Audience Gatekeeping Via Social Media

AudienceGatekeepingViaSocialMedia

by

RebeccaChavers

AthesissubmittedtotheGraduateFacultyofAuburnUniversity

inpartialfulfillmentoftherequirementsfortheDegreeofMasterofArts

Auburn,AlabamaAugust6,2016

Keywords:NetworkGatekeepingTheory,networkedgatekeeping,gatekeeping,socialmedia,news,media

Copyright2016byRebeccaPaigeChavers

Approvedby

LaurenSmith,Chair,CommunicationandJournalismJohnCarvalho,CommunicationandJournalism

MatthewZimmerman,CommunicationandJournalism

ii

Abstract

Usingnetworkedgatekeepingtheory,thisstudyanalyzeshowsocialmediais

beingintegratedintomorningnewsprogramming,allowingaudiencemembersan

opportunitytoplayaroleinthegatekeepingprocess.Traditionalgatekeeping,along

withtheshifttonetworkedgatekeeping,thelevelsofgatekeeping,andgatekeeping

throughsocialmediaisdiscussed.Acontentanalysisofmorningnewsprogramming

foundlowerlevelsofsocialmediaintegrationthanpredictedandmorediscussions

ofspecificpoststhananyothertypesofsocialmediareferences.Socialmedia

referenceswerealsomorespecifictocertaintypesofnewssegments.Implications

forthefutureofnetworkedgatekeepingaswellasfutureresearcharealso

discussed.

iii

Acknowledgements

Iwouldliketodedicatemyworktomygreat-grandmother,Leopoldine

“Paula”Baxter,whopassedawayasIwasbeginningthisstudy.Hersupportand

encouragementhavealwaysbeenthedrivingforcebehindmysuccessinlife.Her

generosityandselflessnessaresomethingthatIstrivetoachieveeveryday.Iwould

alsoliketothankmyfuturehusband,PatrickJohnston,foralwayssupportingmy

dreamsandforalwaysgivingmetheextrapushtomakeitthrougheverysituation.

YouarethereasonIsurvivedgraduateschoolandmymotivationtoalwaysworka

littleharder.Likewise,Iwouldliketothankmymomforalwayspushingmeand

remindingmethatIcanalwaysdobetter.BecauseofyouIknowthatmy

achievementhasnolimitsandthattheonlypersonIhavetocompetewithinlifeis

myself.Lastly,Iwouldliketothankalloftheprofessorswhohaveprovided

inspiration,encouragement,andguidancethroughoutmyacademicjourney.Iwould

specificallyliketothankDr.Carvalho,Dr.Disbrow,Dr.Saunders,Dr.Smith,andDr.

Zimmermanfortheirguidanceinmystudiesandinlife.

iv

TableofContents

Abstract..........................................................................ii

Acknowledgements...............................................................iii

Chapter1:Introduction............................................................1

Chapter2:LiteratureReview......................................................3

NetworkedGatekeeping....................................................5

GatekeepingLevels........................................................7

SocialMedia&NGT.......................................................10

SocialMediaasNews.....................................................11

MorningNewsProgramming.............................................13

Chapter3:Method...............................................................16

Chapter4:Results...............................................................20

Chapter5:Discussion............................................................22

Chapter6:FutureResearch&Limitations........................................30

Tables..........................................................................31

References......................................................................37

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Chapter1:Introduction

Astechnologyadvances,computer-mediatedcommunicationisbecoming

increasinglypervasiveinsocietyandwemust,inresponse,analyzetheuseofmedia

inanetworkedsociety(Barzilai-Nahon,2004).Althoughtraditionalmediasuchas

newspapers,magazines,andtelevisionstillexist,theyarerapidlybeingtakenover

bytheInternetandmorespecifically,socialmedia.Eventhoughmanystillfind

traditionalformsofmediauseful,itisundeniablethatwehavebecomeanInternet-

dependentsociety,constantlyusingoursmartphones,laptops,andtabletstostay

connected(Courtois&D’heer,2012).Newspapersandtelevisionwerepreviously

primarysourcesforbreakingnews,butthespeedofInternetcommunicationis

leadingconsumerstoturntoitforcurrentinformation.Althoughitisunlikelythat

theInternetwilleverfullyreplacetelevision,bothproducersandviewersare

turningtosocialmediatocomplementtheviewingexperience(Hunt,2014).

Withbetween60and70%ofpeopleusingasecondscreendevicewhile

watchingtelevision,socialmediaisbecominganinevitablecomponentoftelevision

viewing,evennews(Prolux&Shepatin,2012).Socialmediaisbeingused

simultaneouslywithlivetelevisionprogramming,transforming“televisionintoan

activemedium”byaddingasocialcomponent(Buschow,Schneider,&Ueberheide,

2014).Usingsocialmediaasasecondscreen,viewerscanexpresstheiropinionon

televisionandnewscontentinrealtime(Cameron&Geidner,2014).Informationis

bothreleasedandfoundthroughsocialmedia,becominganunavoidablefactorfor

othernewsmedialiketelevision.Often,majornewsoutletshavemovedtoward

releasingbreakingnewsonsiteslikeTwitterinordertodisseminateinformation

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morequickly.Televisionnewsreportersmayevenlooktosocialmediaforinsight

intonewsworthysituations,updatesoncurrentcrises,andviewerinsighton

currentevents(Moon&Hadley,2014).

Thisstudywillfocusontheuseofsocialmediaduringmorningtelevision

newsprograming,specificallyTodayandGoodMorningAmerica(GMA).Popular

morningtelevisionnewsprogramsusereferencestosocialmediaandsocialmedia

postsinanefforttokeepviewersengagedandencourageinteractionwithviewers

(Hunt,2014;Xu&Feng,2014).Byexaminingwhattypesofnewssegments

referencesocialmedia,whattypesofsocialmediacontentarediscussed,andthe

toneofsocialmediacontentused,thisstudyaimstoanalyzehowusers’socialmedia

postsarebeingintegratedintomorningtelevisionnewsprogramcontent(Buschow,

Schneider,&Ueberheide,2014).ThroughtheuseofNetworkGatekeepingTheory

(Barzilai-Nahon,2004;Barzilai-Nahon&Neumann,2005;Barzilai-Nahon,2008;

Coddington&Holton,2014;Meraz&Papacharissi,2013;Riffe,Ellis,Rogers,Van

Ommeren,&Woodman,1986;Shoemaker,Eichholz,Kim,&Wrigley,2001)this

studywillanalyzehowtheaudiencebecomesapartinthegatekeepingprocessby

participatinginsocialmediaconversationsthatarefeaturedanddiscussedon

morningtelevisionnewsprograming.

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Chapter2:LiteratureReview

Gatekeepinghasdevelopedthroughtheyearsinthefieldofcommunication,

whereitisreferredtoasaselectionprocess(Barzilai-Nahon&Neumann,2005).

TheoriginalconceptofgatekeepingwasdevelopedbyKurtLewin(1947;1951)and

wasonlyconsideredtoapplytotraditionalmedia,butovertheyearstheconcept

hasevolvedandadaptedtoaccountfornewmedia.StudiessuchasthoseofLewin

(1947;1951),White(1950),andBreed(1955)provideafoundationfor

understandingtheselectionprocessofnewsandfactorsthatmayinfluencethis

selection.

