TY - JOUR
T1 - That’s Not News
T2 - Audience Perceptions of “News-ness” and Why It Matters
AU - Edgerly, Stephanie
AU - Vraga, Emily K.
PY - 2020/9/2
Y1 - 2020/9/2
N2 - When is a tweet considered news? This study uses an experimental design to isolate two features of a headline shared on Twitter to determine the impact on audience ratings of ‘news-ness.’ We examine how people rate a Twitter post about potential government shutdown depending on: the type of story headline (breaking, exclusive, fact check, opinion), and the source of the story/tweet (Associated Press, MSNBC, Fox News). Results show that headline story type and source separately impact news-ness, with partisanship conditioning the influence of source on news-ness. Moreover, we find that ratings of news-ness mediate these effects on intent to verify tweet content, such that higher ratings of news-ness results in lower intent to verify. We argue that more attention needs to be paid to the central role that perceptions of news-ness plays in driving a range of outcomes in today’s social media environment.
AB - When is a tweet considered news? This study uses an experimental design to isolate two features of a headline shared on Twitter to determine the impact on audience ratings of ‘news-ness.’ We examine how people rate a Twitter post about potential government shutdown depending on: the type of story headline (breaking, exclusive, fact check, opinion), and the source of the story/tweet (Associated Press, MSNBC, Fox News). Results show that headline story type and source separately impact news-ness, with partisanship conditioning the influence of source on news-ness. Moreover, we find that ratings of news-ness mediate these effects on intent to verify tweet content, such that higher ratings of news-ness results in lower intent to verify. We argue that more attention needs to be paid to the central role that perceptions of news-ness plays in driving a range of outcomes in today’s social media environment.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85082409397&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85082409397&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/15205436.2020.1729383
DO - 10.1080/15205436.2020.1729383
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85082409397
VL - 23
SP - 730
EP - 754
JO - Mass Communication and Society
JF - Mass Communication and Society
SN - 1520-5436
IS - 5
ER -