on media use and political trust in China achieved relatively inconclusive findings. By using two surveys conducted in China in 2013 and 2018, we examine the effects of media use, including traditional media, social media, and foreign media, on Chinese citizens' trust in their central and local governments. Our research shows that traditional media usage such as watching TV and reading newspapers is positively associated with citizens' trust in the central government but is not related to their trust in local governments. Social media usage is negatively associated with trust in local governments but not with trust in the central government. Using VPNs to access foreign media is negatively associated with Chinese citizens' trust in the central government but does not affect their trust in local governments. We explain why different types of media have such contrasting effects on political trust in central versus local Chinese governments and discuss the theoretical and empirical implications of these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper theorizes a model for the representation of risks in online news media. Its practicability is demonstrated using Malaysian alternative online newspapers. Anxiety and uncertainty about a risk event are naturally rooted in discourse and count as discursive event because they appear on the discourse planes of politics and the media intensively and extensively. These discourses are pervasive on the Internet, which is used by over 20 million Malaysians. Furthermore, alternative newspapers flourish in online forms in Malaysia largely due to government press law inhibitions on mainstream print and broadcast media. The popularity of alternative online newspapers in Malaysia is also demonstrated by their ranking within the first three most visited web entities in the April 2015 Media Metrix rankings of Malaysian web entities. The model is used to provide presumptions on how risks can be spread or weakened. It also provides conjectures on how multiple semiotic resources in the composition, content and design of online news media like colour, gesture, image, layout, writing, etc can be used to amplify or attenuate risks from meanings that are conveyed using "tools shaped by cultural and social factors to mediate interests of members of social groups…" Thus, the model proposes a digital social amplification of risk communication model on the role of the news media in the representation of risks, and in negotiating socio-cognitive processes, behaviours and responses to risk events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online discussions are performed in the gaze of fellow users. To increase engagement, platforms typically let these users evaluate the comments made by others through rating systems (e.g., via Likes or Down/Up votes). Understanding how such ratings shape, and are shaped by, features of the underlying discussion is important for our understanding of online behavior. In this study, we focus on an increasingly concerning aspect of online discussions: incivility. We draw on the theory of normative social behavior to analyze a data set of over 6,000 online newspaper comments. We find that repeated incivility by the same person is more likely when their initial incivility was affirmed by both descriptive norms (incivility in nearby comments) and injunctive norms (Up votes). Repeated incivility receives more Up votes if nearby comments also include incivility but fewer Up votes if they do not, suggesting that injunctive norms are contextual and shaped by descriptive norms. We conclude that online incivility is a dynamic, normative process that is responsive to both positive feedback and proximate incivility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the print and online versions of selected Colorado newspapers by comparing the content of local and nonlocal news, sports and business in each version. Changes in the role of newspaper editors; Significance of local orientation in newspapers and its readers; Comparison of story total, location and staffing for each version.

In recent years, the news media landscape has been characterized by two distinct patterns: a decline in newspaper circulation, and a persistent degree of ideological slant in newspapers' position. We explore a possible nexus between these two phenomena by means of a model that extends some recent developments in the empirical spatial theory of voting to the reader's choice with respect to newspapers. We assume that ideological proximity to a newspaper affects the choice made by a consumer to read it. Newspapers will then compete among themselves to maximize their respective readerships by finding an optimal placement in the ideological space. However, newspapers can also decide to target readers of a specific type. As we will show, this is a crucial step to take into consideration. We empirically apply our model to the Italian case. We show that Italian newspapers appear largely to behave as theoretically expected. However, the "ideological force" behind this conclusion must be sought in newspapers' competition with respect to that subset of readers which can be identified as regular ones. This result highlights a possible mechanism driving a persistent newspaper ideological slant in time of lower newspaper circulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the distribution of advertising in newspapers in Turkey and the impact of the government on the allocation, in particular, of official announcements and of advertising by partially state-owned enterprises and private companies loyal to the ruling party, as well as pressure on other commercial advertisers, during the rule of the Justice and Development Party between 2002 and 2020. It demonstrates that the government has, in the last decade, largely used the advertising sector as a "carrot and stick" tactic to control newspapers through the distribution of official announcements and