Mediasociologyresearchhasprovidedanexplanationofthefactors

influencingtheconstructionofnewswithasocialandoccupationalsetting(Reese&

Ballinger,2001).Lewin(1947)firstpointedoutthatallnewswasdependentonthe

pointsthroughwhichitistravellingwithinallchannelsthatfunctionas“gates”

(Lewin,1947;1951).Thesegatesarecontrolledby“gatekeepers”thatdetermine

whichinformationgets“in”and“out.”Beforeanewsstoryisreleaseditgoes

throughvariousphasesofselectionanddiscarding,tofilterthroughinformationto

bereleased(White,1950).Afterthelongprocess,thefinalproductultimatelycomes

downtooneperson,one“gatekeeper,”whowilldeterminewhichnewsstorieswill

makeupboththefrontandproceedingpages(White,1950).

Scholarshavenotedrecentchangeswithinnewsorganizationswithrespect

tosocialmedia,bothwithmaintainingtheirownsocialmediapresenceand

incorporatingsocialmediaintonewsdissemination(e.g.Lasorsa,Lewis,&Holton,

2011;Lee&Ma,2012;Paulussen&Harder,2014;Thelwall,2008).Theoriginal

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notionsofgatekeepingtheoryputeditorialautonomyattheforefront,with

journalistsneedingtoprotecttheirworkfromthegovernment,advertisers,and

audiences(Shoemaker&Voss,2009).Withtheintegrationofsocialmediaintonews

practices,journalistsarenowcontendingwithaninfluenceoftheaudienceonthe

constructionofnews(Tandoc&Vos,2015),leadingtoimplicationsonthelink

betweenroleandbehavior(seeDonsbach,2008;Shoemaker&Reese,2014).Media

sociologyresearchfocusedongatekeepingtheoryhasidentifiedcrowdsourcing(e.g.

Poell&Borra,2012),audiencemembersdisseminatingcontent(Thorson,2008),

andaudiencestailoringcontent(Tandoc&Vos,2015)asthemainpatternsof

audiencesbecomingpartofthenewsprocess,forcingjournaliststoadaptoldand

accommodatenewroutines.

Themedialandscapehaschangedsignificantlyovertheyears,evolvingand

becominglargerandmorecomplex.Mediahavetransformedfrombasic

newspapersandtelevisionintoelectronicnewspapersaccessibleallovertheworld

andhundredsoftelevisionchannelsofferingavarietyofcontent.Withthe

expansionofmediaalsocomemoreoptionsandthereforeaneedformore

competitivenewspackagesforeverynewsoutlet.Theneedtofillnewsholesand

theintensityofcompetitionhavemovednewscontentawayfromthetraditional

idealofobjectivity(Edgerly,2015;Shoemaker&Reese,1996).Thesheervolumeof

mediaexposurecallsforadrasticchangeingatekeepingrolestoselectnewsto

enticealargernumberofaudiencemembers.Overtheyearsgatekeepinghasalso

evolvedtotakeintoaccountthenetworkednatureofoursociety.

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NetworkedGatekeeping

NetworkGatekeepingTheory(NGT)(Barzilai-Nahon,2004)wasdeveloped

toadapttheconceptsofgatekeepingandgatekeeperstoanetworkedsociety

(Barzilai-Nahon,2005).Alsoknownasnetworkedgatekeeping(Meraz&

Papacharissi,2013),NGToccurswhenthemajorityworktogether,notnecessarily

intentionally,becomingthegatekeeperofaparticularoutletbycollectivelydeciding

andfilteringwhatinformationgetsthroughandwhatdoesnot(Barzilai-Nahon,

2008).Theconceptofnetworkgatekeepingcanbedefinedas“theprocessthrough

whichactorsarecrowdsourcedtoprominencethroughtheuseofconversational,

socialpracticesthatsymbioticallyconnecteliteandcrowdinthedeterminationof

informationrelevancy”(Meraz&Papacharissi,2013,pp.21).Thismeansthatany

individualorgroup,workingseparatelyortogether,regardlessoftheirstatusor

credibility,caninfluencewhatinformationisrelevantandplayaroleindetermining

whoandwhatrisestoprominenceinanetworkedsociety.

Althoughtheconceptsofgatekeepingweresimplyadaptedfornewmedia,

thereareimportantdifferencesbetweenthetraditionalconceptofgatekeepingand

networkgatekeeping.Inthecaseofnetworks,gatekeepingshouldbethoughtofas

“atypeofcontrolexercisedoninformationasitmovesinandoutofvirtualgates”

(Barzilai-Nahon&Neumann,2005,pp.7).Unlikebefore,informationisnowmoving

inandoutofvirtualgatesratherthandirectlyflowinginonedirectionfrommedia

toaudience.Themany-to-manymodelofcommunicationthathasdevelopedasa

resultofthedevelopmentsintechnologyandcomputer-mediatedcommunication

hasalsochangedthemodelofgatekeeping(Coddington&Holton,2014).Themost

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significantdifferenceingatekeepingwithinanetworkisthattherolesof

gatekeepersandthegatedarerepeatedlyexchanged,eliminatingthetraditional

sender-receiverrelationship(Barzilai-Nahon&Neumann,2005).Thegatedis

anothertermfortheaudience,orthosetowhomthemessagewasintended.

Traditionalgatekeepingindicatedthatthegatedhavenocontrol,butNGTsaysthat

boththegatekeeperandthegatedcanhavepowerovertheflowofinformation

(Barzilai-Nahon,2008).NetworkGatekeepingTheoryacknowledgesthesignificance

ofthegatedinacontinuallynegotiatedrelationshipbecause,withinthenetwork

context,theaudiencecannowproduceanddisseminateinformationaswell

(Coddington&Holton,2014).

NetworkGatekeepingTheory(Barzilai-Nahon,2004)wasdevelopedasa

lensthroughwhichwemayexaminepowerrelationsontheInternet,inorderto

conceptualize“thedistributionofinformationandprocessesofinformationcontrol”

(Barzilai-Nahon,2004,p.1).Themodificationofgatekeepingtoaccommodatea

networkedsocietyhasenabledresearcherstoanalyzeandbetterunderstandthe

flowofinformationontheInternet,sociallyandtechnically(Barzilai-Nahon,2008).

NetworkGatekeepingpresentsamodelthatisapplicablebeyondtherelatively

narroweditorialgatekeepingconceptofmasscommunicationresearch(Coddington

&Holton,2010).Thisallowstheimpactofordinaryuserstobemeasuredjustasthe

agendasettingaffectsofjournalistscanbemeasured(Meraz&Papacharissi,2013).

WithintheInternet,thecrowdsourcingofinformationleadstothesending,

receiving,andremixingofinformationrenderinganetworkedflowofinformation

andactivity(Meraz&Papacharissi,2013).Althoughtheremaybedifferent

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designatedgatekeepersfordifferentoutletsandmediaultimatelytheir

collaborativedecisionswillhavethegreatestimpactontheaudience(Riffeet.al.,

1986).Networkgatekeepinghasalsochangedthewaythatprominenceisachieved;

elitestatusnowemergesbasedonpopularitythatisdeterminedbythecrowd

(Meraz&Papacharissi,2013).AneedforpoweroutsideoftheInternetisnot

necessaryforanindividualortheirmessagetorisetoprominencewithina

networkedsociety.

