The Influence of Non-Editorial News Platforms

The Influence of Non-Editorial News Platforms

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Title of Article: Polarizing News? Representations of Threat and Efficacy in Leading U.S Newspapers’ Coverage of Climate

Authors: Feldman, L., Hart, S. P., and Milosevic, T

The Influence of Non-Editorial News Platforms

Abstract

This paper makes a brief evaluation of how non-editorial news platforms are influencing news coverage in the modern society. Moreover, the paper shows how differences in the new outlets result in ideological divergences between the different set of audiences. Recent studies show that scientists and scholars are increasingly using micro blogging services such as Twitter to convey facts concerning their discoveries. In addition, they ascertain that they cite their information via these communication platforms. Given that citing is a core practice in professional communication, the trend affirms how non-editorial media are becoming central in modern interaction. The evaluation in the paper is based on the argument by Feldman, Hart and Milosevic that choice of media determines the polarizing effect of news. This is seen in their statement, “In today’s high-choice news environment, audiences increasingly can pick news sources that align with their values, interests, and opinions. This discriminatory coverage, in turn, creates an inducement for rival media companies, driven by market considerations, to lean their reporting in the direction of their audience’s dominant beliefs.” Argument is that non-editorial news platforms influence editorial media houses to bias their news coverage in order to increase viewership.

Discussion

The statement by Feldman, Hart, and Milosevic is significant to scholar communication, as it teaches on how to apply effectively non-editorial news platforms to improve efficiency of message conveyance and how to avoid the bias news coming from corporate media houses. Technology is the main factor behind the transformation of non-editorial services like Twitter. From typewriters to computers, present news is a 24-hour tool for change. Editorial news media like newspapers and magazines do not conform to the present need to have continuous reporting coverage. Therefore, most big corporations like BBC plunge into the realm of social media to engage with their audiences. Important to note is that market trends necessitate news corporations to employ social media. However, media corporations bias their reports in order to induce audiences while beating their rivals.

News outlets incorporate some level of political bias (slant reporting) through market evaluations of general ideologies. Media houses analyze how a certain society or groups of individuals utilize the internet in order to piece opinions. The data collected is employed to determine the nature or level of bias that will be input in news. In meaning, non-editorial news platforms offer media houses with an avenue to gather information concerning their audiences. According to Deuze, “Social media is the platform for news content coming from the people to journalism and from the journalist to the people” (2008).

Non-editorial news outlets allow media corporations to determine the level of bias to employ in slanting their reports in order to invite audiences to their journalism. The modern market is driven by the need to have 24-hour news reporting. Therefore, technology becomes the main factor behind the increasing importance of non-editorial news platforms, especially in social media. These communication avenues give media corporations direct access to audiences allowing frequent and more accurate analysis of market trends. From the set of general ideologies derived from the non-editorial platforms, media houses understand the level of political slanting to integrate in a given coverage in order to increase number of viewer invites to their journalism. The power to influence in social media is factored in their ability to give continuous coverage and their direct access to market information.

References

Deuze, Mark. (2008). Understanding Journalism as News work: How It Changes, and How It Remains the Same. Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture. 5. 5. 4-23.

Feldman, L., Hart, S. P. & Milosevic, T. (2015). Polarizing News? Representations of Threat and Efficacy in Leading U.S Newspapers’ Coverage of Climate Change. Public Understanding of Science. 1-17.