AudienceGatekeepingViaSocialMedia
by
RebeccaChavers
AthesissubmittedtotheGraduateFacultyofAuburnUniversity
inpartialfulfillmentoftherequirementsfortheDegreeofMasterofArts
Auburn,AlabamaAugust6,2016
Keywords:NetworkGatekeepingTheory,networkedgatekeeping,gatekeeping,socialmedia,news,media
Copyright2016byRebeccaPaigeChavers
Approvedby
LaurenSmith,Chair,CommunicationandJournalismJohnCarvalho,CommunicationandJournalism
MatthewZimmerman,CommunicationandJournalism
ii
Abstract
Usingnetworkedgatekeepingtheory,thisstudyanalyzeshowsocialmediais
beingintegratedintomorningnewsprogramming,allowingaudiencemembersan
opportunitytoplayaroleinthegatekeepingprocess.Traditionalgatekeeping,along
withtheshifttonetworkedgatekeeping,thelevelsofgatekeeping,andgatekeeping
throughsocialmediaisdiscussed.Acontentanalysisofmorningnewsprogramming
foundlowerlevelsofsocialmediaintegrationthanpredictedandmorediscussions
ofspecificpoststhananyothertypesofsocialmediareferences.Socialmedia
referenceswerealsomorespecifictocertaintypesofnewssegments.Implications
forthefutureofnetworkedgatekeepingaswellasfutureresearcharealso
discussed.
iii
Acknowledgements
Iwouldliketodedicatemyworktomygreat-grandmother,Leopoldine
“Paula”Baxter,whopassedawayasIwasbeginningthisstudy.Hersupportand
encouragementhavealwaysbeenthedrivingforcebehindmysuccessinlife.Her
generosityandselflessnessaresomethingthatIstrivetoachieveeveryday.Iwould
alsoliketothankmyfuturehusband,PatrickJohnston,foralwayssupportingmy
dreamsandforalwaysgivingmetheextrapushtomakeitthrougheverysituation.
YouarethereasonIsurvivedgraduateschoolandmymotivationtoalwaysworka
littleharder.Likewise,Iwouldliketothankmymomforalwayspushingmeand
remindingmethatIcanalwaysdobetter.BecauseofyouIknowthatmy
achievementhasnolimitsandthattheonlypersonIhavetocompetewithinlifeis
myself.Lastly,Iwouldliketothankalloftheprofessorswhohaveprovided
inspiration,encouragement,andguidancethroughoutmyacademicjourney.Iwould
specificallyliketothankDr.Carvalho,Dr.Disbrow,Dr.Saunders,Dr.Smith,andDr.
Zimmermanfortheirguidanceinmystudiesandinlife.
iv
TableofContents
Abstract..........................................................................ii
Acknowledgements...............................................................iii
Chapter1:Introduction............................................................1
Chapter2:LiteratureReview......................................................3
NetworkedGatekeeping....................................................5
GatekeepingLevels........................................................7
SocialMedia&NGT.......................................................10
SocialMediaasNews.....................................................11
MorningNewsProgramming.............................................13
Chapter3:Method...............................................................16
Chapter4:Results...............................................................20
Chapter5:Discussion............................................................22
Chapter6:FutureResearch&Limitations........................................30
Tables..........................................................................31
References......................................................................37
1
Chapter1:Introduction
Astechnologyadvances,computer-mediatedcommunicationisbecoming
increasinglypervasiveinsocietyandwemust,inresponse,analyzetheuseofmedia
inanetworkedsociety(Barzilai-Nahon,2004).Althoughtraditionalmediasuchas
newspapers,magazines,andtelevisionstillexist,theyarerapidlybeingtakenover
bytheInternetandmorespecifically,socialmedia.Eventhoughmanystillfind
traditionalformsofmediauseful,itisundeniablethatwehavebecomeanInternet-
dependentsociety,constantlyusingoursmartphones,laptops,andtabletstostay
connected(Courtois&D’heer,2012).Newspapersandtelevisionwerepreviously
primarysourcesforbreakingnews,butthespeedofInternetcommunicationis
leadingconsumerstoturntoitforcurrentinformation.Althoughitisunlikelythat
theInternetwilleverfullyreplacetelevision,bothproducersandviewersare
turningtosocialmediatocomplementtheviewingexperience(Hunt,2014).
Withbetween60and70%ofpeopleusingasecondscreendevicewhile
watchingtelevision,socialmediaisbecominganinevitablecomponentoftelevision
viewing,evennews(Prolux&Shepatin,2012).Socialmediaisbeingused
simultaneouslywithlivetelevisionprogramming,transforming“televisionintoan
activemedium”byaddingasocialcomponent(Buschow,Schneider,&Ueberheide,
2014).Usingsocialmediaasasecondscreen,viewerscanexpresstheiropinionon
televisionandnewscontentinrealtime(Cameron&Geidner,2014).Informationis
bothreleasedandfoundthroughsocialmedia,becominganunavoidablefactorfor
othernewsmedialiketelevision.Often,majornewsoutletshavemovedtoward
releasingbreakingnewsonsiteslikeTwitterinordertodisseminateinformation
2
morequickly.Televisionnewsreportersmayevenlooktosocialmediaforinsight
intonewsworthysituations,updatesoncurrentcrises,andviewerinsighton
currentevents(Moon&Hadley,2014).
Thisstudywillfocusontheuseofsocialmediaduringmorningtelevision
newsprograming,specificallyTodayandGoodMorningAmerica(GMA).Popular
morningtelevisionnewsprogramsusereferencestosocialmediaandsocialmedia
postsinanefforttokeepviewersengagedandencourageinteractionwithviewers
(Hunt,2014;Xu&Feng,2014).Byexaminingwhattypesofnewssegments
referencesocialmedia,whattypesofsocialmediacontentarediscussed,andthe
toneofsocialmediacontentused,thisstudyaimstoanalyzehowusers’socialmedia
postsarebeingintegratedintomorningtelevisionnewsprogramcontent(Buschow,
Schneider,&Ueberheide,2014).ThroughtheuseofNetworkGatekeepingTheory
(Barzilai-Nahon,2004;Barzilai-Nahon&Neumann,2005;Barzilai-Nahon,2008;
Coddington&Holton,2014;Meraz&Papacharissi,2013;Riffe,Ellis,Rogers,Van
Ommeren,&Woodman,1986;Shoemaker,Eichholz,Kim,&Wrigley,2001)this
studywillanalyzehowtheaudiencebecomesapartinthegatekeepingprocessby
participatinginsocialmediaconversationsthatarefeaturedanddiscussedon
morningtelevisionnewsprograming.
3
Chapter2:LiteratureReview
Gatekeepinghasdevelopedthroughtheyearsinthefieldofcommunication,
whereitisreferredtoasaselectionprocess(Barzilai-Nahon&Neumann,2005).
TheoriginalconceptofgatekeepingwasdevelopedbyKurtLewin(1947;1951)and
wasonlyconsideredtoapplytotraditionalmedia,butovertheyearstheconcept
hasevolvedandadaptedtoaccountfornewmedia.StudiessuchasthoseofLewin
(1947;1951),White(1950),andBreed(1955)provideafoundationfor
understandingtheselectionprocessofnewsandfactorsthatmayinfluencethis
selection.
