Keeping the Gates on Twitter: Interactivity and Sourcing Habits of Lebanese Traditional Media

Authors

  • Claudia Kozman Lebanese American University
  • Raluca Cozma Kansas State University

Keywords:

Lebanon, news media, gatekeeping, sourcing, Twitter, television, newspapers

Abstract

Using gatekeeping and sourcing frameworks, this study content analyzes Lebanese media tweets to examine the relationship between the use of sources and tweet popularity in a media environment marked by political parallelism and high diversity. The study revealed the media’s tendency to rely almost exclusively on governmental officials and other political elites. Official and governmental sources also dominated tweets discussing news more so than other types. Tweets quoting officials, however, were not related to more favorites, retweets, or comments. Newspapers exhibited an increased tendency to lean on officials compared with television stations. Newspapers also seemed to be keener on keeping their own information flowing throughout by linking to their own outlets. The analysis points to traditional gatekeeping practices, evident in the use of the platform as a marketing tool to promote outlets’ own content, to source governmental and party officials and journalists, and to discuss the news.

Author Biographies

Claudia Kozman, Lebanese American University

Claudia Kozman (Ph.D., Indiana University) is an assistant professor of multimedia journalism in the Department of Communication Arts, and the Director of Research at the Institute of Media Research and Training (IMRT), at Lebanese American University in Beirut, Lebanon. Her research primarily focuses on how Lebanese media outlets frame and source the news on traditional and social media platforms, in addition to analyzing media coverage of war and conflict in the Arab region.  Claudia Kozman, Lebanese American University, P.O. Box 13-5053, Chouran Beirut: 1102 2801.

Raluca Cozma, Kansas State University

Raluca Cozma (Ph.D., Louisiana State University) is an associate professor and the Associate Director for Graduate Studies and Research in the A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Kansas State University. Her research examines the state and evolution of foreign news, social media use by foreign correspondents and political leaders, news trust and credibility, as well as the importance of frames and news sources in international, political, and science communication.

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Published

2021-02-13

Issue

Vol. 15 (2021)

Section

Articles

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