Tracking Mentions of Social Media Sources in Mainstream U.S. Newspapers

Cardiff.
Tim Baikjewicz is the next speaker at Future of Journalism 2011, and his interest, too, is in social media in journalism. They have now become an obsession for many news media; news organisations are focussing mainly on pushing content, cultivating sources, and building ‘communities’ (though their understanding of community might be substantially different from those of actual social media users).

It is also interesting in this context to examine the social media sources that news media now draw on. This follows the trajectory of previous work examining the use of blog-based material by major news organisations. How do newspapers use social media sources, then, how often and prominently do they do so, and are there obvious differences in how they are used?

Tim’s study drew from newspaper article databases, examining two major papers in the U.S., and examined mentions of social media sites in these articles; it found that the New York Times drew on social media more often than the Washington Post, and that mentions clearly grew over time between 2006 and 2008. Most such articles appeared in business sections (and were business stories); stories were usually news and feature stories; and most mentions were in the bodies of those articles.

Some 10% used social media as sources, around 55% as a phenomenon; 35% simply mentioned them, while less than 1% were self-promotory. Very few such stories appeared in the front page, but rather in specific sections, and there was very little mention in the headline and lead paragraphs. There was limited mention of social media in letters to the editor. of sections, arts and entertainment and business led the way. (Sorry, lots of stats here – presenting only the highlights.)

Facebook appears to be mentioned especially as a phenomenon; MySpace both as source and as a simple mention; Twitter is widely spread, and wasn’t yet particularly prominent during the 2006-8 period of study, so it doesn’t figure especially much here. MySpace declined markedly over the three years, Facebook rose; MySpace was more visible in arts and entertainment, Facebook more in other sections.

So, social media are likely to have a role in affecting the news agenda, and there clearly are changing patterns here, too. Using social media in journalistic coverage is becoming routine, but exactly how they are used is certainly shifting.