GatekeepingLevels

Themanylevelsofnetworkgatekeepingprovideinsightintotheselection

processfornews.Newsgoesthroughmanypeople,orgatekeepers,beforeitis

publishedoraired.Gatekeepersaretheforcesthateitherfacilitateorconstrain

itemsastheyattempttopassthroughthegatekeepingprocess(Shoemaker,

Eichholz,Kim,&Wrigley,2001).Inthesimplestformofnetworkgatekeeping,

informationisfirstprovidedbythenewssource,thenitisgiventothereporter,and

thenaneditoramendscontentbeforeitisreleased,passingthroughmany

gatekeepersbeforereachingthegeneralpublic(Applegate,2008).Network

gatekeepinginvolvesmanyindividualsrevisingandrecirculatinginformationtothe

public.Therearemanylevelsofnetworkgatekeepingthatinfluencetheselectionof

informationinthegatekeepingprocess,includingindividualforces,routines,

organizationalandinstitutionalinfluences,andtheaudience(Barzilai-Nahon&

Neumann,2005;Shoemaker,1996;Shoemakeret.al.,2001).White(1950)and

Breed(1955)pioneeredtheideasofgatekeepinglevelsbyestablishingtwodifferent

influencesthataffectthenewsselection,orgatekeeping,process.Bycallingnews

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productionintoquestion,newsmovesfrombeingamanufacturedproducttobeing

acarefullyconstructed,systematicproductdevelopedbyacommunicatoror

“gatekeeper”(Reese&Ballinger,2001).

Individual

Thefirstlevelorfactorthatinfluencesnetworkgatekeepingistheindividual

fromwhichthecontentorinformationoriginates.Journalists,oranyproducersof

information,mayselectinformationthatpromotestheirownviewsandisthus

biasedinsomeway,thereforebecomingthefirstfilterinachainofgatekeeping

agents(Applegate,2008).Bystudyingcommentsofawireeditoronrejectedstories,

White(1950)wasabletodeterminethatgatekeepingisasubjectiveprocessthat

requiresvaluejudgment.Theindividuallevelofgatekeepingisimportantto

examinebecausemanybelievethatjournalistbiasoccursatthislevelbasedonthe

journalist’sattitudes,values,andbeliefs(Cassidy,2006).Theindividual’sreasons

forselectingcertaininformationarelikelytobeinfluencedbytheirownpreferences

amongotherthings.Previousstudiesofgatekeepingstatethatgatekeepers

primarilyrejectinformationforthreereasons:personalfeelings,insufficientspace,

andwhetherthestoryhasappearedbefore(Barzilai-Nahon&Neumann,2005).

Whilefactorslikespaceandrepetitivecoveragealsohaveinfluence,personal

attitudesandbeliefsaretypicallythefocusoftheindividuallevelofgatekeeping.

Routines

Routines,thenextlevelofthegatekeepingprocess,canbedefinedas

“patterned,routinized,andrepeatedpracticesandformsthatmediaworkersuseto

dotheirjobs”(Shoemaker&Reese,1996,pp.105).Therepetitiveprocessreporters

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andjournalistsfollowoftenhasinfluenceoverthenewsandinformationselected

fordissemination(Cassidy,2006).Amongthemanyroutinesthatjournalistsare

programmedtofollow,thepatternofcomposinganewspackageisoneofthemost

prominent.Breed(1955)examinedhownewsreportersbegantomakedecisions

aboutthenewstheywerereportingbasedonpreviousandanticipatedcomments

byeditors.Thisstudyconcludedthateditorsmakecommentsandadjustmentsthat

intentionallyteachreportershowtoconstructanidealnewspackage,thus

developingaroutineforthemtofollowwhenselectingnews(Breed,1955).News

selectionisoftenaresultofgatekeepersmakingdecisionsbasedontheirmental

imageofthe“ideal”newspackage(Riffeet.al.,1986).Certainvaluesarerequiredof

eventstobenewsworthy:conflict,progressordisaster,consequence,eminenceor

prominence,novelty,timelinessorproximity,andsex.Thesevaluesmakeanevent

newsworthybecausetheyinterruptthestatusquoorappealtoreaders,andthe

idealmixofthemcomposesanattractivenewspackage(Applegate,2008).Ofallthe

levelsofgatekeeping,researchershaveconcludedthatroutineforcesarebetter

predictorsofwhatwillbecomenewsthanotherfactors(Shoemakeret.al.,2001).

Organizational&Institutional

Somelargerlevelsofnetworkgatekeepingincludeboththeorganizational

andinstitutionallevels.Theorganizationallevelreferstointernalfactorsofan

organizationalongwithagroup’sdecision-makingpatterns(Bantz,1990),whilethe

institutionallevelfocusesoncharacteristicssuchasmarketforcesandpolitical

alliances(Donohue,Olien,&Tichenor,1989).Theselevelsarebasicallycontrolled

bythevaluesandgoalsoftheorganizationcoupledwiththoseofoutside

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stakeholders.Advertisersmaydemandtoprovidemoneyonlyifcertainstoriesare

oraren’taired(Applegate,2008).Largemediaoutletsstillruletheagendaof

worldwidenewsandlocalmediaoutletsarestilllargelydrivenorpredisposedto

theagendaofmajornewsoutlets(Bui,2010).Manyoutletsmaydisseminate

information,butthefewlargemediaconglomeratesandtheiradvertisershavea

significantimpactontheselectionofinformation.

Audience

Theaudiencethatinformationistargetedatisanotherlevelofnetwork

gatekeeping.Gramsci(1971)calledthislevelthesocialsystemlevelbecauseit

encompassestheimpactofideologyandcultureongatekeeping.Becauseideology

andculturearereflectedinthepopulation,theaudienceisthesocialsystem.

DiakopoulosandZubiaga(2014)pointoutthatastrongsocialpresencebynews

publisherswillallowthemtoengagethecommunityandrecruitreadersasnetwork

gatekeeperswhowillfurtherpromoteandsharetheirnews.User-to-user

communicationthatrecirculatesinformationisconsideredanimportantpartofthis

stepofthegatekeepingprocess(Kwonet.al.,2012).Withnewmediaadvances,

journalistsandreportersareselectinginformationbasedonitslikelihoodtobe

“retweeted”andre-circulatedontheInternetbytheiraudience,primarilythrough

socialmediasites(MoonandHadley,2014).

SocialMedia&NGT

AccordingtoNetworkGatekeepingTheory,everysocialmediauserisa

gatekeeperwiththeauthoritytodecidewhichinformationtheywillshare

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(Diakopoulos&Zubiaga,2014).ManyresearchershaveanalyzedTwitterasan

audiencegatekeepingchannel(Coddington&Holton,2014;Diakopoulos&Zubiaga,

2014;Greer&Furguson,2011;Hermida,2015;Kwonet.al.,2012;e.g.).Socialmedia

allowsallaudiencememberstofilterinformationbysharingandpromotingonly

certainpiecesofinformation(Meraz&Papacharissi,2013).Networkgatekeeping

researchershavemadeadistinctionbetweentwotypesofsocialmediausers,elite

andnon-eliteusers.Theideaofanelitesocialmediauseroccurswhenan

individual’sideasandopinionsarecrowdsourcedtoprominenceortheuserholds

somepoweroutsideofjusttheInternet,whilenon-eliteusersarelargelyunnoticed

bytherestofasite’susers(Hermida,2015).

