scholarly journals An Opinion Facilitator for Online News Media

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Willaert ◽  
Paul Van Eecke ◽  
Jeroen Van Soest ◽  
Katrien Beuls

With more and more voices and opinions entering the public domain, a key challenge facing journalists and editors is maximizing the context of the information that is presented on news websites. In this paper, we argue that systems for exposing readers to the many aspects of societal debates should be grounded in methods and tools that can provide a fine-grained understanding of these debates. The present article thereby explores the conceptual transition from opinion observation to opinion facilitation by introducing and discussing the Penelope opinion facilitator: a proof-of-concept reading instrument for online news media that operationalizes emerging methods for the computational analysis of cultural conflict developed in the context of the H2020 ODYCCEUS project. It will be demonstrated how these methods can be combined into an instrument that complements the reading experience of the news website The Guardian by automatically interlinking news articles on the level of semantic frames. In linguistic theory, semantic frames are defined as coherent structures of related concepts. We thereby zoom in on instances of the “causation” frame, such as “climate change causes global warming,” and illustrate how a reading instrument that links articles based on such frames might reconfigure our readings of climate news coverage, with specific attention to the case of global warming controversies. Finally, we relate our findings to the context of the development of computational social science, and discuss pathways for the evaluation of the instrument, as well as for the future upscaling of qualitative analyses and close readings.

2017 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha ◽  
Ronald J. McGauvran

Most research on media in the post-broadcast age of politics focuses on how media affect the public, not on the interinstitutional relationships between the presidency and news media. This study tackles this important topic by studying news coverage of and presidential attention to the issue of income inequality. We use web scraping and text analysis software to build a dataset of weekly news coverage from 1999 through 2013, across traditional and nontraditional media, including newspapers, broadcast and cable television transcripts, and online news websites. The data show that presidential attention to income inequality influences the income inequality news agenda across all sources except network television and affects the tone of newspaper coverage. Presidential influence of tone is especially pronounced on income inequality issues that have an international focus. The implications of this paper are significant not only for understanding how media and the presidency interact in the post-broadcast age but also for the prospects for federal policies that may combat income inequality.


2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-170
Author(s):  
Ryan J. Phillips

This article examines the boundary work of frames and the methodological significance of understanding this work when conducting rhetorical framing analysis. While the boundary properties of frames have been theorized by scholars, there remains a lack of clear engagement with how to effectively address these discursive boundaries methodically. I argue that agenda-dismissal, which makes use of both prolepses and blind spots, ought to be addressed in addition to agenda-setting and agenda-extension when conducting rhetorical framing analysis. A case study is provided in which the rhetorical framing of vegan parenting in online news media is analyzed and critiqued for confining the issue within a dominant health-based frame. Strategies for dismantling discursive boundaries and reframing public issues are also considered within the context of the case study.


2021 ◽  
Vol Volume 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 215-227
Author(s):  
Taufiq Ahmad ◽  
Saba Sultana ◽  
Ayesha Riaz

This study analyzes the Kashmir conflict by little empirical work on Kashmir News after the abolition of Article 370. The purpose here is to identify the nature of news coverage by the global news media. For this purpose, 193 new stories were selected which were appeared at the web sources of three global news channels BBC, CNN, Aljazeera. This study primarily focusses on Content analysis of how CNN, BBC and AL JAZEERA designed Kashmir in their online news broadcasting with time frame of from 5 August to 30 September 2019 soon after the revocation of Article 370 while determining the difference in storytelling and the search for stories of information about Kashmir. By using an original coding program that extract on the coverage of Kashmir conflict, media effects and agenda-setting theories, the analysis is found that AL JAZEERA has heavily relied on episodic coverage and focued on international condemnation frame in its coverage than CNN which heavily focused on the Human-interest frame as well as BBC relied on the responsibility frame in its coverage related Kashmir. The study investigates the sources of the stories where AL JAZEERA cited government leader and official statements; CNN added journalists’ views whereas BBC heavily relied on their correspondents’ version. However, the investigation provides the insight into the worldwide media coverage of the issue and their view


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 127
Author(s):  
Guðbjörg Hildur Kolbeins

