Johanna Cleary

The Parity Paradox: Reader Response to Minority Newsroom Staffing

The topic of newspaper newsroom diversity has been studied in terms of staffing levels, impact of minority staffing on editorial content, and the failure of newspapers to attract minority readers. However, no studies have been conducted that compared minority staffing levels with circulation and survey data indicating minority community readership and trust in newspapers. Through a secondary analysis of data from four sources, this study finds that minority staffing levels do not correlate with increased subscriptions and trust of local newspapers by the minority residents of 25 communities. Most surprising, one finding suggests that increased minority staffing actually may have a negative effect on minority reader trust. Given these results, the authors suggest that a more complex model should be adopted for measuring the success of newsroom diversity efforts.

Gatekeeping at the Portal: An Analysis of Local Television Websites' User-Generated Content

A content analysis of 353 local television station websites found 49.6% of stations are including user-generated content (UGC), mostly designed to capture eyeballs, rather than to engage citizens in the journalistic process. The user-generated material included video (50.9%), audio (14.3%), still photos (82.3%), and other content (13.7%) including blogs, event announcements, news tips, and viewer comments. The overwhelming majority (76%) of UGC focused on weather-related events with only 17.7% classified as breaking news. Editorial guidelines focused on legalities such as terms of use and privacy policies related to accepting content, not editorial standards. Gatekeeping theory was applied to find that the local press largely retains its traditional editorial function.

Internet political discussions in the Arab world: A look at online forums from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan

This content analysis examines postings on four Internet political discussion forums based in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt. The study of Arabic-language sites concludes that the discussions cover a variety of topics and offer vibrant and complex conversations on political issues in the Arab world. Unlike in the US and European countries, the study found that social issues were not a big part of political debate in the Arab world. The study also found that discussions had varied political agendas influenced by many variables including geography, culture, history, demographics, major news events and political and economic structures. It indicated that the often one-dimensional portrayal of the Arab world in the western media is simplistic and frequently inaccurate.

Staking a Claim for Social Responsibility: An Argument for the Dual Responsibility Model

Abstract More than 50 years ago, Siebert, Peterson and Schramm (1956) penned their groundbreaking work, Four Theories of the Press, in which they articulated the ideals of social responsibility. However, the economic model for the media in the United States has changed dramatically since Four Theories was written. Consequently, there is a need for a new model that combines the high ideals and First Amendment considerations of social responsibility theory while recognizing the economic realities of todays mega-corporate environment. Social responsibility is a no less worthy goal today than it was 50 years ago; however, although the paradigm shift has occurred, the theoretical writing has not kept pace with the modern reality. This study proposes a new dual responsibility model that acknowledges the equal weight of the economic responsibility to the stakeholder, as well as the social responsibility to the audience.

Traversing the “Twittersphere”

This article examines the workflows, editorial guidelines, and managerial oversight of social media, particularly Twitter, at seven international news agencies. Through a series of in-depth interviews with news managers, social media producers, and public relations officials at Al Jazeera, CNN, Globo, Telecinco, RTVE, the US governments Office of Cuba Broadcasting, and Voice of America, the authors examined how these policies may affect the framing of news stories. Results indicated that social media resources are currently being used more for promotional and audience tracking purposes than for newsgathering, although the Office of Cuba Broadcasting departed somewhat from that model.

Promotional Practices of Cable News Networks: A Comparative Analysis of New and Traditional Spaces

In an integrated media environment where news networks seek synergistic opportunities for their parent companies, news content is increasingly susceptible to promotional influence. A comparative content analysis of new and traditional news spaces on U.S. cable television news networks Cable News Network, MSNBC, and Fox News Channel examined the video screen space and the news crawl, or “ticker,” space. Findings reveal that, proportionally, more promotional content occurs within the traditional video content space when compared to the ticker space. However, it was also shown that the ticker acts as a general branding agent for 2 of the 3 networks. Content dispersion also suggests a unique “content identity” for each news brand. The study found no evidence of “covert” promotion for synergistic gain—a positive result for news consumers.

Selling News: Behind the Content of Cable and Broadcast Morning Shows

Through content analysis of the three broadcast networks and two leading cable news channels, this studys authors (1) examine how promotional content fits into the overall lineup of the morning news shows, (2) evaluate ownership patterns as they relate to this content, and (3) examine the policy implications of news decisions related to promotional content. The study identifies clear differences in the practices of the broadcast versus cable morning news programs.

Valuing New Media Spaces: Are Cable Network News Crawls Cross-promotional Agents?

A comparative content analysis of CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC examined the extent to which the cable news networks utilize their news crawls or “tickers” for promotional purposes. Situated in economic, branding, and promotional theory, the study revealed that two out of three cable networks utilized their news tickers for some overt self-promotion, but used them infrequently as synergistic promotional tools for their parent companies, indicating journalistic integrity within this news space for the present time. The study also provides baseline information on the nature of cable news tickers.

Valuing Twitter: Organizational and individual representations at CNN International

News values—the explanation for why one story gets coverage and another does not—have interested both domestic and international journalists for decades. This study analyzes the Twitter feeds for CNN International and three of its prominent anchor/reporters for one month, comparing them for the news values employed, the focus of the stories, where they concentrated geographically, and how frequently promotional strategies were used. Frames were compared between the correspondents’ and the corporate feeds.

‘Boots on the Ground?’: How international news channels incorporate user-generated content into their YouTube presence:

Through a content analysis of 571 videos posted on the self-generated YouTube channels of five international news channels, this study examines whether user-generated content is a significant part of today’s international journalism. The study includes international news channels Al Jazeera English, France 24 English, Russia Today, CNN International, and Al Arabiya. Exploring the implications for gatekeeping theory, the study looked at how these international news channels incorporate user-generated content in their daily news coverage. Results show that the international news channels are generally not using user-generated content—both work produced by citizen journalists and various measures of ‘interactivity’—to its full potential and that user-generated content is not disruptive to the conventional application of gatekeeping theory.