Frequencies and types of online sources ın quality media: Can we presuppose an advancement of the deliberative public sphere?

Abstract

The findings of this paper are based on a content analysis of fourkinds of media. It covers a timespan of three and a half years (2004 until 2007). The sample is made up by 30 days (12 days in 2004, 12 days in 2006, 6 days in 2007). Four in Germany widely used media were included: Two daily newspapers (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Frankfurt, and Süddeutsche Zeitung, Munich) as well as two TV news programmes (ARD, public, and RTL, private television). In total we analyzed 4.243 articles/reports. We studied the news sections in the newspapers and whole news broadcasts on TV (ARD Tagesschau, eight o'clock news, and RTL evening news). How often do articles in quality media point to online sources and of which quality is the source? Surveys provide evidence that journalists now spend about 20 percent of their working time online. When journalists do a good deal of their reporting online this should be mirrored in their stories, texts and reports. However this analysis shows a weak (but increasing) usage of online sources over the years. Overall official, government-based sources were indeed rare. Non-official sources dominated.