MediaplatformslikeTwitterallownewsstationstoprovideviewerswith

informationinrealtimeandincreaseloyaltytothestation(Geer&Ferguson,2011).

However,althoughtraditionalnewsorganizationshavetakentosocialmedia,

researchershavefoundthatTwitterandothersocialmediaaudiencesaremore

likelytorelyonuser-generatedinformation(Kwonet.al.,2012).Individualswho

inheritpowerfromoutsidestructuresmaynotremaininfluentialonsocialmedia

(Hermida,2015).Poweronsocialmediaisalwayschanging,beingassignedand

reassignedconstantly.Journalistsmayormaynotbeconsideredeliteusersbased

onwhetherornotthecrowdmovesthemtoprominence,notbasedonoutside

power(Hermida,2015).

SocialMediaasNews

Powerisnolongerinthehandsofmediamonopolyfollowingtheriseof

socialmediaandactiveaudiences-“usersofdigitalmediawhointeractthrough

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participatorymechanismsmadeavailabletothembynewscompanies

(Masip,Gullar,Suasu,Ruiz-Caballero,&Peralta,2015).Withnewsviewingviathe

Internetgrowing,consumersaredevelopingamorefluidpatternofviewingacross

platforms,causingnewsnetworkstoadaptmethodsthattakeadvantageofthis

cross-viewership(Layfayette,2015).Newsstationsarechoosingtogather

informationbasedontrendingtopicsonsocialmediainordertobetteradaptto

audiencepreferences;however,40%ofnewsaffiliatesdonothaveproceduresin

placetoregulateinformationretrievedthroughsocialmedia,despiteissueswith

reliabilityofinformation(Marzalek,2016).Eck(2015)reportedthatNBCaffiliate

KGETevendevelopedspecialsegmentsbasedonlyonviewers’socialmediaposts

andresponses.

Newsstationsareincreasinglyturningtosocialmediaforinformationand

evenviewercontentandopinions(Masip,et.al.,2015).Professionaljournalistsare

turningsocialmediafriendsintonewsgatekeepersbyinvitingthepublictoshare

anddeveloptheirownopinionsandcontent(Masip,Gullar,Suasu,Ruiz-Caballero,&

Peralta,2015).Greeley(2016)reportsthatnewsbrandsarenolongerincontrolbut

arenowownedbytheaudience;theyarewhotheaudiencesaystheyare.Some

networksareturningtosocialmediatomonitorviewers’emotionalreactionsto

particulartelevisionshows(Sameraro,2016).Byallowingviewerstoexpresstheir

opinionsandshareoriginalcontent,participationisshiftedfrommedia-controlled

platformstoopenplatforms,indicatingashiftinpower(Masip,et.al.,2015).

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MorningNewsProgramming

NBC’stheTodayshowpavedthewayformorningnewsprogramming,butis

nowcompetitivelyrivaleddailybyABC’sGoodMorningAmerica(GMA)(Ariens,

2016;Steinberg,2014;Stelter,2015;Stelter,2016;Tennant,2015).Todayfirstaired

in1952andwasdevelopedbyPatWeavertobean“electronicnewspaper”(Stelter,

2016).InanefforttochallengeviewershipofNBC,ABCalsodevelopedamorning

newsprogramthateventuallylaunchedasGoodMorningAmericain1975(Steleter,

2015).BecauseGMAwasdevelopedafterToday,itsstructureandsegmentsmirror

thatofToday,whichmadeitdifficultforGMAtoestablishitsownidentityearlyon

(Stelter,2015).AccordingtoIMDB(n.d)bothshowsfeatureapanelofco-anchors

reportingnewslivefromNewYorkCitycoveringaspectrumoftopicsincluding

breakingnews,liveinterviews,weather,andspeciallifestylesegments.

Sinceitsinvention,Todayhasairedatseveno’clockEasternStandardTime

eachmorning,buteventuallyexpandedfromtwohourstofour.Eachshowstarted

withasegmentWeaver,producerofToday,called“TodayinTwoMinutes”thatgave

abriefsynopsisofthenewsforthedayandrepeatedeveryhalfhour(Stelter,2016).

GMAfollowedthispattern,alsoairingfromseventonineinthemorningand

operatingonhalf-hournewsincrements(Stelter,2015).Likewise,TodayandGMA

havespecialsegmentsdedicatedtothesametypesofinformation.Todayhasa

segmentknownas“PopStart”andGMAcallstheirs“PopFix,”butbothare

dedicatedtodiscussingnewsregardingcelebritiesandpopculture.Thetwoalso

sharespecialsegmentsdedicatedtodiscussionsonandofsocialmedia;Todaycalls

theirsegmentthe“OrangeRoom”andGMAreferringtotheirsas“SocialSquare.”

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Perhapsasaresultoftheirlikeness,TodayandGMAdominatetheratingsof

morningnewsprogramming,frequentlytradingnumberonefinishes(Tennant,

2015).

SweepsProgramming

SweepsprogrammingoccursduringthetimesoftheyearwhenNielsen

MediaResearchsurveystelevision-viewinghabits(Fletcher,2009;Kenneally,2014;

Fletcher,2009).Fourtimesofyearforfour-weekperiodsNeilsonsendsout

“diaries”forviewerstorecordwhattheywatchontelevisionduringthatperiodof

time(Trex,2011).ThesefourperiodstakeplaceduringthemonthsofFebruary,

May,July,andNovember,andprovidedatathatwilldetermineadvertisingratesfor

localtelevisionstations(Kenneally,2014).Becauseadvertisingdollarsdependso

heavilyonviewershipratingsduringthistime,showssavetheirbestcontentfor

theseperiods(Fletcher,2009).Althoughthisisatimetypicallyassociatedwiththe

mostdramaticplottwistsofyourfavoriteweeklyshows,sweepsperiodsalsoaffect

newsprogramsandtheirneedtogetmoreviewers.AlthoughGMAandTodayhave

beentradingofffirstplacefinishesinthemorningnewscategory,Todaystill

remainstherevenueleaderofmorningprogramming(Matsa,2015;Tennant,2015).

Thegatekeepingprocesshasevolvedovertheyears,adaptingfortechnology

andchangesincommunicationflow.Networkgatekeepingstatesthatina

networkedsocietywithhighaccesstoInternetandtechnology,informationisno

longerbeingsentonewaybutisinsteadconstantlyexchanged.Nowthatthegated,

oraudiencemembers,canalsoproduceinformationgatekeepingisnolongeraone-

wayprocess.Byallowingaudiencememberstoparticipateinthenewsselection

15

processthroughsocialmedia,reportersandproducersareintegratingtheaudience

intothegatekeepingprocess.Populoustelevisionnewsprogrammingcanprovidea

foundationforstudyingtheideaoftheaudienceparticipatingingatekeeping

throughsocialmedia.BasedonpreviousresearchofNetworkGatekeepingand

socialmedia,inadditiontotheobservationofGMAandToday,thisstudywillbe

basedonthefollowinghypotheses:

H1:Atleasthalfofnewssegmentsonmorningtelevisioncontainsome

typeofreferencetosocialmedia.

