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Opening the Gates:Interactive and
Multimedia Elements of
Newspaper Websites in Latin America
Ingrid BachmannSummer HarlowThe University of Texas at AustinISOJ 2011
Aims Understand how newspaper websites in
Latin America are handling an industry-wide shift toward participatory journalism.
Are newspapers opening their newsrooms to citizens by providing web features that encourage reader participation?
How much participation is actually possible, considering the digital divide?
Theoretical framework Gatekeeping (White, 1950; Shoemaker,
1991) Citizen journalism, para-journalism,
public journalism, user-generated content, collaborative journalism, and participatory journalism (Black, 1997; Burns, 2010; Kovach & Rosenstiel, 2001; Rosen, 2008; Thurman, 2008; Vujnovicet al., 2010; Bowman & Willis, 2003)
Digital divide (Castells, 2001; Diani, 2000; Fuchs, 2009)
Methods Content analysis
19 Latin American newspapers Flagship newspaper from each country except Puerto Rico
Dec. 9-15, 2010 Home pages, and 2,304 articles coded
Inter-coder reliability Cohen’s kappa .81-1
Methods Multimedia
Video, photo, mobile devices, links
Interactive Sharing via social media or email, search feature, most popular stories
Participatory Reporting corrections, submitting citizen reports, reader comments
Results Homepage multimedia features
Results Homepage interactive features
Results Homepage participatory features
Results Stories’ multimedia features
Results Stories’ interactive features
Results Stories’ participatory features
Results The features were included in varying
degrees. These web features were not correlated
with press freedom or development. However, multimedia features and
combined web features were significantly correlated with Internet penetration. That is, newspapers from countries with higher rates of Internet access included more multimedia elements.
Conclusions These Latin American newspapers include
basic multimedia elements, but are slow to adopt more interactive and participatory features.
Newspapers in Latin America still follow a print-first mentality, adapting new technologies to fit with old practices.
Reader interaction allowed only on a superficial basis.
Digital divide limiting web features offered?
Will newspapers… …forego their traditional role as
gatekeepers and fully embrace the interactive potential of the Internet?
OR
…remain static, clinging to traditional print practices and philosophies in a digital world?
Opening the Gates:Interactive and
Multimedia Elements of
Newspaper Websites in Latin America
Ingrid BachmannSummer HarlowThe University of Texas at AustinISOJ 2011