2013 International Conference on Social Media and Society

Jane Singer’s foundational study (2005) examining the use of blogs among political journalists in mainstream media outlets found that journalists largely sought to maintain established norms and rules within the profession, while also limiting the participatory potential of the blogging platform. The emergence of new ‘nonmarket actors’ (Benkler, 2006) utilizing low-cost communication technologies to gather, produce and disseminate information is challenging the gatekeeper role of professional journalism. The quandary for journalists and media outlets is how to negotiate the now scattered traditional and alternative information nodes in the production of news. This study will examine, through content analysis, how individual journalists and media outlets are navigating this changing market of information exchange. Heinrich’s (2011) ‘network journalism’ model will provide the framework for examining the research subjects’ behavior within the Twitter social network platform. 

Recent research has shown that journalists affiliated with "less 'elite'" or state-level media outlets were more likely to interact with other tweeters and refer to the work of other media outlets compared to those working for national mainstream media outlets (Lasora et al, 2012). This study will seek to test this finding by examining the behavior of the official Twitter accounts of the top three newsprint outlets and top five most followed journalists of these outlets within three major media markets in the state of Florida (Orlando, Tampa-St. Petersburg, and Miami-South Florida). Gathering information about how news media outlets and journalists are adapting to interactive digital media allows us to evaluate their prospective ability to respond to public needs and tap into the power of the crowd. The conference presentation will report whether Lasora et al’s finding holds true, with a specific interest in how journalists may be using Twitter to gather critical information.