By employing the theoretical framework of framing, the present paper attempts to examine the Icelandic media’s coverage of the 2013 parliamentary election by paying particular attention to coverage of public opinion polls and the policies of the political parties, i.e. the “horse-race” frame and the issue frame, and to examine media’s reliance on experts for interpretation of election news. Seven online news media, two newspapers, two radio stations and two television channels were monitored for 25 days prior to Election Day, i.e. from April 2 to April 26, 2013, - resulting in 1377 election news stories. The findings show, for example, that 29.8% of all the election news stories had public opinion polls as their primary angle while 12% of the stories were primarily issue-oriented. In addition, the media rely on experts for interpretation of the polls; five of the 10 most interviewed or quoted sources on public opinion surveys were political science experts who were affiliated with universities. Finally, news coverage of polls was generally amplified as media outlets had a tendency to report on public opinion polls that were commissioned by other media.


2019 ◽  
pp. 175063521985763
Author(s):  
Amit Lavie-Dinur ◽  
Moran Yarchi ◽  
Yuval Karniel

Based on the authors’ understanding regarding the effect of ethnocentric coverage, on one hand, and the tendency of the media to cover female perpetrators differently, on the other, the current study aimed to examine how leading Israeli news websites ( N = 1,832) covered female versus male perpetrators during the October 2015 wave of violence. Their goal was to examine if differences between the coverage of female and male perpetrators exist, or if all perpetrators are grouped together and depicted as a single common enemy. In other words, they sought to understand the intersection of two journalistic tendencies: (1) does the ethnocentric frame hold consistently, or (2) do gender considerations overpower the consistent ethnocentric frame? Findings indicate that there were significant differences in how male and female perpetrators were covered by the media. Articles regarding female perpetrators included more information about their personal, familial and mental states than for males. Moreover, more information was given regarding female perpetrators’ motives, which were mostly ideological. Unlike in previous studies, the authors failed to find an emphasis on female perpetrators’ physical appearance. A possible explanation may come from the dominance of the ethnic framing exemplified by the Israeli media.


2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 2028-2049 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris J Vargo ◽  
Lei Guo ◽  
Michelle A Amazeen

This study examines the agenda-setting power of fake news and fact-checkers who fight them through a computational look at the online mediascape from 2014 to 2016. Although our study confirms that content from fake news websites is increasing, these sites do not exert excessive power. Instead, fake news has an intricately entwined relationship with online partisan media, both responding and setting its issue agenda. In 2016, partisan media appeared to be especially susceptible to the agendas of fake news, perhaps due to the election. Emerging news media are also responsive to the agendas of fake news, but to a lesser degree. Fake news coverage itself is diverging and becoming more autonomous topically. While fact-checkers are autonomous in their selection of issues to cover, they were not influential in determining the agenda of news media overall, and their influence appears to be declining, illustrating the difficulties fact-checkers face in disseminating their corrections.


Journalism ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 1300-1319
Author(s):  
Carmen Costa-Sánchez ◽  
Ana-Isabel Rodríguez-Vázquez ◽  
Xosé López-García

Journalism is once again facing a context of technological and social changes. The current stage is characterized for being mobile, multi-screen, and visual. Citizens have adopted with ease the new mobile media for content consumption. Transmedia narratives emerge as structures that can help creators to adapt contents to all platforms and to open the door to new audiences. This article analyzes transmedia strategies in the news offered during the coverage of Greek elections (20-S) by four of the most important news media brands in Europe: El País (ES), The Guardian (UK), La Repubblica (IT), and Público (PT). Results show that mobile platforms have been incorporated into the news coverage following a repurposing strategy as regards web content. The increasing number of published stories, the prioritization of their updating, and the multimedia enrichment make the World Wide Web the main platform of the analyzed practices. The patterns for commenting and sharing do not match, but the most commented and disseminated include multimedia contents.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 38-76
Author(s):  
Lana Kerzner ◽  
Chelsea Temple Jones ◽  
Beth Haller ◽  
Arthur Blaser

