Investing in Online Video News A cross-national analysis of news organizations’ enterprising approach to digital media

Research on news organizations’ approach to digital media in the 1990s and 2000s generally found that most organizations adopted a defensive approach. Since then, both digital media and news organizations have continued to develop, and we cannot simply assume that the approach remains the same. In this paper, we analyse how a purposive sample of 19 news organizations across three different countries approach online video news—chosen as a paradigmatic example of the current move towards a more mobile, platform-dominated, and video-enabled digital media environment. On the basis of semi-structured interviews with senior people across the sample, we argue that most news organizations today adopt a far more enterprising approach to digital media than that found in the 1990s and 2000s, and invest in what they see as promising opportunities in an uncertain environment. We find that decisions to invest in online video news are shaped primarily by a perception of what audiences want, what platforms like Facebook and Google/YouTube prioritize, and the prospect of lucrative video advertising. Editorial considerations seem marginal. The enterprising approach and the considerations behind it are broadly similar across the organizations and countries covered, with exceptions (some broadcasters and German news organizations)

Comparing the platformization of news media systems: a cross-country analysis

Platformization has been used to describe how platforms such as Facebook, Google, Twitter, WhatsApp and TikTok have become increasingly important for how people communicate and access information, including news. But to what extent have news media systems in different countries become platformized? Using online survey data from 46 countries, we show that: (a) although over 90% of internet users use at least one social platform, there are large country differences in the proportion that use them to access news; and (b) large country difference in the proportion that still go directly to news websites and apps. Furthermore, we find (c) that country differences at least partly reflect path dependency, more specifically the historic strength of the newspaper market leading to lower levels of news platformization and continued high levels of direct access. These findings show how platformization varies in different parts of the world, provide a framework for capturing how it changes over time, and highlight the potential benefits of bringing together platform studies and comparative media systems research

News Can Help! The Impact of News Media and Digital Platforms on Awareness of and Belief in Misinformation

Does the news media exacerbate or reduce misinformation problems? Although some news media deliberately try to counter misinformation, it has been suggested that they might also inadvertently, and sometimes purposefully, amplify it. We conducted a two-wave panel survey in Brazil, India, and the UK ( N = 4732) to investigate the effect of news and digital platform use on awareness of and belief in COVID-19 misinformation over time (January to February 2022). We find little support for the idea that the news exacerbates misinformation problems. News use broadened people's awareness of false claims but did not increase belief in false claims—in some cases, news use actually weakened false belief acquisition, depending on access mode (online or offline) and outlet type. In line with previous research, we also find that news use strengthens political knowledge gain over time, again depending on outlets used. The effect of digital platforms was inconsistent across countries, and in most cases not significant—though some, like Twitter, were associated with positive outcomes while others were associated with negative outcomes. Overall, our findings challenge the notion that news media, by reporting on false and misleading claims, ultimately leave the public more misinformed, and support the idea that news helps people become more informed and, in some cases, more resilient to misinformation

The role of news media knowledge for how people use social media for news in five countries

Concern over misinformation on social media has amplified calls to improve the public’s knowledge about how news is produced, distributed and financed. This study investigates the relationship between people’s news media knowledge and the ways in which they use social media for news using online survey data in five countries: the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, Spain and Sweden ( N = 10,595). We find that people with higher news media knowledge are more likely to include social media in their news repertoire – but not as their main or only source of news. Second, we find that news media knowledge is positively associated with paying attention to source and editorial cues. When it comes to different social endorsement cues, news media knowledge is positively associated with paying attention to the person who shared the news, but negatively associated with paying attention to the number of likes, comments and shares

‘I’m unable to’: how generative AI chatbots respond when asked for the latest news

We test how well ChatGPT and Bard (now Gemini) provide the latest news to users who ask for the top five headlines from specific outlets. Based on analysis of 4,500 headline requests (in 900 outputs) in January/February 2024, we find that (i) ChatGPT returned non-news output 52–54% of the time (an ‘I’m unable to’ message), while Bard did this 95% of the time. (ii) For ChatGPT, just 8–10% of requests returned headlines referring to top stories on the outlet’s homepage, and (iii) 30% returned headlines that referred to real, existing stories that were not among the top stories. (iv) 3% of ChatGPT outputs contained headlines that referred to real stories that could only be found on the website of a different outlet and 3% were so vague and ambiguous that they could not be matched to existing stories – both of which could be considered a form of hallucination

News can help! The impact of news media and digital platforms on awareness of and belief in misinformation

Does the news media exacerbate or reduce misinformation problems? Although some news media deliberately try to counter misinformation, it has been suggested that they might also inadvertently, and sometimes purposefully, amplify it. We conducted a two-wave panel survey in Brazil, India, and the UK (N = 4732) to investigate the effect of news and digital platform use on awareness of and belief in COVID-19 misinformation over time (January to February 2022). We find little support for the idea that the news exacerbates misinformation problems. News use broadened people's awareness of false claims but did not increase belief in false claims—in some cases, news use actually weakened false belief acquisition, depending on access mode (online or offline) and outlet type. In line with previous research, we also find that news use strengthens political knowledge gain over time, again depending on outlets used. The effect of digital platforms was inconsistent across countries, and in most cases not significant—though some, like Twitter, were associated with positive outcomes while others were associated with negative outcomes. Overall, our findings challenge the notion that news media, by reporting on false and misleading claims, ultimately leave the public more misinformed, and support the idea that news helps people become more informed and, in some cases, more resilient to misinformation

AS PESSOAS CURTEM OS POLÍTICOS NO FACEBOOK? NÃO MESMO! A COMUNICAÇÃO DIRETA EM LARGA ESCALA ENTRE CANDIDATOS E ELEITORES COMO UM FENÔMENO OUTLIER

A popularidade online de alguns poucos candidatos tem levado muitos analistas a sugerir que as mídias sociais têm dado aos políticos novas e poderosas formas de se comunicar diretamente com os eleitores. Examinando se isso está acontecendo em uma escala significativa com base na análise de 224 candidatos dos maiores partidos concorrendo em distritos competitivos para a Câmara dos Deputados dos Estados Unidos durante as eleições parlamentares de 2010, descobrimos que a maioria dos políticos online é, de fato, largamente ignorada pelo eleitorado. A atenção dada pelos cidadãos aos candidatos online se aproxima das distribuições de lei de potência, com alguns candidatos obtendo muitos seguidores e a maioria definhando na obscuridade. Como a comunicação direta online em larga escala entre os políticos e as pessoas comuns nestas plataformas é um fenômeno raro e outlier - mesmo no caso de campanhas eleitorais altamente competitivas e com candidatos com amplo acesso a recursos financeiros – sugerimos, neste texto, que as implicações políticas mais relevantes das mídias sociais assumem a forma de (a) novos fóruns para comunicação indireta sobre política e (b) mudanças institucionais nos processos de comunicação política