Marcus Messner

THE SOURCE CYCLE

Research has established that sources have the power to influence the news agenda of the media and that media can under certain circumstances act as sources for each other. This study examined the use of weblogs as sources in the traditional media and the use of sources in weblogs in general. A content analysis of 2059 articles over a six-year period from the New York Times and the Washington Post found that the newspapers increasingly legitimized weblogs as credible sources. A separate content analysis of 120 weblogs found that they heavily relied on the traditional media as sources. By allowing each other to influence their news agendas, there is indication that the traditional media and weblogs create what the researchers introduce and define as a news source cycle, in which news content can be passed back and forth from media to media.

On pins and needles: how vaccines are portrayed on Pinterest.

Vaccination is an effective public health tool for reducing morbidity and mortality caused by infectious diseases. However, increasing numbers of parents question the safety of vaccines or refuse to vaccinate their children outright. The Internet is playing a significant role in the growing voice of the anti-vaccination movement as a growing number of people use the Internet to obtain health information, including information about vaccines. Given the role the Internet plays in providing vaccination-related communication, coupled with limited research in this area, this study focused on the social media platform Pinterest, analyzing 800 vaccine-related pins through a quantitative content analysis. The majority of the pins were anti-vaccine, and most were original posts as opposed to repins. Concerns about vaccine safety and side effects were oft-repeated themes, as was the concept of conspiracy theory. Pro-vaccine pins elicited consistently more engagement than anti-vaccine pins. Health educators and public health organizations should be aware of these dynamics, since a successful health communication campaign should start with an understanding of what and how publics communicate about the topic at hand.

Study shows some blogs affect traditional news media agendas

This study, which explored the source interaction between elite traditional news media and political filter blogs, found traditional news media frequently cite blogs in their coverage, but the source attribution to the blogs is often vague.

From #mcdonaldsfail to #dominossucks: : An analysis of Instagram images about the 10 largest fast food companies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the crisis information posted by publics on the social media platform Instagram about leading fast food companies as well as the responses by the companies and their general use of Instagram. Design/methodology/approach – In two quantitative content analyses, 711 Instagram posts were identified in a two-week constructed time period that related to the ten largest fast food chains in the world. Findings – It was found that negative content about these companies is posted by customers and employees alike and that the negative tonality primarily stems from issues with service and the work environment. The study also showed that the companies are just starting to discover Instagram and have very little engagement with users. None of the companies responded to the negative posts of customers and employees. Research limitations/implications – The analysis only evaluated posts with negative hashtags about ten fast food companies. Future research should expand the...

Wikipedia versus Encyclopedia Britannica: A Longitudinal Analysis to Identify the Impact of Social Media on the Standards of Knowledge

The collaboratively edited online encyclopedia Wikipedia is among the most popular websites in the world. Subsequently, it poses a great challenge to traditional encyclopedias, which for centuries have set the standards of societys knowledge with their printed editions. It is, therefore, important to study the impact of social media on the standards of our knowledge. This longitudinal panel study analyzed the framing of content in encyclopedia entries of top Fortune companies in Wikipedia and the online version of Encyclopedia Britannica in 2006, 2008, and 2010. Content analyses of the length, tonality, and topics of 3,985 sentences showed that Wikipedia entries were significantly longer, were more positively and negatively framed, and focused more on corporate social responsibilities and legal and ethical issues than the online entries of the traditional encyclopedia, which were predominantly neutral. The findings stress that the knowledge-generation processes in society appear to be fundamentally shifting because of the use of social media collaboration. These changes significantly impact which information becomes available to society and how it is framed.

140 Characters for Better Health: An Exploration of the Twitter Engagement of Leading Nonprofit Organizations

The nonprofit sector is one of the fastest growing in the U.S. economy. Making up roughly 10% of the overall economy, it employs 13 million people and generates annual revenues of

Journalism's ‘Dirty Data’ below Researchers' Radar

300 billion (Kanter & Fine, 2010). Nonprofit organizations play an important role in nearly every aspect of American society, especially in the health sector which, until recently, there was a lack of universal access to healthcare (Forbes, 2011). Due to their great impact on public life, it is essential for nonprofits to communicate effectively with their public and develop new media strategies for their public relations practice. The emergence of social media platforms such as Twitter allows nonprofits to directly engage with their audiences and build communities around their causes (Kanter & Fine, 2010).

Read All About It: The Politicization of “Fake News” on Twitter:

This study reviews the uses of and problems with databases used in reporting, including errors and the lack of effort to repair them. Scholars and professionals, despite the serious ramifications, pay little attention to the problems.

Framing and visual type: Effect on future Zika vaccine uptake intent

Due to the importance of word choice in political discourse, this study explored the use of the term “fake news.” Using a social network analysis, content analysis, and cluster analysis, political characteristics of online networks that formed around discussions of “fake news” were examined. This study found that “fake news” is a politicized term where conversations overshadowed logical and important discussions of the term. Findings also revealed that social media users from opposing political parties communicate in homophilous environments and use “fake news” to disparage the opposition and condemn real information disseminated by the opposition party members.

Welcome or Not: Comparing #Refugee Posts on Instagram and Pinterest:

Introduction The Zika virus is associated with the birth defect microcephaly, and while a vaccine was not available in early- 2017, several were under development. This study’s purpose was to identify effective communication strategies to promote uptake of a new vaccine, particularly among women of reproductive age. Design and methods In order to study the effects of Zika message framing (gain vs. loss) and visual type (photo vs. infographic) on future Zika vaccine uptake intent, a 2×2 between-subjects experiment was performed via an online survey in 2017 among 339 U.S. women of reproductive age (18-49 years). Participants were exposed to one of four messages, all resembling Instagram posts: gain-framed vs. loss-framed infographic, and gain-framed vs. loss-framed photo. These messages were followed by questions about Zika vaccine uptake intent as well as intermediate psychosocial variables that could lead to intent. Results There was no interaction between framing and visual type (P=0.116), and there was no effect for framing (P=0.185) or visual type (P=0.724) on future Zika vaccine uptake intent, which is likely indicative of insufficient dosage of the intervention. However, when focusing on intermediate psychosocial constructs that are known to influence behavior and intent, gain-framed messages were more effective in increasing subjective norms (P=0.005) as related to a future Zika vaccine, as well as perceived benefits (P=0.016) and self-efficacy (P=0.032). Conclusions Gain-framed messages seem to be more effective than loss-framed messages to increase several constructs that could, in turn, affect future Zika vaccine uptake intent. This is a novel finding since, traditionally, loss-framed messages are considered more beneficial in promoting vaccine-related health behaviors. Significance for public health The study described in this paper is significant for the field of public health for several reasons: It takes a proactive approach in studying messaging focused on the Zika vaccine before that vaccine is available, allowing for quick implementation of its limited results. In addition, this study centers on messaging in the form of realistic images consistent with those that could be posted on Instagram, thereby focusing on a relatively new yet immensely popular communications platform that few are focusing on presently.