Mediasociologyresearchhasprovidedanexplanationofthefactors
influencingtheconstructionofnewswithasocialandoccupationalsetting(Reese&
Ballinger,2001).Lewin(1947)firstpointedoutthatallnewswasdependentonthe
pointsthroughwhichitistravellingwithinallchannelsthatfunctionas“gates”
(Lewin,1947;1951).Thesegatesarecontrolledby“gatekeepers”thatdetermine
whichinformationgets“in”and“out.”Beforeanewsstoryisreleaseditgoes
throughvariousphasesofselectionanddiscarding,tofilterthroughinformationto
bereleased(White,1950).Afterthelongprocess,thefinalproductultimatelycomes
downtooneperson,one“gatekeeper,”whowilldeterminewhichnewsstorieswill
makeupboththefrontandproceedingpages(White,1950).
Scholarshavenotedrecentchangeswithinnewsorganizationswithrespect
tosocialmedia,bothwithmaintainingtheirownsocialmediapresenceand
incorporatingsocialmediaintonewsdissemination(e.g.Lasorsa,Lewis,&Holton,
2011;Lee&Ma,2012;Paulussen&Harder,2014;Thelwall,2008).Theoriginal
4
notionsofgatekeepingtheoryputeditorialautonomyattheforefront,with
journalistsneedingtoprotecttheirworkfromthegovernment,advertisers,and
audiences(Shoemaker&Voss,2009).Withtheintegrationofsocialmediaintonews
practices,journalistsarenowcontendingwithaninfluenceoftheaudienceonthe
constructionofnews(Tandoc&Vos,2015),leadingtoimplicationsonthelink
betweenroleandbehavior(seeDonsbach,2008;Shoemaker&Reese,2014).Media
sociologyresearchfocusedongatekeepingtheoryhasidentifiedcrowdsourcing(e.g.
Poell&Borra,2012),audiencemembersdisseminatingcontent(Thorson,2008),
andaudiencestailoringcontent(Tandoc&Vos,2015)asthemainpatternsof
audiencesbecomingpartofthenewsprocess,forcingjournaliststoadaptoldand
accommodatenewroutines.
Themedialandscapehaschangedsignificantlyovertheyears,evolvingand
becominglargerandmorecomplex.Mediahavetransformedfrombasic
newspapersandtelevisionintoelectronicnewspapersaccessibleallovertheworld
andhundredsoftelevisionchannelsofferingavarietyofcontent.Withthe
expansionofmediaalsocomemoreoptionsandthereforeaneedformore
competitivenewspackagesforeverynewsoutlet.Theneedtofillnewsholesand
theintensityofcompetitionhavemovednewscontentawayfromthetraditional
idealofobjectivity(Edgerly,2015;Shoemaker&Reese,1996).Thesheervolumeof
mediaexposurecallsforadrasticchangeingatekeepingrolestoselectnewsto
enticealargernumberofaudiencemembers.Overtheyearsgatekeepinghasalso
evolvedtotakeintoaccountthenetworkednatureofoursociety.
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NetworkedGatekeeping
NetworkGatekeepingTheory(NGT)(Barzilai-Nahon,2004)wasdeveloped
toadapttheconceptsofgatekeepingandgatekeeperstoanetworkedsociety
(Barzilai-Nahon,2005).Alsoknownasnetworkedgatekeeping(Meraz&
Papacharissi,2013),NGToccurswhenthemajorityworktogether,notnecessarily
intentionally,becomingthegatekeeperofaparticularoutletbycollectivelydeciding
andfilteringwhatinformationgetsthroughandwhatdoesnot(Barzilai-Nahon,
2008).Theconceptofnetworkgatekeepingcanbedefinedas“theprocessthrough
whichactorsarecrowdsourcedtoprominencethroughtheuseofconversational,
socialpracticesthatsymbioticallyconnecteliteandcrowdinthedeterminationof
informationrelevancy”(Meraz&Papacharissi,2013,pp.21).Thismeansthatany
individualorgroup,workingseparatelyortogether,regardlessoftheirstatusor
credibility,caninfluencewhatinformationisrelevantandplayaroleindetermining
whoandwhatrisestoprominenceinanetworkedsociety.
Althoughtheconceptsofgatekeepingweresimplyadaptedfornewmedia,
thereareimportantdifferencesbetweenthetraditionalconceptofgatekeepingand
networkgatekeeping.Inthecaseofnetworks,gatekeepingshouldbethoughtofas
“atypeofcontrolexercisedoninformationasitmovesinandoutofvirtualgates”
(Barzilai-Nahon&Neumann,2005,pp.7).Unlikebefore,informationisnowmoving
inandoutofvirtualgatesratherthandirectlyflowinginonedirectionfrommedia
toaudience.Themany-to-manymodelofcommunicationthathasdevelopedasa
resultofthedevelopmentsintechnologyandcomputer-mediatedcommunication
hasalsochangedthemodelofgatekeeping(Coddington&Holton,2014).Themost
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significantdifferenceingatekeepingwithinanetworkisthattherolesof
gatekeepersandthegatedarerepeatedlyexchanged,eliminatingthetraditional
sender-receiverrelationship(Barzilai-Nahon&Neumann,2005).Thegatedis
anothertermfortheaudience,orthosetowhomthemessagewasintended.
Traditionalgatekeepingindicatedthatthegatedhavenocontrol,butNGTsaysthat
boththegatekeeperandthegatedcanhavepowerovertheflowofinformation
(Barzilai-Nahon,2008).NetworkGatekeepingTheoryacknowledgesthesignificance
ofthegatedinacontinuallynegotiatedrelationshipbecause,withinthenetwork
context,theaudiencecannowproduceanddisseminateinformationaswell
(Coddington&Holton,2014).
NetworkGatekeepingTheory(Barzilai-Nahon,2004)wasdevelopedasa
lensthroughwhichwemayexaminepowerrelationsontheInternet,inorderto
conceptualize“thedistributionofinformationandprocessesofinformationcontrol”
(Barzilai-Nahon,2004,p.1).Themodificationofgatekeepingtoaccommodatea
networkedsocietyhasenabledresearcherstoanalyzeandbetterunderstandthe
flowofinformationontheInternet,sociallyandtechnically(Barzilai-Nahon,2008).
NetworkGatekeepingpresentsamodelthatisapplicablebeyondtherelatively
narroweditorialgatekeepingconceptofmasscommunicationresearch(Coddington
&Holton,2010).Thisallowstheimpactofordinaryuserstobemeasuredjustasthe
agendasettingaffectsofjournalistscanbemeasured(Meraz&Papacharissi,2013).
WithintheInternet,thecrowdsourcingofinformationleadstothesending,
receiving,andremixingofinformationrenderinganetworkedflowofinformation
andactivity(Meraz&Papacharissi,2013).Althoughtheremaybedifferent
7
designatedgatekeepersfordifferentoutletsandmediaultimatelytheir
collaborativedecisionswillhavethegreatestimpactontheaudience(Riffeet.al.,
1986).Networkgatekeepinghasalsochangedthewaythatprominenceisachieved;
elitestatusnowemergesbasedonpopularitythatisdeterminedbythecrowd
(Meraz&Papacharissi,2013).AneedforpoweroutsideoftheInternetisnot
necessaryforanindividualortheirmessagetorisetoprominencewithina
networkedsociety.
