Getting softer or harder? : A longitudinal study of news topics in tabloid, quality and local newspaper websites in U.K. and Sweden.

• Scholars have been studying online journalism for well over fifteen years theorizing how this new environment affects news. A reoccurring argument is that a combination of real time tracking of the audience behavior in conjunction with a lack of viable business models fosters a journalistic culture with increasing sensational and shallow news. In effect, leading to a lesser-informed citizenry and a weaker democracy. Although considerable efforts have been pursued in studying online news no studies so far have investigated how the actual news content is affected in general, if at all, or compared different media traditions. Instead, changes in content are assumed or illustrated anecdotally rather than systematically assessed. This study, covering Swedish and UK media from 2002-2012, shows that there is a tabloidization effect in general but that it varies across publishing contexts and reveals some unexpected results.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

tabloidization

digitalization

online journalism

online news

content analysis

Media and Communication Studies

Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)