advertising by state-owned enterprises. It further finds that the state has emerged in recent years as the largest advertiser financing the "captured media," control of media ownership has proved to be not enough to ensure docile news media. Turkey has shifted to competitive authoritarianism in recent years, and this article demonstrates the selective allocation of advertising, which is a strong component of suppressing the independent media. The article uncovers the impact of government on advertising, using two data sets to show: (i) the total spend on official announcements received by each newspaper and (ii) how much advertising space in square centimeters state-owned enterprises have placed in each newspaper. Interviews with editors-in-chief of newspapers also expose the direct role of government in the distribution of advertising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Such trust must be mutual, and it must be created and fostered between teacher and students as well as between each student and his classmates. In the realm of education, the overuse of technology may be regarded as unethical, firstly, where it directly undermines student trust, and, secondly, where it has deleterious effects on the students. If a student does not respect and trust his or her teacher or professor, or if an instructor is not respectful of students, the learning environment will not be as supportive as it should be and the instructor's pedagogical strategy will not be as effective. [Extracted from the article]

Subscription fees are an increasingly prominent revenue source for news organizations, challenging advertising as the primary business model for news. But when most online news remains available for free, how do publishers convince readers to pay? We examined how the 55 most-read US newspapers frame their value proposition when they ask readers to subscribe. Using the Meyer-Allen organizational commitment framework, we analyzed the informational, social, and normative elements mentioned in 'subscribe now' webpages. Every subscription offer referred to the informational value in a regular relationship with the newspaper, yet 62 percent also mentioned affective and community-based benefits in subscription, and 33 percent evoked normative and value-based benefits. Our data show that newspaper subscriptions are often promoted as a relationship with social and normative dimensions, rather than merely an information-based transaction – with some differences in the language used by newspapers of different sizes, ownership types, US regions, and local political orientations ('red'/'blue' state). This work demonstrates the merit in analyzing promotional materials produced by news organizations to better understand both their strategies and their relationships with the communities they serve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the online news gallery as a site for new genres of multimodal news reporting, and the extent to which such galleries may be used as a method of news storytelling. News media websites are now well established and the relative ease with which multimedia can be incorporated into such websites has led us to question the extent to which galleries exploit the semiotic potential of the web to tell stories in new ways, or even to draw on long established traditions like the photo essay. We draw on two (of three) phases of data collection and analysis in this paper: an exploratory survey of a small number of galleries in established online newspapers; and an international survey of English language online newspapers, investigating the uptake of galleries and other multimedia. To tell a story, or not to tell a story: that is the question, and the answer, as online news gallery authors exploit the potential of galleries to varying degrees. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines reading behaviour in readers of printed and online newspaper media. The aim is to identify how much reading behaviour is dependent on various presentation factors, and how this dependence and its magnitude are related to output media. The work is based on review and analysis of empirical studies, primarily those employing methods using eye-tracking. The results show that some factors, such as text-based elements, size and placement, are an important guide to salience in both media. Images, on the other hand, have mostly been found not to elicit major visual attention online, affecting, for example, how ads are perceived. Reading behaviour is, however, a complicated process, and eye-tracking research does not consistently point in one direction. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

With support from government and business, artificial intelligence is growing quickly in China. However, little is known of how media use shapes the Chinese public's perception of artificial intelligence. Based on a national online survey (N = 738), this pilot study explored the linkages between media use and people's risk perception, benefit perception, and policy support of artificial intelligence. Results showed that respondents perceive artificial intelligence as more beneficial than risky. Newspaper use was negatively associated with benefit perception and policy support, whereas television and WeChat use positively predicted both. Analyses of interaction effects showed that personal relevance could partly mitigate the influence of media use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides details about the British newspaper, The Guardian under the twenty-year editorship of Alan Rushbridger, including the journalism awards it won like the British Press Awards, Pulitzer Prize for public service and Webbys. His career and the changes he brought about including the introduction of electronic version of the newspaper, launch of Club Guardian, sale of Auto Trader, investigative reporting of Edward Snowden revelations and WikiLeaks among others are touched upon.