GatekeepingLevels
Themanylevelsofnetworkgatekeepingprovideinsightintotheselection
processfornews.Newsgoesthroughmanypeople,orgatekeepers,beforeitis
publishedoraired.Gatekeepersaretheforcesthateitherfacilitateorconstrain
itemsastheyattempttopassthroughthegatekeepingprocess(Shoemaker,
Eichholz,Kim,&Wrigley,2001).Inthesimplestformofnetworkgatekeeping,
informationisfirstprovidedbythenewssource,thenitisgiventothereporter,and
thenaneditoramendscontentbeforeitisreleased,passingthroughmany
gatekeepersbeforereachingthegeneralpublic(Applegate,2008).Network
gatekeepinginvolvesmanyindividualsrevisingandrecirculatinginformationtothe
public.Therearemanylevelsofnetworkgatekeepingthatinfluencetheselectionof
informationinthegatekeepingprocess,includingindividualforces,routines,
organizationalandinstitutionalinfluences,andtheaudience(Barzilai-Nahon&
Neumann,2005;Shoemaker,1996;Shoemakeret.al.,2001).White(1950)and
Breed(1955)pioneeredtheideasofgatekeepinglevelsbyestablishingtwodifferent
influencesthataffectthenewsselection,orgatekeeping,process.Bycallingnews
8
productionintoquestion,newsmovesfrombeingamanufacturedproducttobeing
acarefullyconstructed,systematicproductdevelopedbyacommunicatoror
“gatekeeper”(Reese&Ballinger,2001).
Individual
Thefirstlevelorfactorthatinfluencesnetworkgatekeepingistheindividual
fromwhichthecontentorinformationoriginates.Journalists,oranyproducersof
information,mayselectinformationthatpromotestheirownviewsandisthus
biasedinsomeway,thereforebecomingthefirstfilterinachainofgatekeeping
agents(Applegate,2008).Bystudyingcommentsofawireeditoronrejectedstories,
White(1950)wasabletodeterminethatgatekeepingisasubjectiveprocessthat
requiresvaluejudgment.Theindividuallevelofgatekeepingisimportantto
examinebecausemanybelievethatjournalistbiasoccursatthislevelbasedonthe
journalist’sattitudes,values,andbeliefs(Cassidy,2006).Theindividual’sreasons
forselectingcertaininformationarelikelytobeinfluencedbytheirownpreferences
amongotherthings.Previousstudiesofgatekeepingstatethatgatekeepers
primarilyrejectinformationforthreereasons:personalfeelings,insufficientspace,
andwhetherthestoryhasappearedbefore(Barzilai-Nahon&Neumann,2005).
Whilefactorslikespaceandrepetitivecoveragealsohaveinfluence,personal
attitudesandbeliefsaretypicallythefocusoftheindividuallevelofgatekeeping.
Routines
Routines,thenextlevelofthegatekeepingprocess,canbedefinedas
“patterned,routinized,andrepeatedpracticesandformsthatmediaworkersuseto
dotheirjobs”(Shoemaker&Reese,1996,pp.105).Therepetitiveprocessreporters
9
andjournalistsfollowoftenhasinfluenceoverthenewsandinformationselected
fordissemination(Cassidy,2006).Amongthemanyroutinesthatjournalistsare
programmedtofollow,thepatternofcomposinganewspackageisoneofthemost
prominent.Breed(1955)examinedhownewsreportersbegantomakedecisions
aboutthenewstheywerereportingbasedonpreviousandanticipatedcomments
byeditors.Thisstudyconcludedthateditorsmakecommentsandadjustmentsthat
intentionallyteachreportershowtoconstructanidealnewspackage,thus
developingaroutineforthemtofollowwhenselectingnews(Breed,1955).News
selectionisoftenaresultofgatekeepersmakingdecisionsbasedontheirmental
imageofthe“ideal”newspackage(Riffeet.al.,1986).Certainvaluesarerequiredof
eventstobenewsworthy:conflict,progressordisaster,consequence,eminenceor
prominence,novelty,timelinessorproximity,andsex.Thesevaluesmakeanevent
newsworthybecausetheyinterruptthestatusquoorappealtoreaders,andthe
idealmixofthemcomposesanattractivenewspackage(Applegate,2008).Ofallthe
levelsofgatekeeping,researchershaveconcludedthatroutineforcesarebetter
predictorsofwhatwillbecomenewsthanotherfactors(Shoemakeret.al.,2001).
Organizational&Institutional
Somelargerlevelsofnetworkgatekeepingincludeboththeorganizational
andinstitutionallevels.Theorganizationallevelreferstointernalfactorsofan
organizationalongwithagroup’sdecision-makingpatterns(Bantz,1990),whilethe
institutionallevelfocusesoncharacteristicssuchasmarketforcesandpolitical
alliances(Donohue,Olien,&Tichenor,1989).Theselevelsarebasicallycontrolled
bythevaluesandgoalsoftheorganizationcoupledwiththoseofoutside
10
stakeholders.Advertisersmaydemandtoprovidemoneyonlyifcertainstoriesare
oraren’taired(Applegate,2008).Largemediaoutletsstillruletheagendaof
worldwidenewsandlocalmediaoutletsarestilllargelydrivenorpredisposedto
theagendaofmajornewsoutlets(Bui,2010).Manyoutletsmaydisseminate
information,butthefewlargemediaconglomeratesandtheiradvertisershavea
significantimpactontheselectionofinformation.
Audience
Theaudiencethatinformationistargetedatisanotherlevelofnetwork
gatekeeping.Gramsci(1971)calledthislevelthesocialsystemlevelbecauseit
encompassestheimpactofideologyandcultureongatekeeping.Becauseideology
andculturearereflectedinthepopulation,theaudienceisthesocialsystem.
DiakopoulosandZubiaga(2014)pointoutthatastrongsocialpresencebynews
publisherswillallowthemtoengagethecommunityandrecruitreadersasnetwork
gatekeeperswhowillfurtherpromoteandsharetheirnews.User-to-user
communicationthatrecirculatesinformationisconsideredanimportantpartofthis
stepofthegatekeepingprocess(Kwonet.al.,2012).Withnewmediaadvances,
journalistsandreportersareselectinginformationbasedonitslikelihoodtobe
“retweeted”andre-circulatedontheInternetbytheiraudience,primarilythrough
socialmediasites(MoonandHadley,2014).
SocialMedia&NGT
AccordingtoNetworkGatekeepingTheory,everysocialmediauserisa
gatekeeperwiththeauthoritytodecidewhichinformationtheywillshare
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(Diakopoulos&Zubiaga,2014).ManyresearchershaveanalyzedTwitterasan
audiencegatekeepingchannel(Coddington&Holton,2014;Diakopoulos&Zubiaga,
2014;Greer&Furguson,2011;Hermida,2015;Kwonet.al.,2012;e.g.).Socialmedia
allowsallaudiencememberstofilterinformationbysharingandpromotingonly
certainpiecesofinformation(Meraz&Papacharissi,2013).Networkgatekeeping
researchershavemadeadistinctionbetweentwotypesofsocialmediausers,elite
andnon-eliteusers.Theideaofanelitesocialmediauseroccurswhenan
individual’sideasandopinionsarecrowdsourcedtoprominenceortheuserholds
somepoweroutsideofjusttheInternet,whilenon-eliteusersarelargelyunnoticed
bytherestofasite’susers(Hermida,2015).