H2:Picturesand/orvideospostedtosocialmediawillbediscussedor

displayedmorefrequentlyonairthantheopinionsofviewersorplaintext

posts.

H3:Popularorpopculturenewsandpoliticalnewsaremorelikelytocontain

socialmediareferencesthanbreakingnewsandlocalorregionalnews.

H4:Celebritysocialmediapostsaremorelikelytobedisplayedonairduring

newssegmentsthanpostsofnon-celebrityusers.

H5:Sweepsprogrammingwillfeaturesignificantlymoresocialmedia

referencesthannon-sweepsprogramming.

H6:Sweepsprogrammingwillfeaturesignificantlymorediscussionabout

socialmediapostings.

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Chapter3:Method

UtilizingNetworkGatekeepingTheory(Barzilai-Nahon,2004;Barzilai-Nahon

&Nuemann,2005;Barzilai-Nahon,2006;Barzilai-Nahon,2008;Meraz&

Papacharissi;2005),thisstudysoughttoinvestigatehowthepopulartelevision

newsshowsTodayandGoodMorningAmerica(GMA)incorporatesocialmedia

contentbyexpressingopinionsorideasofsocialmediausersandsharingcontent

viasocialmedia.Giventhemethodologyofpreviousresearch(Arceneaux,Noah,&

Weiss;Fox,Angelini,&Goble,2005;Hester&Dougall,2007;McElroy,2013;Riffe,et.

al.1986),aquantitativeanalysisofmorningnewscontentwasconductedtotestthe

hypotheses(Buschow,Schneider,&Ueberheide,2014).Overthecourseoftwo

weeksbothTodayandGoodMorningAmerica(GMA)havebeenexaminedandcoded

forreferencestosocialmediaengagement(Connolly-Ahern,Ahern,&Bortree,2009;

Dixon,Azocar,&Casas,2003).Referencestosocialmediaincludehostsmentioning

postsalreadymadetosocialmedia,newsspreadthroughsocialmediaoutlets,and

requestsforviewerstoparticipateinsocialmediaengagementeventsaspartofthe

broadcast.McElroy(2013)foundthatproducersareselectiveindeterminingwhich

usercontentthenetworkmayuse,whichmayprovideinsightintothepotential

differencesinnetworks.

Sample

ThepopularmorningtelevisionnewsshowsTodayandGMAwereanalyzed

forthesakeofthisstudyduetocommonstructure,audiences,andairtimes.Other

showssuchasCBSThisMorningwerenotincludedduetolimitedtime.Accordingto

VarietyMagazineandTheDailyBeast,GMAandTodayarethetwomostpopular

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morningtelevisionnewsshows(Hod,2012;Steinberg,2014).Asampleoftwofive-

dayweekswillbeusedforthepurposesofthisstudy,oneweekoccurringduringa

sweepsperiodandoneduringanon-sweepsperiod.Weekendprogrammingwas

notincludedduetodifferentcontent,staff,hosts,andstructure.Theshowsusedin

thissampleairedApril11-15,2016,andMay2-6,2016.Duringcoding,showswere

notviewedlive,butplayedbackusingHuluandOnDemand.

OnlythefirsttwoofthefourhoursofTodaywerecodedalongwiththefull

two-hourGMAshows.ThelasttwohoursofTodaystandasseparateshowsknown

as“Today’sTake”and“KathieLeeGiffordandHoda.”ThefirsttwohoursofToday

werealsoselectedduetotheirsimilaritywithGMAincontentandstructure.The

unitofanalysisforthisstudyiseachnewssegmentorclipofTodayandGMA.Each

segmentofeveryshowintheselectedtimeframehasbeencodedindividually,

segmentsbeingdividedbasedoneverytopicchange.Thetitleofeachnewssegment

isalsodisplayedatthebottomofthescreenduringeachshow;thereforeasegment

changecanalsobedeterminedbasedonthetitlechange.

CodingProcedures

Thisstudyexaminesthenumberofsocialmediareferencesmadeinregard

toTodayandGMA,whichsocialmediaoutletsarereferenced,whetheranyspecific

individualsocialmediaaccountsarerepeatedlyreferenced,thetypesofpostsand

references,andwhichsocialmediausers’postsgetselectedonair.Theunitof

analysisisindividualnewssegments,separatedbytopic.Eachsegmenthasbeen

codedbasedon12variablesstartingwithasimpledistinctionofcoder,airdate,and

show.

18

Thenexttwovariablescategorizethetopicsforeachnewssegment.Foreach

segment,codershavewrittenoutthetitleofthenewssegmentdisplayedonscreen

(e.g.“ClintonBouncesBackinNevada”).Allsegmentshavealsobeencategorized

andcodedaccordingtothecategoryinwhichthetopicfits(e.g.breakingnews,

politicalnews,localorregionalnews,popularnews,specialsegment,orweather).

Thecategorizationoftopicsallowsforinsightintothetypesofnewssegmentsthat

aremorelikelytoreferencesocialmedia.

Segmentsreferencingsocialmediawerefurthercodedinordertodetermine

exactlyhowsocialmediaisreferenced.Itisimportanttodeterminehowsocial

mediaisreferencedinordertounderstandwhyitwasmentioned.Networks

primarilyusesocialmediaasameanstokeepingviewersengaged,soobserving

howtheyusesocialmediatodothiswillprovideinsightintoviewerparticipation

(Cameron&Geidner,2014).First,coderssimplycodedforwhetherornotasocial

mediasitewasreferencedduringthenewssegment.Ifnosocialmediasitewas

referenced,thecodingforthatsegmentwillendhere.

Next,codershaveindicatedtheexactsocialmediasitethatisreferencedor

indicatedthattherewasnospecificsitementioned(Facebook,Twitter,Instagram,

Pinterest,Reddit,other,ornotspecified).Ifsocialmediawasreferenced,codersalso

codedwhetherthereferencewastoaspecificpost,requestingsocialmedia

participation,ordirectingviewerstothenetwork’ssocialmediaaccount(s).

Ifaspecificindividualcontentpostwasdisplayedonscreen,thepostwas

codedforthefollowing:Anyhashtags,wordswith#infrontofthemusedfor

grouping(e.g.#GMAonSafari),includedintheon-airreferencewerewrittenout

19

duringthecodingprocess.Hashtagsareoftenassignedbythenetworkandeither

announcedordisplayedonairtogroupviewerfeedback(Buschow&Scheider,

2014).Whenasegmentincludesareferencetospecificsocialmediapost,ithasalso

beencodedforwhattypeofaccountpostedit.Accountswerecategorizedintothe

categoriesbasedonthetypeofaccountandwhomtheaccountbelongsto(personal

vieweraccount,personalcelebrityaccount,organizationorbusinessaccount,

network’saccount,orothernotspecifiedaccount).Thecontentoftheposts

displayedwerecodedbasedonwhetheritcontainssimpletext,pictureormeme,

video,hyperlink,orother.Likewise,ifthereferencerequestedsocialmedia

participation,participationtypehasbeencodedforopinion,picturesorvideos,or

contestentry.Assessingthecontentofthepostswilldeterminewhattypeofcontent

thenetworkislookingfororfocusingon.

