Social media in the newspaper newsroom : the professional use of Facebook and Twitter at Rapport and The Mail & Guardian

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In a time of uncertainty for newspapers due in part to dwindling circulation, loss ofadvertising revenue and declining readership, Internet-based technologies have continued togrow. The unprecedented rise of social media, of which Facebook and Twitter are wellknownexamples, has not gone unnoticed by the newspaper community. Despite their initialmisgivings about the credibility of the information disseminated on these media, mainstreamjournalists worldwide have gradually started to adopt social media as professional tools.Social media serve as channels that help to funnel information towards journalists. Somenewspaper journalists also use these media to broadcast news and promote their personalbrands.The continued use of social media on a professional level will arguably have animpact on the daily routines and cultures within a newsroom. Academic research in this areais limited, especially within the South African context. This study explores whether theprofessional use of social media, with specific reference to Facebook and Twitter, influencesthe processes and cultures of news selection and presentation at the South Africa newspapersRapport and the Mail & Guardian. A newsroom study within a social constructionismparadigm employed a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies,including self-administered questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and ethnography.The main findings of this study were that the majority of journalists at Rapport andthe Mail & Guardian used Facebook and Twitter actively on a professional level – mainly fortrend tracking. The newsroom cultures were open and encouraging towards social media use.Journalists were also aware that social media create opportunities for their audiences tochallenge the traditional roles of journalists and the realities constructed by the mainstreammedia. According to the journalists from Rapport and the Mail & Guardian the professionaluse of social media had not significantly altered their processes of news selection andpresentation.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University