Mort Zuckerman, property billionaire, media magnate and intellectual giant, says papers need a new business model — and customers must pay [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Picture galleries offer photojournalism an opportunity to shine. Despite the considerable technological advances of recent decades, picture galleries typically fail to realise their potential for storytelling; rather they present an incohesive series of image–caption complexes collected under a headline. Here, we offer a set of guidelines regarding the sourcing, selection and sequencing of compelling images coupled with agile writing of leads and captions that complement the kind of visual story being told. Such investment in the authoring of picture galleries creates opportunities to provide readers with an engaging and more memorable experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional newspaper journalism is in a state of crisis and there have been several attempts to overcome this. Many discourses have reiterated the triumphal march of a digital revolution in newspaper journalism and anticipated the end of the print newspaper. This moment calls for an in-depth analysis of reader habits of news consumption and use in order to understand the audiences for journalistic output and their relationship with the journalistic objects. In this study, we adopt a multi-method approach, integrating (1) qualitative content analysis of student essays dealing with the physicality of printed and online newspapers, (2) ethnographic observation of the use practices of readers and (3) expert interview. The findings show that informants perceive print and online newspapers as objects with which they have a different experience and highlight the need to develop bridging strategies combining print and digital media in order to overcome the crisis facing printed news media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 5-year case study of an established regional newspaper in Britain investigates journalists about their perceptions of convergence in digital technologies. This research is the first ethnographic longitudinal case study of a UK regional newspaper. Although conforming to some trends observed in the wider field of scholarship, the analysis adds to skepticism about any linear or directional views of innovation and adoption: the Northern Echo newspaper journalists were observed to have revised their opinions of optimum Web practices, and sometimes radically reversed policies. Technology is seen in the period as a fluid, amorphous entity. Central corporate authority appeared to diminish in the period as part of a wider reduction in formalism. Questioning functionalist notions of the market, the study suggests cause and effect models of change are often subverted by contradictory perceptions of particular actions. Meanwhile, during technological evolution, the ‘professional imagination’ can be understood as strongly reflecting the parent print culture and its routines, despite pioneering a new convergence partnership with an independent television company. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recommendations vary on sample sizes researchers should use to represent a year's worth of coverage from electronic databases. We use a keyword search to create two sampling frames of immigration news in 2009. We use LexisNexis to represent elite and regional news outlets and a keyword search of individual Arizona newspapers to represent state coverage. We examine the representativeness of themes, created and coded with IBM's Modeler program. We compare the efficiency of samples created with simple random sampling and constructed week sampling and conclude most variables are representative when sampling between 10 and 14 weeks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sports departments are among the best suited sections of a news organisation for the publishing of web-first articles, due to the urgency of reporting regular matches and news events. The decision about which platform to use first has become a major issue for media outlets. This article reports the results of a comparative analysis of 2606 articles published on the sports websites and newspapers of three Australian (The Australian, The Age and the Courier-Mail) and three UK titles (the Guardian, the Daily Telegraph and The Sun). The study found that the UK publications published more than double the number of web-first stories than the Australian ones. In-depth interviews with staff from each of the sports departments confirmed the view that Australian news organisations would prefer to protect exclusive content by holding it back for the newspaper, while two of the three UK companies pursued web-first aims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A survey of participants in message forums located within the online sites of U.S. newspapers determined that taking part in forum reading and posting helps to predict users' sense that they understand their local communities better but is not related to their actually getting out and taking part in real-world community activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores U.S. newspapers' online readership in the local market by comparing (I) "hybrid" readers who access both the print and online versions arid (2) online-only readers. Survey data gathered from twenty-eight newspaper sites show that hybrid readers outnumber online-only users by a 2-to-1 margin and use their local newspaper sites more actively. Regression analyses identify predictors of site satisfaction and user type. These findings provide new perspectives on the nature multiplatform news consumption as readers weigh related goods of news and information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A secondary data analysis of 136 U.S. online newspapers' usage reports investigates how geography differentiates online newspaper audiences. Results showed that online newspaper penetration is stronger in the local market, but the local market accounts for less than 50% of the overall traffic--suggesting that the size of the long-distance readership is larger than previously anticipated. Larger newspapers tend to attain a larger online audience (in raw numbers), but all newspapers attain a substantial portion of online traffic from outside the print market. Online or not, geography still matters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the print and television news media have begun to question the future of their industries. From newspaper executives at the New York Times who have asked whether there will be a print version of their paper in ten years, to television news executives who openly speculate on whether there will be network nightly news, the stated cause for alarm is the competitive threat of the Internet. This article looks at the hypothesized shift of news consumption from the traditional media to the online news media. The hypothesized mass migration of news consumption behavior is not supported by the facts. Some migration from offline to online news consumption has occurred, but this number (12 percent direct substitution) is less than many believe. Another 22 percent of U.S. adults have substituted some online news for offline news, but for a substantial portion of this group, the online news media acts as a complement rather than as a substitute. Most significant is the fact that two-thirds of the U.S. adult population have not shifted to online news consumption and appear unlikely to do so. The author also examined the advertising markets for the traditional news media and for the online media and found that online advertising is an imperfect substitute for advertisers. Despite declining television viewership and newspaper circulation, advertising revenues are not only staying with the traditional news media but are also increasing, albeit slowly. The author has found no major impact on the economics of the news industry due to the online news media. This is not to say that pressures are not being felt, but they are not felt to an extent that warrants predictions of the demise of the traditional news media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on the address by News Corp. founder Rupert Murdoch to the American Society of Newspaper Editors. It highlights his message concerning the need for newspaper professionals to be aware what the young consumers want. The author argues that Murdoch has failed to save the newspaper business from failing to exploit the electronic-world in which young customers live. It suggests the need for an approach focused on techniques for daily news delivery mechanisms.

