News and information leadership in the digital age

Bibliographic Data

ID20508643
AuthorsPhilip Habel (University of South Alabama, corresponding author), Ruth Moon (0000-0002-2170-7385, University of Washington), Anjie Fang (University of Glasgow)
Year2018
Volume21
Issue11
Pages1604-1619
Publication date2018-11-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueInformation Communication & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1369-118X • E-ISSN: 1468-4462
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1369118x.2017.1346136
OpenAlexW2736072385
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited35

This paper examines information networks on social media to draw conclusions about influence relationships among members of the mass media. The project considers social networks and information patterns using Twitter data, first at the newspaper level and second at the journalist level. Using a computational approach, we look for evidence of elite-directed information flows, as well as exploring whether we find evidence of an increase in the democratization of newsmaking. This study finds that elite voices continue to dominate information networks in the digital age; however, it also finds evidence that information can move expeditiously from journalists in local and regional outlets to elite ones, and vice versa. We move further to explore the content of tweets among the journalist network, finding that there are substantial, direct interactions among elite and regional and local journalists. Our results taken together uncover new network patterns and provide a novel insight on the role of information technologies in newsmaking in the digital age

Democracy · Democratization · Digital media · Elite · Information Age · Media studies · Newspaper · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Social media · Sociology · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Media Studies and Communication · Social Media and Politics

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