IntercoderReliability

Thisstudyutilizedtwocoderstoensurethatbiasdoesnotinfluenceresults.

IntercoderreliabilitywasbetestedtofindtheKappa,havingeachcodercode20%

ofthesampleandusingthoseresultsforcomparison.Onlyonecodercodedthe

entiresample.Overallreliabilityforthesamplewasκ=.84,anacceptablelevelof

reliability.Individuallevelsofkappaincludeshow(κ=1.00),newstype(κ=.81),

socialmediareferenced(κ=.96),socialmediasitereferenced(κ=.89),typeof

socialmediareference(κ=.86),hastagsused(κ=.85),socialmediaaccounttype

posted(κ=.84),typeofcontentposted(κ=.90),andtypeofparticipationrequested

(κ=.88).

20

Chapter4:Results

Throughout20episodesofTodayandGMA,atotalof575newssegments

wererecorded,anaverageofapproximately29segmentsperepisode.Withineach

episode,newssegmentsareconsideredachangeinthenewstopic,usually

displayedatthebottomofthescreen.Eachindividualnewssegmentwascodedfor

ifandhowsocialmediawasreferenced.Thesampleconsistsof10episodesofeach

show,TodayandGMA,fiveofwhichairedduringanon-sweepsseasonandfivefrom

asweepsseason.

H1predictedthatatleasthalfofnewssegmentsonmorningtelevisionwould

containsometypeofreferencetosocialmedia.Only19%ofthenewssegmentsin

thesamplecontainedareferencetosocialmedia.Referenceswerecountedasany

mentionofsocialmediaoraspecificsocialmediasiteduringanewssegment.Table

1showsthefrequenciesofsocialmediareferencesinnewssegments(H1)onToday

andGMA.

<InsertTable1abouthere>

H2predictedthatpicturesand/orvideospostedtosocialmediawouldbe

discussedordisplayedmorefrequentlyonairthantheopinionsofviewersorplain

textposts.Achi-squaredidnotfindastatisticallysignificancedifferencebetween

picturesandvideosversusopinionsandplaintextpostsχ2(2,N=76)=2.654p

=0.265.

<InsertTable2abouthere>

H3predictedthatpopularorpopculturenewsandpoliticalnewsaremore

likelytocontainsocialmediareferencesthanbreakingnewsandlocalorregional

21

news.Tablethreeshowshowtheoccurrenceofsocialmediareferencesaccordingto

thetypeofnewsdiscussedduringthesegment.Achisquarefoundastatistically

significantdifferencebetweenthetypesofnewssegmentsandreferencestosocial

mediaχ2(5,N=578)17.001p<.0045.Popularandpoliticalnewshadagreater

numberofsocialmediareferencesthanothertypesofnews.

<InsertTable3abouthere>

H4predictedthatsocialmediapostsofcelebritiesaremorelikelytobe

displayedand/ordiscussedonairthanthoseofotherusers.Achisquarefounda

statisticallysignificancedifferencebetweenthesocialmediapostsdiscussedonair

andthetypeofaccountthatpostedthemχ2(6,N=77)78.027p<.0001.Ofthe

specificpostsdiscussed,themajoritywasfromcelebrityaccounts.

<InsertTable4abouthere>

H5predictedthatsweepsprogrammingwouldfeaturesignificantlymore

socialmediareferencesthannon-sweepsprogramming.Achisquaredidnotfinda

statisticallysignificancedifferencebetweenthedateanepisodeairedand

referencestosocialmediaχ2(9,N=578)9.121p<.4264.

<InsertTable5abouthere>

H6predictedthatsweepsprogrammingwouldfeaturesignificantlymore

discussionaboutsocialmediapostings.Achisquaredidnotfindastatistically

significancedifferencebetweenthedateanepisodeairedandreferencestosocial

mediaχ2(36,N=578)35.255p<.5038.

<InsertTable6abouthere>

22

Chapter5:Discussion

Thisstudysoughttoexplorethepresenceofsocialmediapostsand

referencesonpopularmorningtelevisionnewsthroughthelensofNetworked

GatekeepingTheory.Byfocusingonthefrequencyandtypesofsocialmediaposts

andactivitythatarediscussedonair,insightcanbegainedintohowmorningnews

outletsareincorporatingaudiencesocialmediausage,potentiallyaltering

traditionalgatekeepingroles.Theresultsofthisstudydemonstratehowsocial

mediaisbeginningtobeintegratedintomorningnewsprogramming.

Thefirsthypothesispredictedthatatleasthalfofthenewssegmentson

popularmorningtelevisioncontainareferencetosocialmedia.Datadidnotconfirm

thishypothesis,butthepresenceofsocialmediaexistedinsmallmeasurein

morningnewsprogramming.Nearly20%ofthenewssegmentscodedcontained

sometypeofreferencetosocialmedia.Thisresultcouldsuggestthatactivityon

socialmediaisbeginningtochangethewaythatnewsisselectedanddiscussed.

Whentheaudiencesofthesemorningnewsprogramscrowdsourceinformationto

prominence,gatekeepersoftheseprogramsseemtobetakingnotice.Some

segments,likethoseoccurringin“PopStart”--segmentdedicatedtoPopularfigures

andcelebrities-duringToday,maynothaveotherwisebeenconsidered“news”but

wereincludedinmorningprogrammingduetotheirpopularityonsocialmedia.

Theseresultscouldalsoindicateanincreasingnumberofviewers

participatingindiscussionwhilewatching.ProluxandShepatin(2012)foundthat

around65%ofviewersengagesocialmediawhilewatchingtelevision,giving

producersandreportersanopportunitytogatherfeedbackinrealtime.However,

23

asMasipet.al.,(2015)haveindicated,socialmediaisnowatoolthatallows

audiencestoparticipateinnewsselectionpriortotheairingofprograms.Thesmall-

scaleintegrationofsocialmedianewscouldindicatethatthisisexactlywhatis

happening;reportersmaybelookingtosocialmediatodecidewhattheyshould

discussonair.

Althoughtheresultsofthechi-squarewerenotstatisticallysignificant,56%

ofspecificpostsdisplayedwerephotoandvideoratherthanpostscontainingon

text.WiththeinventionofSnapchat,Instagram,YouTube,andothervisualsocial

mediasites,societymaybegrowingaccustomedtohavingvisualspartofevery

discussion(Lafayette,2016).Visualsareoftenpreferredtowordsortext,hencethe

reasonfortheirpopularityonandofftheInternetandtelevision.AccordingtoNGT,

socialmediapostsandideasrisetoprominencebybeing“liked”andsharedby

otherusers.Thisisanexampleofhowsocialmediausersworktogethertofunction

asacollectivegatekeeperofinformation.Becausephotosandvideosaremost

“liked,”shared,anddiscussedonsocialmedia,thismayalsomakethemmorelikely

tobediscussedthroughothermediumsliketelevision.