MediaplatformslikeTwitterallownewsstationstoprovideviewerswith
informationinrealtimeandincreaseloyaltytothestation(Geer&Ferguson,2011).
However,althoughtraditionalnewsorganizationshavetakentosocialmedia,
researchershavefoundthatTwitterandothersocialmediaaudiencesaremore
likelytorelyonuser-generatedinformation(Kwonet.al.,2012).Individualswho
inheritpowerfromoutsidestructuresmaynotremaininfluentialonsocialmedia
(Hermida,2015).Poweronsocialmediaisalwayschanging,beingassignedand
reassignedconstantly.Journalistsmayormaynotbeconsideredeliteusersbased
onwhetherornotthecrowdmovesthemtoprominence,notbasedonoutside
power(Hermida,2015).
SocialMediaasNews
Powerisnolongerinthehandsofmediamonopolyfollowingtheriseof
socialmediaandactiveaudiences-“usersofdigitalmediawhointeractthrough
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participatorymechanismsmadeavailabletothembynewscompanies
(Masip,Gullar,Suasu,Ruiz-Caballero,&Peralta,2015).Withnewsviewingviathe
Internetgrowing,consumersaredevelopingamorefluidpatternofviewingacross
platforms,causingnewsnetworkstoadaptmethodsthattakeadvantageofthis
cross-viewership(Layfayette,2015).Newsstationsarechoosingtogather
informationbasedontrendingtopicsonsocialmediainordertobetteradaptto
audiencepreferences;however,40%ofnewsaffiliatesdonothaveproceduresin
placetoregulateinformationretrievedthroughsocialmedia,despiteissueswith
reliabilityofinformation(Marzalek,2016).Eck(2015)reportedthatNBCaffiliate
KGETevendevelopedspecialsegmentsbasedonlyonviewers’socialmediaposts
andresponses.
Newsstationsareincreasinglyturningtosocialmediaforinformationand
evenviewercontentandopinions(Masip,et.al.,2015).Professionaljournalistsare
turningsocialmediafriendsintonewsgatekeepersbyinvitingthepublictoshare
anddeveloptheirownopinionsandcontent(Masip,Gullar,Suasu,Ruiz-Caballero,&
Peralta,2015).Greeley(2016)reportsthatnewsbrandsarenolongerincontrolbut
arenowownedbytheaudience;theyarewhotheaudiencesaystheyare.Some
networksareturningtosocialmediatomonitorviewers’emotionalreactionsto
particulartelevisionshows(Sameraro,2016).Byallowingviewerstoexpresstheir
opinionsandshareoriginalcontent,participationisshiftedfrommedia-controlled
platformstoopenplatforms,indicatingashiftinpower(Masip,et.al.,2015).
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MorningNewsProgramming
NBC’stheTodayshowpavedthewayformorningnewsprogramming,butis
nowcompetitivelyrivaleddailybyABC’sGoodMorningAmerica(GMA)(Ariens,
2016;Steinberg,2014;Stelter,2015;Stelter,2016;Tennant,2015).Todayfirstaired
in1952andwasdevelopedbyPatWeavertobean“electronicnewspaper”(Stelter,
2016).InanefforttochallengeviewershipofNBC,ABCalsodevelopedamorning
newsprogramthateventuallylaunchedasGoodMorningAmericain1975(Steleter,
2015).BecauseGMAwasdevelopedafterToday,itsstructureandsegmentsmirror
thatofToday,whichmadeitdifficultforGMAtoestablishitsownidentityearlyon
(Stelter,2015).AccordingtoIMDB(n.d)bothshowsfeatureapanelofco-anchors
reportingnewslivefromNewYorkCitycoveringaspectrumoftopicsincluding
breakingnews,liveinterviews,weather,andspeciallifestylesegments.
Sinceitsinvention,Todayhasairedatseveno’clockEasternStandardTime
eachmorning,buteventuallyexpandedfromtwohourstofour.Eachshowstarted
withasegmentWeaver,producerofToday,called“TodayinTwoMinutes”thatgave
abriefsynopsisofthenewsforthedayandrepeatedeveryhalfhour(Stelter,2016).
GMAfollowedthispattern,alsoairingfromseventonineinthemorningand
operatingonhalf-hournewsincrements(Stelter,2015).Likewise,TodayandGMA
havespecialsegmentsdedicatedtothesametypesofinformation.Todayhasa
segmentknownas“PopStart”andGMAcallstheirs“PopFix,”butbothare
dedicatedtodiscussingnewsregardingcelebritiesandpopculture.Thetwoalso
sharespecialsegmentsdedicatedtodiscussionsonandofsocialmedia;Todaycalls
theirsegmentthe“OrangeRoom”andGMAreferringtotheirsas“SocialSquare.”
14
Perhapsasaresultoftheirlikeness,TodayandGMAdominatetheratingsof
morningnewsprogramming,frequentlytradingnumberonefinishes(Tennant,
2015).
SweepsProgramming
SweepsprogrammingoccursduringthetimesoftheyearwhenNielsen
MediaResearchsurveystelevision-viewinghabits(Fletcher,2009;Kenneally,2014;
Fletcher,2009).Fourtimesofyearforfour-weekperiodsNeilsonsendsout
“diaries”forviewerstorecordwhattheywatchontelevisionduringthatperiodof
time(Trex,2011).ThesefourperiodstakeplaceduringthemonthsofFebruary,
May,July,andNovember,andprovidedatathatwilldetermineadvertisingratesfor
localtelevisionstations(Kenneally,2014).Becauseadvertisingdollarsdependso
heavilyonviewershipratingsduringthistime,showssavetheirbestcontentfor
theseperiods(Fletcher,2009).Althoughthisisatimetypicallyassociatedwiththe
mostdramaticplottwistsofyourfavoriteweeklyshows,sweepsperiodsalsoaffect
newsprogramsandtheirneedtogetmoreviewers.AlthoughGMAandTodayhave
beentradingofffirstplacefinishesinthemorningnewscategory,Todaystill
remainstherevenueleaderofmorningprogramming(Matsa,2015;Tennant,2015).
Thegatekeepingprocesshasevolvedovertheyears,adaptingfortechnology
andchangesincommunicationflow.Networkgatekeepingstatesthatina
networkedsocietywithhighaccesstoInternetandtechnology,informationisno
longerbeingsentonewaybutisinsteadconstantlyexchanged.Nowthatthegated,
oraudiencemembers,canalsoproduceinformationgatekeepingisnolongeraone-
wayprocess.Byallowingaudiencememberstoparticipateinthenewsselection
15
processthroughsocialmedia,reportersandproducersareintegratingtheaudience
intothegatekeepingprocess.Populoustelevisionnewsprogrammingcanprovidea
foundationforstudyingtheideaoftheaudienceparticipatingingatekeeping
throughsocialmedia.BasedonpreviousresearchofNetworkGatekeepingand
socialmedia,inadditiontotheobservationofGMAandToday,thisstudywillbe
basedonthefollowinghypotheses:
H1:Atleasthalfofnewssegmentsonmorningtelevisioncontainsome
typeofreferencetosocialmedia.