Presents a legal analysis of the online news user agreements of the top U.S. daily circulation newspapers. Limitations on liability as expressed in the agreements; Liability of online news providers for inaccuracies and errors on their sites; Application of news user agreements as contracts.

Organizational scholars have studied the process of organizational transformation for decades, focusing on the impact of inertia and environmental disruptions as drivers of transformation. Building on this body of work, the present study demonstrates the importance of organizational agency in affecting long-term organizational change. The analysis focuses on 487 newspapers in the United States and looks at the adoption of hyperlinking as part of the process of transforming from print-based organizations to multimedia information providers during an 11-year period from 1997 to 2007. The results show that traditional newspapers that aggressively adopted hyperlinking practices had a decreased likelihood of failure in the long run. The findings provide insights into the important role of individual and organizational action in the transformation process and emphasize the utility of hyperlinks as a communicative tool for organizations seeking to adapt in a digital environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sponsored news is a form of native advertising that has engendered much hope as a solution for digital publishing revenue woes, but also much concern about whether the average consumer can discern its advertising nature. Recent U.S. federal guidelines and industry recommendations preach clear and conspicuous labeling of sponsored news articles, but little is known about how individual readers interpret these labels, and how their interpretation shapes their understanding of article content. The present study contributes knowledge to the former areas by presenting the results of a between-subjects experiment (N = 343) that tested the effects of four disclosure characteristics (proximity, visual prominence, wording clarity, and logo presence) on recognition of the sponsored content as advertising, and by analyzing the psychological process through which such recognition influences perceptions of the article and the sponsor. The results show that while logo presence and visual prominence increase the odds of recognition, logo presence also increases misperception of the disclosure label as a stand-alone display advertisement. Recognition of the article as advertising led to decreased perceptions of article quality, attitude toward the sponsor, and intent to share the article. A serial mediation analysis shows that the effects of recognition on attitudes and intent to share are primarily mediated through conceptual persuasion knowledge activation and perceived deceptiveness of the article. Implications of these findings for practitioners and for the application of persuasion theories to covert advertising are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on a study which examines English-language Web newspapers in Asia. Methodology of the study; Results and discussion on the study.

