So proud of the very strong line-up of Reuters Institute papers and participants for 2017 ICA in San Diego.
Robert G. Picard (Senior Research Fellow), Sarah Ganter (Research Associate) and James Painter (who directs our fellowship program), as well as most of our research team and myself, have been at the conference, listening, learning, and presenting some of our work, including a very strong set of papers — some titles and abstracts below.
Online News Video Consumption: A Comparison of Six Countries
Antonis Kalogeropoulos (Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford)
Abstract
Online news video is becoming increasingly prominent in the websites of news organizations and social media platforms. Given that we have limited knowledge on online news video use, this study examines the consumption of online news video in six countries (Denmark, France, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom, United States), as well as how online video news use is correlated with other news behaviour patterns. Based a comparative survey of news consumption, we show that online news videos are becoming increasingly prominent in most countries. We also show that online news videos are seen both on the sites of news organisations but especially and increasingly off-site on social media like Facebook and video sharing sites like YouTube. This study is a first attempt in understanding the audience of online news videos. We argue that these findings reflect the power of social media platforms in influencing news consumption habits.
Public Service Media and News in a Digital Media Environment: A Study of Six Countries
Annika Sehl, Alessio Cornia, and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen (Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford)
Abstract
In this paper, we examine how the public service media in six European countries (Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and the United Kingdom) are delivering news in an increasingly digital media environment. We aim to explain the demonstrably large differences between how they perform in terms of audience reach (e.g. why the German PSM ARD and ZDF are considerably less able than the British BBC to effectively match their offline reach online). The study is based on interviews conducted between December 2015 and February 2016, primarily with senior managers and editors at PSM in the six countries, as well as a secondary analysis of data. We use our empirical analysis of how a broad range of European PSM are dealing with the new digital developments to advance our understanding of the relative importance of the organizational, economic, and political factors in shaping how PSM are responding to the technological changes.
Incidental Exposure to News on Social Media in Four Countries
Richard Fletcher and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen (Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford)
Abstract
People are exposed to news ‘incidentally’ if they encounter it while intending to do other things. Whilst the existence of incidental exposure to news on television has been demonstrated, the same cannot yet be said of social media. We use data from the 2015 Reuters Institute Digital News Report survey to examine incidental exposure on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube in four countries (Italy, Australia, US, UK). We find that (i) those incidentally exposed to news use more online sources, and engage with news more, than non-users (ii) the effect of incidental exposure on number of sources used is strongest on Twitter, followed by YouTube, then Facebook, and (iii) only those who intentionally use multiple networks for news use more sources, and engage more, than those incidentally exposed. Our findings suggest that the move to media environments characterized by selective exposure is accompanied by incidental exposure via social media.
Fragmentation and Duplication: A Cross-National Comparative Analysis of Cross-Platform News Audiences
Richard Fletcher and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen (Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford)
Abstract
The move to a high choice online media environment has been associated with fears of audience fragmentation, and the end of a shared public agenda and common culture. Others have challenged this thesis by demonstrating high duplication among audiences for the most popular media outlets. However, this challenge has almost always been based on data from the United States alone, and has not fully accounted for cross-platform consumption. Using data from the 2016 Reuters Institute Digital News Report from six countries (Germany, Denmark, France, Spain, UK, USA) we address these shortcomings and find (i) that incorporating significance testing reduces the amount of cross-platform news audience duplication (ii) that cross-platform news audiences vary country-to-country, with audience duplication lower in Northern and Western Europe, and although in some cases the difference is not statistically significant (iii) we find no support for the idea online news audiences are more fragmented than offline audiences.
Lack of Resources or Lack of Relevance? How and Why People Avoid News
Benjamin Toff and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen (Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford)
Abstract
In this paper, we take a grounded theory approach to examining the role that news plays—and does not play—in people’s lives. While previous work has lamented low levels of news use and knowledge of public affairs, the perspectives of those who regularly refrain from using conventional sources of information have rarely been captured. Previous surveys have shown news consumption patterns tend to be correlated with socioeconomic status, age, and education, and a range of explanations have been offered for limited news use among disadvantaged groups. These explanations include a lack of interest, efficacy, or sufficient contextual knowledge, as well as a failure of the news itself to address topics relevant to diverse populations. To better develop a coherent theory and assess attitudes toward news and journalism among those disaffected from it, we present results from in-depth interviews conducted in the United Kingdom with people in working class and disadvantaged communities. This qualitative data is supplemented by observations of group conversations, comparisons with quantitative survey data, and local news content analysis, which measures the correspondence between topics in the news and the issues and concerns raised by study participants. Questions we investigate in these data include: (1) What social function does news play even among those who typically abstain from using it? (2) How does the high choice media environment impact behavioural choices? (3) How do work rhythms and daily routines impact news use? And (4) how do attitudes toward news and the journalism profession affect tendencies to avoid news?Over the last several years, I have conducted a series of in-depth qualitative interviews with people who self-identified as “intentionally and significantly limiting media use,” people I call “media resisters.” Amongst those who specifically limit news, I’ve argued that news consumption hinders, rather than enhances, their willingness to participate in public life (Woodstock, 2013). For news resisters, diminishing their contact with news does not have the negative consequence one would assume, namely that they would be naïve and complacent about public policy and civic life. Rather, with admittedly limited time and resources, news resisters remain engaged citizens.
rasmuskleisnielsen.net 