H2:Picturesand/orvideospostedtosocialmediawillbediscussedor
displayedmorefrequentlyonairthantheopinionsofviewersorplaintext
posts.
H3:Popularorpopculturenewsandpoliticalnewsaremorelikelytocontain
socialmediareferencesthanbreakingnewsandlocalorregionalnews.
H4:Celebritysocialmediapostsaremorelikelytobedisplayedonairduring
newssegmentsthanpostsofnon-celebrityusers.
H5:Sweepsprogrammingwillfeaturesignificantlymoresocialmedia
referencesthannon-sweepsprogramming.
H6:Sweepsprogrammingwillfeaturesignificantlymorediscussionabout
socialmediapostings.
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Chapter3:Method
UtilizingNetworkGatekeepingTheory(Barzilai-Nahon,2004;Barzilai-Nahon
&Nuemann,2005;Barzilai-Nahon,2006;Barzilai-Nahon,2008;Meraz&
Papacharissi;2005),thisstudysoughttoinvestigatehowthepopulartelevision
newsshowsTodayandGoodMorningAmerica(GMA)incorporatesocialmedia
contentbyexpressingopinionsorideasofsocialmediausersandsharingcontent
viasocialmedia.Giventhemethodologyofpreviousresearch(Arceneaux,Noah,&
Weiss;Fox,Angelini,&Goble,2005;Hester&Dougall,2007;McElroy,2013;Riffe,et.
al.1986),aquantitativeanalysisofmorningnewscontentwasconductedtotestthe
hypotheses(Buschow,Schneider,&Ueberheide,2014).Overthecourseoftwo
weeksbothTodayandGoodMorningAmerica(GMA)havebeenexaminedandcoded
forreferencestosocialmediaengagement(Connolly-Ahern,Ahern,&Bortree,2009;
Dixon,Azocar,&Casas,2003).Referencestosocialmediaincludehostsmentioning
postsalreadymadetosocialmedia,newsspreadthroughsocialmediaoutlets,and
requestsforviewerstoparticipateinsocialmediaengagementeventsaspartofthe
broadcast.McElroy(2013)foundthatproducersareselectiveindeterminingwhich
usercontentthenetworkmayuse,whichmayprovideinsightintothepotential
differencesinnetworks.
Sample
ThepopularmorningtelevisionnewsshowsTodayandGMAwereanalyzed
forthesakeofthisstudyduetocommonstructure,audiences,andairtimes.Other
showssuchasCBSThisMorningwerenotincludedduetolimitedtime.Accordingto
VarietyMagazineandTheDailyBeast,GMAandTodayarethetwomostpopular
17
morningtelevisionnewsshows(Hod,2012;Steinberg,2014).Asampleoftwofive-
dayweekswillbeusedforthepurposesofthisstudy,oneweekoccurringduringa
sweepsperiodandoneduringanon-sweepsperiod.Weekendprogrammingwas
notincludedduetodifferentcontent,staff,hosts,andstructure.Theshowsusedin
thissampleairedApril11-15,2016,andMay2-6,2016.Duringcoding,showswere
notviewedlive,butplayedbackusingHuluandOnDemand.
OnlythefirsttwoofthefourhoursofTodaywerecodedalongwiththefull
two-hourGMAshows.ThelasttwohoursofTodaystandasseparateshowsknown
as“Today’sTake”and“KathieLeeGiffordandHoda.”ThefirsttwohoursofToday
werealsoselectedduetotheirsimilaritywithGMAincontentandstructure.The
unitofanalysisforthisstudyiseachnewssegmentorclipofTodayandGMA.Each
segmentofeveryshowintheselectedtimeframehasbeencodedindividually,
segmentsbeingdividedbasedoneverytopicchange.Thetitleofeachnewssegment
isalsodisplayedatthebottomofthescreenduringeachshow;thereforeasegment
changecanalsobedeterminedbasedonthetitlechange.
CodingProcedures
Thisstudyexaminesthenumberofsocialmediareferencesmadeinregard
toTodayandGMA,whichsocialmediaoutletsarereferenced,whetheranyspecific
individualsocialmediaaccountsarerepeatedlyreferenced,thetypesofpostsand
references,andwhichsocialmediausers’postsgetselectedonair.Theunitof
analysisisindividualnewssegments,separatedbytopic.Eachsegmenthasbeen
codedbasedon12variablesstartingwithasimpledistinctionofcoder,airdate,and
show.
18
Thenexttwovariablescategorizethetopicsforeachnewssegment.Foreach
segment,codershavewrittenoutthetitleofthenewssegmentdisplayedonscreen
(e.g.“ClintonBouncesBackinNevada”).Allsegmentshavealsobeencategorized
andcodedaccordingtothecategoryinwhichthetopicfits(e.g.breakingnews,
politicalnews,localorregionalnews,popularnews,specialsegment,orweather).
Thecategorizationoftopicsallowsforinsightintothetypesofnewssegmentsthat
aremorelikelytoreferencesocialmedia.
Segmentsreferencingsocialmediawerefurthercodedinordertodetermine
exactlyhowsocialmediaisreferenced.Itisimportanttodeterminehowsocial
mediaisreferencedinordertounderstandwhyitwasmentioned.Networks
primarilyusesocialmediaasameanstokeepingviewersengaged,soobserving
howtheyusesocialmediatodothiswillprovideinsightintoviewerparticipation
(Cameron&Geidner,2014).First,coderssimplycodedforwhetherornotasocial
mediasitewasreferencedduringthenewssegment.Ifnosocialmediasitewas
referenced,thecodingforthatsegmentwillendhere.
Next,codershaveindicatedtheexactsocialmediasitethatisreferencedor
indicatedthattherewasnospecificsitementioned(Facebook,Twitter,Instagram,
Pinterest,Reddit,other,ornotspecified).Ifsocialmediawasreferenced,codersalso
codedwhetherthereferencewastoaspecificpost,requestingsocialmedia
participation,ordirectingviewerstothenetwork’ssocialmediaaccount(s).
Ifaspecificindividualcontentpostwasdisplayedonscreen,thepostwas
codedforthefollowing:Anyhashtags,wordswith#infrontofthemusedfor
grouping(e.g.#GMAonSafari),includedintheon-airreferencewerewrittenout
19
duringthecodingprocess.Hashtagsareoftenassignedbythenetworkandeither
announcedordisplayedonairtogroupviewerfeedback(Buschow&Scheider,
2014).Whenasegmentincludesareferencetospecificsocialmediapost,ithasalso
beencodedforwhattypeofaccountpostedit.Accountswerecategorizedintothe
categoriesbasedonthetypeofaccountandwhomtheaccountbelongsto(personal
vieweraccount,personalcelebrityaccount,organizationorbusinessaccount,
network’saccount,orothernotspecifiedaccount).Thecontentoftheposts
displayedwerecodedbasedonwhetheritcontainssimpletext,pictureormeme,
video,hyperlink,orother.Likewise,ifthereferencerequestedsocialmedia
participation,participationtypehasbeencodedforopinion,picturesorvideos,or
contestentry.Assessingthecontentofthepostswilldeterminewhattypeofcontent
thenetworkislookingfororfocusingon.