This article sheds light on the framing of Edward Snowden in four newspapers in three different countries. The authors analysed online editions of a major American daily (The New York Times), one prominent European newspaper (The Guardian), one mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party (The People’s Daily) and The South China Morning Post. The study seeks to explore how the role of Edward Snowden was framed and how digital whistleblowing was descripted by newspapers with different levels of Internet control, perception and culture on whistleblowing. The research is based on the framework proposed by a recent study of the framing of Bradley Manning. The results of a content analysis will present to what extent the press supported or criticized the role of Edward Snowden and his revelations. This article used four out of its five categories (‘Hero’, ‘Victim’, ‘Villain’, ‘Whistle-Blower’) plus a new addition of ‘Mole’, proposed by the authors. The findings provide evidence of the differences in the framing of Edward Snowden and the rhetoric behind reporting about whistleblowers and Internet governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the representation of past, present, and future in print and online news, while establishing a link between the temporal orientation of news stories and the constraints of the news cycle. Based on a content analysis of top news stories in the Israeli media, the study shows that a future temporal orientation is more prevalent in print media, which assume the role of projecting upcoming events, analyzing potential outcomes, and shaping collective expectations. In contrast, online news tends to assume the more commonly recognized journalistic role of informing the public on recent-past events. The discussion introduces the notion of “temporal affordances,” referring to the temporal constraints and possibilities of media technologies, which in turn can lead to distinctive content characteristics. These affordances, which connect symbolic and material dimensions, contribute to the shaping and reshaping of the functions served by divergent communication outlets in changing media landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the extent to which professional journalism adopts and uses citizen journalism, such as user-generated content (UGC) and user-submitted stories (USS), at the individual, organizational, and community levels. In doing so, the study adopts a web-based survey of top U.S. news editors (n = 142) coupled with U.S. Census Data. The study reveals that experience as online journalists and online staff size play roles in the adoption and use of UGC. The study also finds that community structural pluralism is related to the adoption and use of news stories written together by professional and citizen journalists. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study examined the joint effect of message and personality attributes on online news sharing. In two experiments (N = 270, N = 275), readers indicated their likelihood to share news representing two content domains and three informational utility dimensions. A moderated mediation path analysis was used. On average, news consumers shared news containing informational utility. Opinion leaders shared news irrespective of informational utility because they discerned informational utility in news that, objectively speaking, lacked such utility. In one experiment, opinion leaders also were more likely than nonleaders to share news perceived to contain informational utility. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Internet has radically increased the opportunity for the public to take part in debate and deliberation, challenging the hegemonic position of the established media as the facilitators of such debate. As new forums for participation have entered the market, traditional players in television, radio and the press have also transformed their services, strategically aiming to facilitate new forms of participatory services where citizens can engage in discussions. In this article we explore how the participatory trend raises important questions concerning how editorial standards and editorial control are maintained in online newspapers. Based on a mapping of the available services, surveys of newspaper executives, and in-depth interviews with online editors, we investigate attitudes and practices with regard to editorial control and its attempt to balance the new ideals of participation in the online world with maintaining the editorial standards of print media. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article investigates evolutionary trends in online news presentation and delivery in the light of convergence dynamics. The case study of Greece is an example of how convergence ideas are ‘normalised’ in the actual content due to countering forces exercised by the dominant professional culture and organisational models in the news business. The findings provide evidence that the outcomes of this new culture of high interconnectivity that come along with convergence cannot be ignored even in countries with no advanced employment of its potentialities. At the same time, questions on whether, under conditions of scarce resources and a weak journalistic culture, convergence affordances actually create spaces for a more open and inclusive journalism or are used mainly as vehicles for economic survival, smothering any other potential, are raised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the results of a study of social media uses and standards from the perspectives of online newspaper managers in Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Venezuela, Spain, and Portugal.1 Interviews with online news managers and a content analysis of journalists’ use of Facebook and Twitter accounts show that cultural, economic, and organizational factors handicap news outlets’ adoption of social media. At the same time, evidence shows that these professionals’ drive and enthusiasm for transitioning to online and using social media have made meaningful changes in the ways news is produced in the Ibero-American region. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article investigates a rapidly expanding branch of journalism innovation in online news media. The umbrella term computational exploration in journalism (CEJ), embraces the multifaceted development of algorithms, data, and social science methods in reporting and storytelling. CEJ typically involves the journalistic co-creation of quantitative news projects that transcend geographical, disciplinary, and linguistic boundaries. Drawing on extensive empirical data, this article provides a conceptual overview of the field by identifying three main pathways of computational exploration in journalism: the newsroom approach, the academic approach, and the entrepreneurial approach. Implications for changing journalistic practice are discussed, and the theorizing is summed up in a triplex proposition about changing mindset processes coming out of CEJ. The study indicates that the computational exploration not only leads to innovative uses of the technology, but also to innovative ways for journalists to think and behave; journalism innovation leads to innovation journalism. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Terms such as liquid, dynamic and fluid news have been used to illustrate and emphasize the ever-changing, user-influenced and border-crossing nature of contemporary online news. However, although often used, what such terms actually denote often remains unspecified, and no existing studies have tried to propose a way to measure and analyse the impact of liquidity’s potential on authentic online news. The three-fold purpose of this exploratory study is therefore to move towards a clearer understanding of liquid news and to propose and explore a method of empirically measuring online news’s liquidity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]