Resultsshowedthatwhetherornotsocialmediawasreferenceddepended

onthetypeofnewsdiscussedineachsegment.Newsaboutpoliticsorpopular

culturewasmorelikelytocontainareferencetosocialmediathanbreakingnewsor

localandregionalnews.Politicalandpopculturenewssegmentsmaycontainmore

socialmediareferencesbecausetheyaremostdiscussedonsocialmedia.Social

mediaisoftenwherethegeneralpopulationgoestosharetheiropinionsaboutwhat

ishappeningintheworld,andthepresidentialelectioncurrentlyplaysahugerole

24

onwhatisbeingdiscussed.Likewise,newsthatbecomesmainstreamorpopularis

frequentlysharedanddiscussedonsocialmedia,providingnewdetailstobe

discussedonair.Alsoitmaybesuggestedthatbreakingnewscontainsfewer

referencestosocialmediaduetocredibilityissues.AsFarhi(2013)discussed,

reportinginformationfromsocialmediatooquicklycanleadtothereportingof

misinformation.Discussingsocialmediaconversationaboutbreakingnewsmaybe

difficultduetotheinabilitytoconfirmtheaccuracyofinformationsoquickly.For

example,in2013coverageofaNavyyardshootingwasairedbymanynewsstations

allreportingdifferentandinaccuratedetailsbasedonunconfirmedreportsfrom

varioussources(Farhi,2013;Sudduth,2013).Breakingnewsoftendominatessocial

media,butitcanbedifficulttoevaluatethevalidityoftheinformationwithsomuch

beingdisseminatedatonce.AfterinstancessuchastheNavyyardshooting,news

outletsmaybemoremindfulofthesourcestheyselectduringbreakingnews

events.

Thenumberofsocialmediareferencespresentineachtypeofnewssegment

isindicativeoftheinterestsofsocialmediausers.Becausetherearemore

referencestosocialmediaduringpoliticalandpopularnews,itmaybeassumed

thattherearemoresocialmediapostsonthesesubjects.Althoughtheyarenot

alwaysreliable,reportersoftenlooktotrendingtopicsonsocialmediatogather

informationtocoveronair(Marzalek,2016).Accordingtotheresultsofthisstudy,

overthecourseoftwoweeks,therewerenearlythreetimesasmanysegments

regardingpopularcultureandpoliticsthanthosereferringtobreakingnewsorlocal

news.Audiencemembers,orsocialmediausers,discussandshareinformationthey

25

findmostimportant,thereforemovingparticulartopicsorideastoprominence

makingthemmorelikelytobediscussedduringthosetelevisionnewssegments.

Aspredicted,therewasmorecelebritypostsdiscussedordisplayedonair

thanpostsofnon-celebritysocialmediausers.Althoughtheresultsofthistestwere

statisticallysignificant,threepostsisnotalargedifference.Alogicaldeductionfrom

thisresultcouldbethatcelebritieshavemoresocialmediafollowersandare

thereforemorelikelytohavetheirsocialmediapostsrisetoprominence.According

toNetworkGatekeepingTheory,theaudiencemovesmessagestoprominenceby

collectivelysharing,re-sharing,anddiscussingthesamestoriesandideas(Meraz&

Papacharissi,2013).Sincecelebritieshavealargevolumeoffollowersandtherefore

havemoreusersviewingtheircontentwhenitisposted,itismuchmorelikelythat

theirideas,stories,andphotosgetmovedtoprominence.However,wealsoliveina

societythatiscelebrityobsessedandnomatterhowinsignificantaneventintheir

lifemayseem,itstillhastheabilityto“breaktheinternet.”Becausesomanypeople

areconcernedwiththelivesandsocialmediapostsofcelebrities,thesestories

becomeprominentandstartinfiltratingothermediasuchastelevisionnews.

Televisionprogrammingisoftenselectedbasedonthetimeofyearitis,or

whetherthedatefallswithinasweepsornon-sweepsperiod.Becauseratingsand

advertisingdollarsaredeterminedduringsweepsperiods,networksusuallytryto

puttheirbestcontentoutduringtheseperiods(Fletcher,2009).Withinthetwo

weeksexamined,therewerenosignificantdifferencesintheamountofsocialmedia

betweenthesweepsperiodandnon-sweepsperiod.Resultsdidshowthatthe

sweepsperiodcontainedaslightlyhigherpercentageofsocialmediareferences,but

26

thedifferencebetweensweepsandnon-sweepsprogrammingwasonly1%.Thisis

surprisingbecausetelevisionshowsusuallydomoretoincreaseviewingduring

sweepsperiods,whichmaysuggestthatsocialmediapostsarenotasinvitingas

predicted.Instead,theseresultsmaysuggestthatmorningnewsprogramminglooks

tosocialmediatofillleftoverairtime,ratherthanasatooltogainmoreviewers.

Thiscouldindicatethattraditionalgatekeepingisstillmoreprevalentthan

networkedgatekeepingandaudiencenewsselectionislimitedwhenitcomesto

increasingviewership.

Althoughsweepsperiodsdidnotcontainsignificantlymoresocialmedia

references,theyweremorelikelytocontaindiscussionofspecificsocialmediaposts

thanrequestsforparticipationorreferencestothenetwork’ssocialmediapage.

Thisresultmaybebecausesocialmediapoststhataredisplayedanddiscussedon

airhavealreadyreachedahighlevelofprominenceandmaythereforedrawmore

viewers.Bychoosingpoststhathavealreadybeenselectedbysocialmediausers,

televisionprogrammingisdiscussingstoriesthattheaudiencehasalready

expressedaninterestin.Thesearestories,posts,pictures,andvideosthathave

alreadybeenselectedbytheaudienceandareonlybeingdiscussedbecausethe

audienceselectedthem.Inthisway,socialmediausersbecomeanetworkof

gatekeepersselectingwhichstoriestheywouldliketohearaboutandtherefore

playingaroleinthegatekeepingprocessformorningnewsprogramming.This

couldsuggestthatalthoughtraditionalgatekeepingappearsmoreprevalentinnews

selectionforsweepsprogramming,networkedgatekeepingisstillatwork.Usersare

stillmovingcertainpoststoprominenceandmakingthempartofnewsdiscussions.

27

Thisstudysoughttodeterminehowsocialmediapostsofaudiencemembers

arebeingintegratedintomorningtelevisionnewsprogramcontent.Resultsfound

thattheintegrationofsocialmediapostsisactuallyprettyminimal,despite

predictions.Theminimalfindingsofsocialmediaintegrationmaysuggestthatthis

isjustthebeginningofsocialmediaenteringtelevisionprogramming.Although

socialmediaisnotyetprominentamongmorningnewsprogramming,itispresent

whichcouldimplythatitspresencemayincreaseovertime.Thisstudyuses

NetworkedGatekeepingtounderstandhowsocialmediausersarecrowdsourcing

storiestoprominence,andthosestoriesarebeginningtobecomeintegratedinto

morningnewsprogramming.

Thisstudyfoundthatsocialmediahasnotyetmadeitswayintoallnews

segments,butmaybeonitswaytobecominganintegralpartofnewsdiscussion.