IntercoderReliability
Thisstudyutilizedtwocoderstoensurethatbiasdoesnotinfluenceresults.
IntercoderreliabilitywasbetestedtofindtheKappa,havingeachcodercode20%
ofthesampleandusingthoseresultsforcomparison.Onlyonecodercodedthe
entiresample.Overallreliabilityforthesamplewasκ=.84,anacceptablelevelof
reliability.Individuallevelsofkappaincludeshow(κ=1.00),newstype(κ=.81),
socialmediareferenced(κ=.96),socialmediasitereferenced(κ=.89),typeof
socialmediareference(κ=.86),hastagsused(κ=.85),socialmediaaccounttype
posted(κ=.84),typeofcontentposted(κ=.90),andtypeofparticipationrequested
(κ=.88).
20
Chapter4:Results
Throughout20episodesofTodayandGMA,atotalof575newssegments
wererecorded,anaverageofapproximately29segmentsperepisode.Withineach
episode,newssegmentsareconsideredachangeinthenewstopic,usually
displayedatthebottomofthescreen.Eachindividualnewssegmentwascodedfor
ifandhowsocialmediawasreferenced.Thesampleconsistsof10episodesofeach
show,TodayandGMA,fiveofwhichairedduringanon-sweepsseasonandfivefrom
asweepsseason.
H1predictedthatatleasthalfofnewssegmentsonmorningtelevisionwould
containsometypeofreferencetosocialmedia.Only19%ofthenewssegmentsin
thesamplecontainedareferencetosocialmedia.Referenceswerecountedasany
mentionofsocialmediaoraspecificsocialmediasiteduringanewssegment.Table
1showsthefrequenciesofsocialmediareferencesinnewssegments(H1)onToday
andGMA.
<InsertTable1abouthere>
H2predictedthatpicturesand/orvideospostedtosocialmediawouldbe
discussedordisplayedmorefrequentlyonairthantheopinionsofviewersorplain
textposts.Achi-squaredidnotfindastatisticallysignificancedifferencebetween
picturesandvideosversusopinionsandplaintextpostsχ2(2,N=76)=2.654p
=0.265.
<InsertTable2abouthere>
H3predictedthatpopularorpopculturenewsandpoliticalnewsaremore
likelytocontainsocialmediareferencesthanbreakingnewsandlocalorregional
21
news.Tablethreeshowshowtheoccurrenceofsocialmediareferencesaccordingto
thetypeofnewsdiscussedduringthesegment.Achisquarefoundastatistically
significantdifferencebetweenthetypesofnewssegmentsandreferencestosocial
mediaχ2(5,N=578)17.001p<.0045.Popularandpoliticalnewshadagreater
numberofsocialmediareferencesthanothertypesofnews.
<InsertTable3abouthere>
H4predictedthatsocialmediapostsofcelebritiesaremorelikelytobe
displayedand/ordiscussedonairthanthoseofotherusers.Achisquarefounda
statisticallysignificancedifferencebetweenthesocialmediapostsdiscussedonair
andthetypeofaccountthatpostedthemχ2(6,N=77)78.027p<.0001.Ofthe
specificpostsdiscussed,themajoritywasfromcelebrityaccounts.
<InsertTable4abouthere>
H5predictedthatsweepsprogrammingwouldfeaturesignificantlymore
socialmediareferencesthannon-sweepsprogramming.Achisquaredidnotfinda
statisticallysignificancedifferencebetweenthedateanepisodeairedand
referencestosocialmediaχ2(9,N=578)9.121p<.4264.
<InsertTable5abouthere>
H6predictedthatsweepsprogrammingwouldfeaturesignificantlymore
discussionaboutsocialmediapostings.Achisquaredidnotfindastatistically
significancedifferencebetweenthedateanepisodeairedandreferencestosocial
mediaχ2(36,N=578)35.255p<.5038.
<InsertTable6abouthere>
22
Chapter5:Discussion
Thisstudysoughttoexplorethepresenceofsocialmediapostsand
referencesonpopularmorningtelevisionnewsthroughthelensofNetworked
GatekeepingTheory.Byfocusingonthefrequencyandtypesofsocialmediaposts
andactivitythatarediscussedonair,insightcanbegainedintohowmorningnews
outletsareincorporatingaudiencesocialmediausage,potentiallyaltering
traditionalgatekeepingroles.Theresultsofthisstudydemonstratehowsocial
mediaisbeginningtobeintegratedintomorningnewsprogramming.
Thefirsthypothesispredictedthatatleasthalfofthenewssegmentson
popularmorningtelevisioncontainareferencetosocialmedia.Datadidnotconfirm
thishypothesis,butthepresenceofsocialmediaexistedinsmallmeasurein
morningnewsprogramming.Nearly20%ofthenewssegmentscodedcontained
sometypeofreferencetosocialmedia.Thisresultcouldsuggestthatactivityon
socialmediaisbeginningtochangethewaythatnewsisselectedanddiscussed.
Whentheaudiencesofthesemorningnewsprogramscrowdsourceinformationto
prominence,gatekeepersoftheseprogramsseemtobetakingnotice.Some
segments,likethoseoccurringin“PopStart”--segmentdedicatedtoPopularfigures
andcelebrities-duringToday,maynothaveotherwisebeenconsidered“news”but
wereincludedinmorningprogrammingduetotheirpopularityonsocialmedia.
Theseresultscouldalsoindicateanincreasingnumberofviewers
participatingindiscussionwhilewatching.ProluxandShepatin(2012)foundthat
around65%ofviewersengagesocialmediawhilewatchingtelevision,giving
producersandreportersanopportunitytogatherfeedbackinrealtime.However,
23
asMasipet.al.,(2015)haveindicated,socialmediaisnowatoolthatallows
audiencestoparticipateinnewsselectionpriortotheairingofprograms.Thesmall-
scaleintegrationofsocialmedianewscouldindicatethatthisisexactlywhatis
happening;reportersmaybelookingtosocialmediatodecidewhattheyshould
discussonair.
Althoughtheresultsofthechi-squarewerenotstatisticallysignificant,56%
ofspecificpostsdisplayedwerephotoandvideoratherthanpostscontainingon
text.WiththeinventionofSnapchat,Instagram,YouTube,andothervisualsocial
mediasites,societymaybegrowingaccustomedtohavingvisualspartofevery
discussion(Lafayette,2016).Visualsareoftenpreferredtowordsortext,hencethe
reasonfortheirpopularityonandofftheInternetandtelevision.AccordingtoNGT,
socialmediapostsandideasrisetoprominencebybeing“liked”andsharedby
otherusers.Thisisanexampleofhowsocialmediausersworktogethertofunction
asacollectivegatekeeperofinformation.Becausephotosandvideosaremost
“liked,”shared,anddiscussedonsocialmedia,thismayalsomakethemmorelikely
tobediscussedthroughothermediumsliketelevision.
