Study: Do you always agree with the topics newspaper editors choose to cover? [View all]

Research suggests social media users don't always agree with newspaper editors about which topics are the most important, an article in the academic journal Journalism Studies reveals.

Duke University academic Marco Toledo Bastos examined the output of the New York Times and the Guardian over a two-week period in October 2012. He determined how much content appeared under 19 broad section headings (world news, sport, opinion and so on), and then analysed how that distribution compared to what was shared on social media.
His results show significant differences in the topics emphasised by newspaper editors and social media users. While users of social media platforms favour sharing opinion pieces, along with national, local and world news, the editors themselves emphasised sport, the economy, entertainment and celebrity stories.
"The results show that social media users express a preference for a subset of content and information that is at odds with the decisions of newspaper editors regarding which topic to emphasise," Bastos observes.

http://www.sciencedaily.com:80/releases/2014/04/140403105750.htm