Althoughsocialmediareferencesprimarilyoccurredinpoliticalorpopularnews

segments,theywerenotcompletelyvoidofbreakingnews,localnews,oreven

weather.Itseemsasthoughtheremaybeasocialmediapostabouteverytopicup

fordiscussion.Thefactthatsocialmediapostsareevenbeingdisplayedand

discussedonaircouldindicatethatsocialmediaactivityitselfcouldevenbe

workingtowardbecomingnews.Associetybecomesmoredependentonthe

Internetandsocialmediaforcommunication,itseemsasthoughothermediums

mayalsobecomemoredependentonthem.Evenifsocialmediaonlymadeup20%

ofthenewssegmentsstudied,youhavetowonderwhatwouldhavefilledthat20%

otherwise?Itisdifficulttoimaginemanypartsofoureverydaylifeexistingwithout

socialmediaintoday’ssociety.

28

TheInternet,andspecificallysocialmedia,ischanginghowweaccessand

discussnews.Thefindingsofthisstudymaysuggestashiftinthegatekeeping

processfortelevisionnewsprogramming.Insteadofgoingthroughthetraditional

levelsofgatekeeping,suchasindividual,routines,organizational,andinstitutional

gatekeeping,informationmayalsobefilteredbyviewersusingsocialmedia.By

expressingtheirinterests,audiencemembersarestartingtoplayaroleinhownews

isselectedforprogramming.Utilizingplatformslikesocialmediatomakepersonal

opinionsavailabletotheworld,viewershavetheabilitytopushstoriesand

informationtoprominenceandultimatelychangethelargerconversation.

Theabilityoftheaudiencetochangetheconversationofworldwidenewsis

theveryessenceofNetworkGatekeepingTheory.Insteadofinformationmovingin

onlyonedirectionitisnowbeingmovedinandoutofmultiplegatesbymultiple

gatekeeperssimultaneously(Barzilai-Nahon,2004).Insteadoftheaudience

passivelyacceptingwhatisheardonthenewsprogramming,theynowhavethe

powertojoinandpotentiallychangenewsprogrammingcontent(Coddington&

Holton,2014).Bypromotingandsharingonlycertainpiecesofinformation,

audiencemembersareabletohelpfilterwhichnewsrisestoprominence(Meraz&

Papacharissi,2013).Socialmediaplatformsallownewsstationtoreleasenewsin

realtime,givingviewerstheopportunitytoaccessandrespondtoinformation

beforeitairsontelevision(Greer&Ferguson,2011).

Withdigitaltechnologyconstantlyadvancing,itisunlikelythatsocialmedia

willfadeanytimesoon.Therefore,itislikelythatsocialmediawillonlycontinueon

thepathofintegrationwithtelevisionnewsprogramming.Wealreadyhaveshows

29

likeAmericanIdol,DancingwiththeStars,andeventheMissUSAPageantthat

allowviewerstovotefortheirchoicethroughsocialmedia,whichindicatesthat

producersmaybetryingtoshapeprogrammingtoincludevieweropinions.Itis

probablethataudiencesaregraduallybecomingthedrivingforceinshaping

programcontent.

30

Chapter6:FutureResearch&Limitations

Thisstudyoffersaglimpseintohowsocialmediaisbecomingintegratedinto

othernewsoutlets,liketelevision,throughthelensofNetworkedGatekeeping

Theory.Thecrowdsourcingofinformationtoprominenceallowsaudiencemembers

toplayaroleinthegatekeepingprocess.Now,information,pictures,andvideoscan

becomenewsontelevisionbasedontheirpopularityonsocialmedia.

Theprimarylimitationsofthisstudyincludebothsamplesizeandtime

restrictions.Duetolimitedcoders,time,andresourcesthesamplewaslimitedto

onlytwoshowsairedoverthecourseoftwoweeks.Givenmoreresources,the

samplecouldhavebeenexpandedtoincludemoreshowsoveragreaterlengthof

time.Also,duetotimerestrictions,thisstudywaslimitedtoonlyexploringhow

socialmediaisdiscussedontelevisionnewsbutnottheactualsocialmediaactivity

itself.

Futureresearchshouldseektoextendthisstudybyincludingmorenews

programsandcrossreferencingsocialmediawithposts,hashtags,andsocialmedia

trendsdiscussedonair.Nightlynewsshowsanddailynewsprogrammingcouldbe

studiedusingthesamecodingschemetodeterminetheprevalenceofsocialmedia

acrossallnewsprogramming.Byalsolookingathowhashtags,useraccounts,and

othersocialmediatrendsdiscussedonairarebeingdiscussedonline,thewaythese

trendsrisetoprominencemayalsobediscovered.

31

Table1:FrequencyofSocialMediaReferences

SocialMediaReferences

Valid Frequency Percent ValidPercent CumulativePercent

Yes 112 19.4 19.4 19.4

No 466 80.6 80.6 100.0

Total 578 100.0 100.0

32

Table2:ContentinReferences

TypeofReference

Content SpecificPostRequestParticipation Totals

Text 33 0 33 100% 0.0% 100%Photo 20 1 21 95.2% 4.8% 100%Video 22 0 22 100% 0.0% 100% Totals 75 1 76 98.7% 1.3% 100% x2=2.654,df=2,p=0.265

33

Table3:TopicTypeswithSocialMediaReferences

SocialMediaReference

TopicType Yes No Total

Breaking 9 41 50 18% 82% 100% Political 14 87 101 13.9% 86.1% 100% Local/Regional 3 38 41 7.3% 92.7% 100% Popular 57 171 228 25% 75% 100% SpecialSegment 27 90 117 23.1% 76.9% 100% Weather 2 39 41 4.9% 95.1% 100% Total 112 466 578 19.4% 80.6% 100% x2=17.001;df=5;p=0.004

34

Table4:UserPostsOnAir

AccountType

TypeofReferenceViewer Celebrity Organization Network Total

SpecificPost 34 37 4 0 75 45.3% 49.3% 5.3% 0.0% 100% RequestParticipation 0 1 0 0 1 0.0% 100% 0.0% 0.0% 100%Other 0 0 0 1 1 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 100% 100% Total 34 38 4 1 77 44.2% 49.4% 5.2% 1.3% 100% x2=78.027;df=6;p<0.01

35

Table5:SocialMediaReferencesduringSweepsandNonSweepsPeriods

SocialMediaReference

Date Yes No Total

11-APR-16 10 64 74

12-APR-16 16 48 64

13-APR-16 13 61 74

14-APR-16 14 41 55

15-APR-16 8 47 55

02-MAY-16 9 56 65

03-MAY-16 10 50 60

04-MAY-16 11 37 48

05-MAY-16 13 36 49

06-MAY-16 8 26 34

Total 112 466 578

36

Table6:TypesofReferencesduringSweepsandNonSweepsPeriods

TypesofSocialMediaReferences

Date SpecificPost Participation DirecttoAccountOtherNA Total

11-APR-16 6 1 2 1 64 74

12-APR-16 8 0 1 2 53 64

13-APR-16 9 0 1 3 61 74

14-APR-16 13 0 0 0 42 55

15-APR-16 5 0 1 1 48 55

02-MAY-16 7 0 0 2 56 65

03-MAY-16 7 2 1 2 48 60

04-MAY-16 5 2 1 1 39 48

05-MAY-16 12 0 1 0 36 49

06-MAY-16 6 0 1 1 26 34

Total 78 5 9 13 473 578

37

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