Resultsshowedthatwhetherornotsocialmediawasreferenceddepended
onthetypeofnewsdiscussedineachsegment.Newsaboutpoliticsorpopular
culturewasmorelikelytocontainareferencetosocialmediathanbreakingnewsor
localandregionalnews.Politicalandpopculturenewssegmentsmaycontainmore
socialmediareferencesbecausetheyaremostdiscussedonsocialmedia.Social
mediaisoftenwherethegeneralpopulationgoestosharetheiropinionsaboutwhat
ishappeningintheworld,andthepresidentialelectioncurrentlyplaysahugerole
24
onwhatisbeingdiscussed.Likewise,newsthatbecomesmainstreamorpopularis
frequentlysharedanddiscussedonsocialmedia,providingnewdetailstobe
discussedonair.Alsoitmaybesuggestedthatbreakingnewscontainsfewer
referencestosocialmediaduetocredibilityissues.AsFarhi(2013)discussed,
reportinginformationfromsocialmediatooquicklycanleadtothereportingof
misinformation.Discussingsocialmediaconversationaboutbreakingnewsmaybe
difficultduetotheinabilitytoconfirmtheaccuracyofinformationsoquickly.For
example,in2013coverageofaNavyyardshootingwasairedbymanynewsstations
allreportingdifferentandinaccuratedetailsbasedonunconfirmedreportsfrom
varioussources(Farhi,2013;Sudduth,2013).Breakingnewsoftendominatessocial
media,butitcanbedifficulttoevaluatethevalidityoftheinformationwithsomuch
beingdisseminatedatonce.AfterinstancessuchastheNavyyardshooting,news
outletsmaybemoremindfulofthesourcestheyselectduringbreakingnews
events.
Thenumberofsocialmediareferencespresentineachtypeofnewssegment
isindicativeoftheinterestsofsocialmediausers.Becausetherearemore
referencestosocialmediaduringpoliticalandpopularnews,itmaybeassumed
thattherearemoresocialmediapostsonthesesubjects.Althoughtheyarenot
alwaysreliable,reportersoftenlooktotrendingtopicsonsocialmediatogather
informationtocoveronair(Marzalek,2016).Accordingtotheresultsofthisstudy,
overthecourseoftwoweeks,therewerenearlythreetimesasmanysegments
regardingpopularcultureandpoliticsthanthosereferringtobreakingnewsorlocal
news.Audiencemembers,orsocialmediausers,discussandshareinformationthey
25
findmostimportant,thereforemovingparticulartopicsorideastoprominence
makingthemmorelikelytobediscussedduringthosetelevisionnewssegments.
Aspredicted,therewasmorecelebritypostsdiscussedordisplayedonair
thanpostsofnon-celebritysocialmediausers.Althoughtheresultsofthistestwere
statisticallysignificant,threepostsisnotalargedifference.Alogicaldeductionfrom
thisresultcouldbethatcelebritieshavemoresocialmediafollowersandare
thereforemorelikelytohavetheirsocialmediapostsrisetoprominence.According
toNetworkGatekeepingTheory,theaudiencemovesmessagestoprominenceby
collectivelysharing,re-sharing,anddiscussingthesamestoriesandideas(Meraz&
Papacharissi,2013).Sincecelebritieshavealargevolumeoffollowersandtherefore
havemoreusersviewingtheircontentwhenitisposted,itismuchmorelikelythat
theirideas,stories,andphotosgetmovedtoprominence.However,wealsoliveina
societythatiscelebrityobsessedandnomatterhowinsignificantaneventintheir
lifemayseem,itstillhastheabilityto“breaktheinternet.”Becausesomanypeople
areconcernedwiththelivesandsocialmediapostsofcelebrities,thesestories
becomeprominentandstartinfiltratingothermediasuchastelevisionnews.
Televisionprogrammingisoftenselectedbasedonthetimeofyearitis,or
whetherthedatefallswithinasweepsornon-sweepsperiod.Becauseratingsand
advertisingdollarsaredeterminedduringsweepsperiods,networksusuallytryto
puttheirbestcontentoutduringtheseperiods(Fletcher,2009).Withinthetwo
weeksexamined,therewerenosignificantdifferencesintheamountofsocialmedia
betweenthesweepsperiodandnon-sweepsperiod.Resultsdidshowthatthe
sweepsperiodcontainedaslightlyhigherpercentageofsocialmediareferences,but
26
thedifferencebetweensweepsandnon-sweepsprogrammingwasonly1%.Thisis
surprisingbecausetelevisionshowsusuallydomoretoincreaseviewingduring
sweepsperiods,whichmaysuggestthatsocialmediapostsarenotasinvitingas
predicted.Instead,theseresultsmaysuggestthatmorningnewsprogramminglooks
tosocialmediatofillleftoverairtime,ratherthanasatooltogainmoreviewers.
Thiscouldindicatethattraditionalgatekeepingisstillmoreprevalentthan
networkedgatekeepingandaudiencenewsselectionislimitedwhenitcomesto
increasingviewership.
Althoughsweepsperiodsdidnotcontainsignificantlymoresocialmedia
references,theyweremorelikelytocontaindiscussionofspecificsocialmediaposts
thanrequestsforparticipationorreferencestothenetwork’ssocialmediapage.
Thisresultmaybebecausesocialmediapoststhataredisplayedanddiscussedon
airhavealreadyreachedahighlevelofprominenceandmaythereforedrawmore
viewers.Bychoosingpoststhathavealreadybeenselectedbysocialmediausers,
televisionprogrammingisdiscussingstoriesthattheaudiencehasalready
expressedaninterestin.Thesearestories,posts,pictures,andvideosthathave
alreadybeenselectedbytheaudienceandareonlybeingdiscussedbecausethe
audienceselectedthem.Inthisway,socialmediausersbecomeanetworkof
gatekeepersselectingwhichstoriestheywouldliketohearaboutandtherefore
playingaroleinthegatekeepingprocessformorningnewsprogramming.This
couldsuggestthatalthoughtraditionalgatekeepingappearsmoreprevalentinnews
selectionforsweepsprogramming,networkedgatekeepingisstillatwork.Usersare
stillmovingcertainpoststoprominenceandmakingthempartofnewsdiscussions.
27
Thisstudysoughttodeterminehowsocialmediapostsofaudiencemembers
arebeingintegratedintomorningtelevisionnewsprogramcontent.Resultsfound
thattheintegrationofsocialmediapostsisactuallyprettyminimal,despite
predictions.Theminimalfindingsofsocialmediaintegrationmaysuggestthatthis
isjustthebeginningofsocialmediaenteringtelevisionprogramming.Although
socialmediaisnotyetprominentamongmorningnewsprogramming,itispresent
whichcouldimplythatitspresencemayincreaseovertime.Thisstudyuses
NetworkedGatekeepingtounderstandhowsocialmediausersarecrowdsourcing
storiestoprominence,andthosestoriesarebeginningtobecomeintegratedinto
morningnewsprogramming.
Thisstudyfoundthatsocialmediahasnotyetmadeitswayintoallnews
segments,butmaybeonitswaytobecominganintegralpartofnewsdiscussion.
