THE MYTHOLOGICAL STATUS OF THE IMMEDIACY OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ONLINE NEWS.

Diverse types of news websites compete with one another to attract Internet users’ attention. This context raises the following questions: Do different news websites update their content on a real-time basis to attract users? What is the status of immediacy in online media? This study casts doubt on the notion that vast amounts of instantly changed news circulate among online media. This doubt asserts that the immediacy of online news is a myth because it reflects only the beliefs of researchers, journalists, and users. Further, this myth ignores the fact that institutional practices govern the news production activity of news websites. This mythological nature of immediacy has not received sufficient attention in previous research. This study tracks news websites in South Korea, a leading country in broadband penetration, to demonstrate this mythological status of immediacy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]