A new sensation? An international exploration of sensationalism and social media recommendations in online news publications

Dados Bibliográficos

ID7477306
AutoresDanielle K Brown (0000-0001-7637-8964, The University of Texas at Austin, autor correspondente), Summer Harlow (0000-0001-6079-1439, Florida State University), Víctor García‐perdomo (0000-0002-7187-1618, The University of Texas at Austin, USA La Sabana University, Colombia), Ramón Salaverría (0000-0002-4188-7811, Universidad de Navarra)
Ano2016
Volume19
Fascículo11
Páginas1497-1516
Data de publicação2016-12-30
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournalism (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1464-8849 • E-ISSN: 1741-3001
EditoraSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1464884916683549
OpenAlexW2573522763
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas53
Referências citadas30

The well-known phrase ‘if it bleeds, it leads’ describes the sensational approach that has penetrated the history of news. Sensationalism is a term without complete consensus among scholars, and its meaning and implications have not been considered in a digital environment. This study analyzes 400 articles from online-native news organizations across the Americas, evaluating the sensational treatment of news categories and news values, and their associated social media interaction numbers on Facebook and Twitter. Findings suggest that ‘hard’ news topics like government affairs and science/technology were treated sensationally just as often as traditionally sensationalized categories like crime or lifestyle and society. In addition, audiences are not necessarily more likely to respond to sensational treatments. This study also finds that online-native news organizations use sensationalism differently, and there is significant variation in publications from the United States, Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico

Advertising · Business · Digital media · Government (linguistics · Linguistics · Meaning (existential · Media studies · News media · Political science · Public relations · Sensationalism · Social media · Sociology · Variation (astronomy · Media Influence and Politics · Media Studies and Communication · Psychology · Social Media and Politics · Law