Althoughsocialmediareferencesprimarilyoccurredinpoliticalorpopularnews
segments,theywerenotcompletelyvoidofbreakingnews,localnews,oreven
weather.Itseemsasthoughtheremaybeasocialmediapostabouteverytopicup
fordiscussion.Thefactthatsocialmediapostsareevenbeingdisplayedand
discussedonaircouldindicatethatsocialmediaactivityitselfcouldevenbe
workingtowardbecomingnews.Associetybecomesmoredependentonthe
Internetandsocialmediaforcommunication,itseemsasthoughothermediums
mayalsobecomemoredependentonthem.Evenifsocialmediaonlymadeup20%
ofthenewssegmentsstudied,youhavetowonderwhatwouldhavefilledthat20%
otherwise?Itisdifficulttoimaginemanypartsofoureverydaylifeexistingwithout
socialmediaintoday’ssociety.
28
TheInternet,andspecificallysocialmedia,ischanginghowweaccessand
discussnews.Thefindingsofthisstudymaysuggestashiftinthegatekeeping
processfortelevisionnewsprogramming.Insteadofgoingthroughthetraditional
levelsofgatekeeping,suchasindividual,routines,organizational,andinstitutional
gatekeeping,informationmayalsobefilteredbyviewersusingsocialmedia.By
expressingtheirinterests,audiencemembersarestartingtoplayaroleinhownews
isselectedforprogramming.Utilizingplatformslikesocialmediatomakepersonal
opinionsavailabletotheworld,viewershavetheabilitytopushstoriesand
informationtoprominenceandultimatelychangethelargerconversation.
Theabilityoftheaudiencetochangetheconversationofworldwidenewsis
theveryessenceofNetworkGatekeepingTheory.Insteadofinformationmovingin
onlyonedirectionitisnowbeingmovedinandoutofmultiplegatesbymultiple
gatekeeperssimultaneously(Barzilai-Nahon,2004).Insteadoftheaudience
passivelyacceptingwhatisheardonthenewsprogramming,theynowhavethe
powertojoinandpotentiallychangenewsprogrammingcontent(Coddington&
Holton,2014).Bypromotingandsharingonlycertainpiecesofinformation,
audiencemembersareabletohelpfilterwhichnewsrisestoprominence(Meraz&
Papacharissi,2013).Socialmediaplatformsallownewsstationtoreleasenewsin
realtime,givingviewerstheopportunitytoaccessandrespondtoinformation
beforeitairsontelevision(Greer&Ferguson,2011).
Withdigitaltechnologyconstantlyadvancing,itisunlikelythatsocialmedia
willfadeanytimesoon.Therefore,itislikelythatsocialmediawillonlycontinueon
thepathofintegrationwithtelevisionnewsprogramming.Wealreadyhaveshows
29
likeAmericanIdol,DancingwiththeStars,andeventheMissUSAPageantthat
allowviewerstovotefortheirchoicethroughsocialmedia,whichindicatesthat
producersmaybetryingtoshapeprogrammingtoincludevieweropinions.Itis
probablethataudiencesaregraduallybecomingthedrivingforceinshaping
programcontent.
30
Chapter6:FutureResearch&Limitations
Thisstudyoffersaglimpseintohowsocialmediaisbecomingintegratedinto
othernewsoutlets,liketelevision,throughthelensofNetworkedGatekeeping
Theory.Thecrowdsourcingofinformationtoprominenceallowsaudiencemembers
toplayaroleinthegatekeepingprocess.Now,information,pictures,andvideoscan
becomenewsontelevisionbasedontheirpopularityonsocialmedia.
Theprimarylimitationsofthisstudyincludebothsamplesizeandtime
restrictions.Duetolimitedcoders,time,andresourcesthesamplewaslimitedto
onlytwoshowsairedoverthecourseoftwoweeks.Givenmoreresources,the
samplecouldhavebeenexpandedtoincludemoreshowsoveragreaterlengthof
time.Also,duetotimerestrictions,thisstudywaslimitedtoonlyexploringhow
socialmediaisdiscussedontelevisionnewsbutnottheactualsocialmediaactivity
itself.
Futureresearchshouldseektoextendthisstudybyincludingmorenews
programsandcrossreferencingsocialmediawithposts,hashtags,andsocialmedia
trendsdiscussedonair.Nightlynewsshowsanddailynewsprogrammingcouldbe
studiedusingthesamecodingschemetodeterminetheprevalenceofsocialmedia
acrossallnewsprogramming.Byalsolookingathowhashtags,useraccounts,and
othersocialmediatrendsdiscussedonairarebeingdiscussedonline,thewaythese
trendsrisetoprominencemayalsobediscovered.
31
Table1:FrequencyofSocialMediaReferences
SocialMediaReferences
Valid Frequency Percent ValidPercent CumulativePercent
Yes 112 19.4 19.4 19.4
No 466 80.6 80.6 100.0
Total 578 100.0 100.0
32
Table2:ContentinReferences
TypeofReference
Content SpecificPostRequestParticipation Totals
Text 33 0 33 100% 0.0% 100%Photo 20 1 21 95.2% 4.8% 100%Video 22 0 22 100% 0.0% 100% Totals 75 1 76 98.7% 1.3% 100% x2=2.654,df=2,p=0.265
33
Table3:TopicTypeswithSocialMediaReferences
SocialMediaReference
TopicType Yes No Total
Breaking 9 41 50 18% 82% 100% Political 14 87 101 13.9% 86.1% 100% Local/Regional 3 38 41 7.3% 92.7% 100% Popular 57 171 228 25% 75% 100% SpecialSegment 27 90 117 23.1% 76.9% 100% Weather 2 39 41 4.9% 95.1% 100% Total 112 466 578 19.4% 80.6% 100% x2=17.001;df=5;p=0.004
34
Table4:UserPostsOnAir
AccountType
TypeofReferenceViewer Celebrity Organization Network Total
SpecificPost 34 37 4 0 75 45.3% 49.3% 5.3% 0.0% 100% RequestParticipation 0 1 0 0 1 0.0% 100% 0.0% 0.0% 100%Other 0 0 0 1 1 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 100% 100% Total 34 38 4 1 77 44.2% 49.4% 5.2% 1.3% 100% x2=78.027;df=6;p<0.01
35
Table5:SocialMediaReferencesduringSweepsandNonSweepsPeriods
SocialMediaReference
Date Yes No Total
11-APR-16 10 64 74
12-APR-16 16 48 64
13-APR-16 13 61 74
14-APR-16 14 41 55
15-APR-16 8 47 55
02-MAY-16 9 56 65
03-MAY-16 10 50 60
04-MAY-16 11 37 48
05-MAY-16 13 36 49
06-MAY-16 8 26 34
Total 112 466 578
36
Table6:TypesofReferencesduringSweepsandNonSweepsPeriods
TypesofSocialMediaReferences
Date SpecificPost Participation DirecttoAccountOtherNA Total
11-APR-16 6 1 2 1 64 74
12-APR-16 8 0 1 2 53 64
13-APR-16 9 0 1 3 61 74
14-APR-16 13 0 0 0 42 55
15-APR-16 5 0 1 1 48 55
02-MAY-16 7 0 0 2 56 65
03-MAY-16 7 2 1 2 48 60
04-MAY-16 5 2 1 1 39 48
05-MAY-16 12 0 1 0 36 49
06-MAY-16 6 0 1 1 26 34
Total 78 5 9 13 473 578
37
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