Media Systems and Political Information Resources: An Empirical Study of Focus and Frames Across Countries and News Media Outlets

Commercialization in the Icelandic Press: An analysis of hard and soft news in major print and online media in Iceland in times of change

“…Regular coverage of socially and politically relevant affairs is considered important because it helps citizens use their democratic rights and hold those in power accountable. Soft news does not cater for these needs (Aalberg et al, 2010a: 6; Nguyen, 2012). However, it is not possible to draw conclusions about the effects of content alone; therefore, it is important to study news consumption, especially during times of increasing audience fragmentation and greater participation, made possible by the Internet.…”

“…As noted above, the hard–soft division is much debated. This study concentrates on the topic of news and follows the example of Aalberg et al (2010a) where articles focusing on domestic politics and government, economy and business, and social and environmental issues are considered hard news. Foreign news about political, economic, social, and environmental issues were categorized as international affairs and defined as hard.…”

“…Although a large body of research has been accumulated in communication studies on hard and soft news, there is little consensus on how to define those concepts. Some define hard and soft news based on what is reported, while others look at how the news is reported (Aalberg et al, 2010a; Reinemann et al, 2012). Sjøvaag (2015) argues that consensus more or less pervails on the definition of hard news as comprising politics, economy, and international affairs, but that the definition of soft news and its societial relevance is more debated (for detailed discussion, see (Reinemann et al, 2012; Sjøvaag, 2015).…”