Canadian news coverage is reflecting and shaping an evolution of thought about how we must publicly account for animals’ roles in the disability rights movement. Through a textual analysis of 26 news media articles published between 2012 and 2017, this research demonstrates that the media play a key role in reporting on discrimination, yet media narratives about service animals and their owners too often fail to capture the complexity of policies and laws that govern their lives. In Canada, there is widespread public confusion about the rights of disabled people and their service animals. This incertitude is relevant to both disability and animal oppression. This research identifies nine frames within the media narratives, as well as evaluating perspectives from critical animal studies in the news articles. These frames, which emerge in the media reports, in their descriptions of human and (less often) animal rights, illustrate public confusion surrounding these rights. The confusion is inevitable given the many laws in Canada that govern service animals. Thus, to give context to the news coverage, this article also surveys the legal protections for disabled people who use service animals in Canada, and suggests that until the news media understand the legalities surrounding service animals, they will not be well equipped to fulfil their role of informing the public. This is a lost opportunity in light of the media’s potential role as a pivotal tool to educate the public about disability and animal rights.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 83-89
Author(s):  
Deska Rinanti Hayyattun Nuffuss ◽  
Sri Rohaningsih

The ratification of the Job Creation Law in early November 2020 created a lot of polemics in the society, this leads the news in the online media to have their own views in reviewing typos related to the content in the Job Creation Act. This study aims to unravel the results of media framing from a certain topic by reviewing news coverage by two different online news channels in the same upload period on November 3rd, 2020. The news reconstruction of journalists' points of view creates a gap between empirical truth and public awareness so readers can follow the media thought. The framing analysis was carried out on two news channels, namely CNBC Indonesia and Nasional Tempo, which reported typos in the writing of the Job Creation Law from a different point of view. The method used in this study is from Zhongdang Pan and Gerald M. Kosicki framing analysis model using four structures, namely Syntax, Script, Thematic, and Rhetorical. The results of this study indicate that media coverage of CNBC Indonesia tends to be in line with the government, while the Tempo National media constructs news coverage with a more critical tone. Additionally, other factors in the form of ownership and interests could also affect news framing. This is based on the fact that there is a trend of media conglomeration in Indonesia which can have certain implications for the news content.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
pp. 1816-1822 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivia A Wackowski ◽  
Jennah M Sontag ◽  
Binu Singh ◽  
Jessica King ◽  
M Jane Lewis ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction News media may influence public perceptions and attitudes about electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), which may influence product use and attitudes about their regulation. The purpose of this study is to describe trends in US news coverage of e-cigarettes during a period of evolving regulation, science, and trends in the use of e-cigarettes. Methods We conducted a content analysis of e-cigarette topics and themes covered in US news articles from 2015 to 2018. Online news databases (Access World News, Factiva) were used to obtain US news articles from the top 34 circulating newspapers, four national wire services, and five leading online news sources. Results The number of articles increased by 75.4% between 2015 and 2018 (n = 1609). Most articles focused on policy/regulation (43.5%) as a main topic, followed by health effects (22.3%) and prevalence/trends (17.9%). Discussion about flavor bans quadrupled (6.1% to 24.6%) and discussion of youth e-cigarette use was most prevalent (58.4%) in 2018, coinciding with an increase in coverage about JUUL. JUUL was mentioned in 50.8% of 2018 articles. Across years, articles more frequently mentioned e-cigarette risks (70%) than potential benefits (37.3%). Conclusions E-cigarettes continue to be a newsworthy topic, with coverage both reflecting numerous changes and events over time, and providing repeated opportunities for informing the public and policymakers about these novel products. Future research should continue to track how discourse changes over time and assess its potential influence on e-cigarette perceptions and policy changes. Implications E-cigarette news coverage in the United States increased between 2015 and 2018 and predominantly focused on policy and regulation. Notable spikes in volume were associated with some but not all major e-cigarette events, including the FDA’s deeming rule, Surgeon General’s report, and release of the National Youth Tobacco Survey data in 2018. Coverage of the 2018 National Academy of Medicine, Engineering, and Sciences report on the Public Health Consequences of E-cigarettes received minimal news coverage. The high volume in 2018 was driven in large part by coverage of the e-cigarette brand JUUL; over half of news articles in 2018 referenced JUUL specifically.


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