[News Organizations Harness Social Media]

By

Acknowledgement

I would take this opportunity to thank my research supervisor, family and friends for their support and guidance without which this research would not have been possible.



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I [type your full first names and surname here], declare that the contents of this dissertation represent my own unaided work, and that the dissertation has not previously been submitted for academic eXamination towards any qualification. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

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Abstract

In recent years, with the appearance of social media, traditional print and broadcast media as main promotional tools have faced major challenges, as many newspapers and television channels have suffered audience reduction. Overwhelmingly, the majority of marketers, both business and political, have started to use some form of social media for promotional purposes. Increasingly, scholars have come to see news media as playing the pivotal role in shaping whether social movements are able to bring about broader social change. By drawing attention to movements' issues, claims, & supporters, news media can shape public agenda by influencing public opinion, authorities, & elites. Why are some social movement organizations more successful than others at gaining media coverage? Specifically, what organizational, tactical, & issue characteristics enhance media attention? We combine detailed organizational survey data from the representative sample of 187 local organizations in India with complete news coverage of those organizations in 11 major daily newspapers in two years following survey (2,095 articles). Our analyses reveal that local news media favor professional & formalized groups that employ routine advocacy tactics, mobilize large numbers of people, & work on issues that overlap with newspapers' focus on local economic growth & well-being. Groups that are confrontational, volunteer-led, or advocate on behalf of novel issues do not garner as much attention in local media outlets. These findings have important implications & challenge widely held claims about pathways by which movement actors shape public agenda through news media.

Table of Content

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTIONVII

Backgroundvii

Problem Discussionix

Research Problemxiii

Objective of Studyxv

CHAPTER 2 : LITERATURE REVIEWXVI

Social Mediaxvi

Blogsxix

Social Networksxx

Media Sharingxxi

Promotionxxii

Integrated Marketing Communicationxxv

New Communication Paradigmxxvii

The Role of News Mediaxxx

Market Model vs. Public Interest Modelxxxi

The Rise of the Internetxxxv

The Rise of Social Mediaxxxvii

Web 2.0xxxix

Financial Consequencesxli

Attitudinal Consequencesxliii

Research Design, Data, & Analysisxlvi

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGYXLVII

Research Designxlvii

Interviewsxlix

Interview Candidatesl

Interview Questionsliii

Issues with Vetting, Credibility and Accuracylv

India Organization Surveylvi

Collecting Media Coveragelix

Independent Variableslxv

Organizational capacitylxv

Organizational strategy & tacticslxvi

Environmental issues & organizational identitylxix

Control Variablelxx

Geographic proximitylxx

Questionnaire Analysislxx

Results Analysislxxiii

CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION AND ANALYSISLXXXVIII

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONXCIV

Media Convergencexciv

Main Applicationsc

The Internet And The World Wide Webc

Interactive Broadcastingciii

The future of Social Media in News Mediacv

Recommendationscvii

REFERENCESCIX

APPENDIXCXXX

Chapter 1: Introduction

The chapter begins with a brief background of social media, followed by a problem discussion on the topic of social media and social media usage by companies and political parties. At the end of this chapter, research problem, research questions as well as an outline of the report will be introduced to the reader.

Background

In recent years, many newspapers and television channels lost their audience, since traditional print and broadcast media as main promotional tools have faced major challenges (Gurevich et ...