Community Service

Abstract

This is the accepted version of the paper.This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Permanent repository link ABSTRACT:Armed with readily accessible online traffic logs that provide detailed information about the items users are selecting to view, editors are voicing concern about the potential effect on their own content decisions. Through a survey of local British newspaper editors, this article examines the overlap between user preferences, as suggested by assessments of website traffic, and content that editors identify as their best. Results are considered in the context of two related subsets of agenda-setting theory, as well as the sociological process of "making news." The study finds overlap between broad categories of stories preferred by editors and users, but a considerable disconnect over the nature of the items within those categories. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:The author gratefully thanks an anonymous reviewer on an AEJMC conference paper version of this manuscript for the apt "agenda overlap" suggestion, as well as the journal manuscript reviewers for their useful feedback.

Audiences, Journalists, and Forms of Capital in the Online Journalistic Field

“…However, journalists still tend to reject audience feedback even in the era of web analytics (MacGregor, 2007;Singer, 2011;Usher, 2013). This is a continuation of the pattern observed in newsrooms long before the onset of online news: journalists had ignored, if not rejected, audience feedback (Gans, 1979;Schlesinger, 1978).…”

“…This pattern of divergence in audience and journalistic preferences persists even with the onset of online news which allows a more accurate monitoring of audience metrics. In general, while journalists usually put more importance on public affairs stories, online audiences are usually more interested in soft news, such as entertainment and sports (Boczkowski, 2010;Boczkowski et al, 2011;Singer, 2011;Thorson, 2008). This divergence also manifests itself in how audiences regard lists of most viewed stories.…”

Is Anyone out There?

“…At a local/community level, particularly, in rural areas, where traditional journalism's domination of public discourse is perhaps most noticeable, citizen journalism has been discussed as a much needed complement, although not always embraced wholeheartedly by professional journalists or editors (Lewis, Kaufhold, and Lasorsa 2009). Naturally, one of the big questions in this context is connected to the possibility of bypassing traditional media's gatekeeping privilege (Bruns 2008;Gillmor 2004;Goode 2009;Singer 2011). Furthermore, citizen journalists also have democratic potential as watchdogs of the watchdogs, by providing independent media-criticism that can expose unethical or untruthful reporting in traditional media and perhaps increase traditional media's accountability to its audience and to society (Holt and von Krogh 2010).…”

If Only They Knew: Audience Expectations and Actual Sourcing Practices in Online Journalism

“…Several studies have observed a divide between audiences' and journalists' news values (Boczkowski, Mitchelstein & Walter 2011;Boczkowski & Peer 2011;Lee, Lewis & Powers 2012), while Singer (2011) observed both commonalities and differences. A study by Boczkowski and Mitchelstein (2013) found that journalists' and audience's interests are divergent by default, although this "news gap" closes during certain attention-grabbing news events, like elections.…”