2014•Oxford University Press eBooksRequires access
Social Media and the News
Nic Newman, William H. Dutton, Grant Blank
Open publisher page 13 citations
Abstract
A major worry over the Internet is its potential to undermine the business model and value of traditional newspapers, the home of quality, critical, investigative journalism. Using the UK as a case study, this chapter draws from survey research of individuals, and features evidence on patterns of news readership among Internet users and non-users, and qualitative case studies of developments in online news organizations based on interviews and log files of journalistic sites. There has been a step-jump in the use of online news since 2003, but generally as a complement to print sources. However, access seems to have been leveling off since 2009, partly reflecting the move to social networks where people are increasing referred to news. Instead of any simple substitution of online for offline news, this chapter argues that the Internet and social media are contributing to a more complex ecology of news production and consumption.