Beyond “J-Tweeters”

Abstract

Based on a survey (N = 1613) directed to members of the Norwegian Journalist Association (NJ), this paper presents an extensive overview of the ways in which comparably older and newer online platforms have been incorporated into the professional lives of Norwegian journalists. While plenty of research is available that explores the uses of Twitter by journalists, the results presented here suggest that Facebook is by far the most frequently used platform throughout the journalistic process-from collecting information, distributing content and engaging with readers. Statistical analyses provide further insights into which variables appear to influence certain modes of usage across the studied platforms. Based on the results, the argument is made that the advantages of using Facebook as a platform for journalistic practices are obvious due to its popularity among the general public, but that this utilization of one platform over others also could be problematic. As Facebook continues to gain leverage towards the newspapers they host, questions of journalistic practices need to come to the fore.

News Media's Rhetoric on Facebook

“…There are good reasons for choosing Facebook as the social media under scrutiny, as it generates substantially more traffic to news media than Twitter and other social media, as mentioned above. Further, Norway is a relevant area to examine, as both Norwegian media and the Norwegian audience can be considered advanced users of social media (Larsson and Ihlebaek 2017). Finally, the national tabloid Dagbladet and the public-service broadcaster and online newspaper NRK are interesting media houses to compare because they both have major influence on Norwegian public discourse, while they represent opposite poles on the commercial and tabloid scales.…”

“…We also know that the numbers of shares, likes and comments are closely monitored by editors and to a certain extent affect editorial decisions (Dwyer andMartin 2017, Ferrer-Conill andTandoc 2018). Still, the interactive assets of Facebook do not necessarily increase the journalist-reader dialoguein fact, Larsson (2017b) found the opposite is true (see even Larsson and Ihlebaek 2017). Particularly interesting for the study at hand, Larsson (2018) found that active users were more likely to press "Like" than the alternative buttons "Angry", "Haha", "Wow", "Love" and "Sad".…”

The Human Face of Health News: A Multi-Method Analysis of Sourcing Practices in Health-Related News in Belgian Magazines

“…As a result, they can open the news gates for non-elite actors (Heinrich, 2010). Studies in different countries suggest that journalists are very optimistic about the added value of social media sourcing in terms of finding story ideas (Carrera Alvarez, De Baranda, Andujar, Herrero Curiel, & Limón Serrano, 2012;Heravi & Harrower, 2016;Larsson & Ihlebaek, 2016), broadening the source network (Carrera Alvarez et al, 2012;Larsson & Ihlebaek, 2016) and for sourcing content (Heravi & Harrower, 2016). Sixty-five percent of Dutch-speaking journalists in Belgium believe that social media can be an important information channel in the newsgathering process (Raeymaeckers et al, 2013).…”

Technology and Journalism: The Experience of Recent Graduates from Two Canadian Journalism Schools

“…Powers and Vera-Zambrano (2018) interviewed journalists in the United States and France and found that while there were some differences in how journalists in the two countries used social media, "[i]n both countries, social media are used to accomplish routine tasks: French and US journalists alike report using such tools to collect information, monitor sources, and develop story ideas" (p. 2729). Larsson and Ihlebaek (2017) surveyed Norwegian journalists on the use of a number of social media platforms. They found the journalists used Facebook the most, and social media were used primarily for traditional journalistic tasks such as gathering information and "spread[ing] content," with younger journalists more likely to use these tools (p. 699).…”