• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.370-402
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• 2015

The dynamic capabilities of social media are changing the nature of contemporary news by allowing users to communicate and create content, deliver and share newsworthy information, and consume news. News organizations engage with social media because this computer-mediated tool provides an alternative platform for delivering news and connecting with global audiences. This role of social media is conceptualized as its complementarity. However, when mass user-generated-content is constantly shared with other users, more users are attracted to indulge in news-seeking activities on social media. This phenomenon potentially fulfills users' news requirements on social media, which is contrary to what news companies envisioned when they began engaging with social media. This dichotomous role of social media, providing complementarity and showing the potential for becoming a superior news medium, is conceptualized as its competing-complementarity. This paper offers preliminary evidence of competing-complementarity by analyzing the news consumption of individuals. Such consumption is explained through the theoretical perspective of punctuated equilibrium by conceptualizing news consumption as a deep structure radically impacted by a disruptive technology. Although social media benefit news organizations, its competing potential poses serious challenges to their monopolistic controls on news production, distribution, readership, and revenue generation.

• Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.25-47
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• 2021

This study analyzes 419 fake news items published in India, a fake-news-prone country, to identify the major themes, content types, and sources of social media fake news. The results show that fake news shared on social media has six major themes: health, religion, politics, crime, entertainment, and miscellaneous; eight types of content: text, photo, audio, and video, text & photo, text & video, photo & video, and text & photo & video; and two main sources: online sources and the mainstream media. Health-related fake news is more common only during a health crisis, whereas fake news related to religion and politics seems more prevalent, emerging from online media. Text & photo and text & video have three-fourths of the total share of fake news, and most of them are from online media: online media is the main source of fake news on social media as well. On the other hand, mainstream media mostly produces political fake news. This study, presenting some novel findings that may help researchers to understand and policymakers to control fake news on social media, invites more academic investigations of religious and political fake news in India. Two important limitations of this study are related to the data source and data collection period, which may have an impact on the results.

• Journal of Information Science Theory and Practice
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.18-32
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• 2021

Social media has become a popular source of information around the world. Previous studies explored different trends of social media news consumption. However, no studies have focused on Bangladesh to date, where social media penetration is very high in recent years. To fill this gap, this research aimed to understand its popularity trends during the period. For that reason, this work analyzes 97.67 million page likes and 3.48 billion interaction data collected from nine Bangladeshi news media's Facebook pages between December 2016 to November 2020. The analysis shows that the growth rates of page likes and interaction rates declined during this period. It suggests that the media's Facebook pages are gradually losing their popularity among Facebook users, which may have two more interpretations: Facebook's aggregate appeal as a news source is decreasing to users, or Bangladeshi media's appeal is eroding to Facebook users. These findings challenge the previous results, i.e., Facebook's demand as a news source is increasing with time. We offer four explanations of the decreased popularity of Facebook's news: information overload, exposure to incidental news, users' selective exposure and different aims of using Facebook, and conflict between media agendas and users' interests. Some theoretical and practical significance of the results has been discussed as well.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.66
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• pp.5-27
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• 2014

The past, present, and future of online journalism in Korea are inextricably bound up with the portal site news services. In traditional journalism, finite news media took hold on news consumption completely because of performing news production and distribution simultaneously. Since then, in the age of multi-media and multi-channel, the audience selection has become more important because of greatly increasing news media and then exploding news production. In online journalism, the news distribution have emerged as the most important field because of the intensive consuming the portal site news services making use of various news easier, the characteristic of news consumption focusing on not news media brands but news media contents, etc. Therefore, the news present landscape of Korean journalism oriented news distribution has been completed by that the portal site news services became the symbol of online journalism. That the portal site news services performing only news distribution have more influence than the paper based online newspapers and Internet based online newspapers producing news means the change of media power. By this, a conflict between news media and portal site news services appears at all times.

• International Journal of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.31-43
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• 2023

News credibility is on a decline for many democratic countries. Among the countries, South Korea is currently witnessing one of the steepest declining curves. Since people obtain news from various media, for example, television and portals, news credibility can be measured for each of the media separately. Most often, television news credibility is much higher than portal news credibility because people tend to trust traditional media more than online ones. To understand the discrepancy between news credibility of the two media in specific relation to South Koreans' everyday news use and overall news credibility evaluation, this exploratory study examined how the factors that influence television news credibility and portal news credibility differ from each other by examining the relations of news credibility of the two media to credibility of news I use and of news in general. Drawing from previous research on partisan news use, it assumed that normative beliefs for television as a traditional medium work for television news credibility in the similar way as the mechanisms of selective exposure and bias perception do. It also assumed that the experiences dimension of news trust works for credibility of portal news and of news in general similarly. To verify these assumptions, a regression analysis was conducted from a sample of 58,936 South Koreans collected in 2022. As assumed, results revealed a greater relation between credibility of television news and of news I use, and between credibility of portal news and of news in general respectively. The findings suggest that measurement of credibility should be revised in the way that reflects media characteristics and the differing expectations held by news users.

• Journal of Information Science Theory and Practice
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.1-16
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• 2022

This study aimed to understand young adults' attitudes concerning news and news resources they consumed, and how they encounter the fake news phenomenon. A qualitative approach was used with semi-structured interviews with 41 young adults (aged 20-30) in Tehran, Iran. Findings revealed that about half of the participants favored social media, and a smaller group used traditional media and only a few maintained that traditional and modern media should be used together. News quality was considered to be lower on social media than in traditional news sources. Furthermore, young adults usually followed the news related to the issues which had impact on their daily life, and they typically tended to share news. To detect fake news, they checked several media to compare the information; and profiteering and attracting audiences' attention were the most important reasons for the existence of fake news. This is the first qualitative study for understanding news consumption behavior of young adults in a politicized society.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.33-48
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• 2019

The current Moon Jai-in administration in South Korea is facing serious challenges as a result of a scandal involving the manipulation of news online. Staff in Moon's camp are suspected of manipulating public opinion by creating millions of fake news comments online, contributing to Moon being elected president. This South Korean political scandal raises a number of theoretical issues with regard to new platform technologies and media manipulation. First, the incident exposes the technological limits of blocking manipulation of the news, partly because of the nature of social media and partly because of the nature of contemporary technology. Contemporary social media is often monopolistic in nature; with the majority of people are using the same platforms, and hence it is likely that they will be subject to forms of media manipulation. Second, the Korean case of news manipulation demonstrates a unique cultural aspect of Korean society. News comments and readers' replies have become a major channel of alternative news in Korea. This phenomenon is often designated as "reply journalism," since people are interested in reading the news replies of ordinary readers equally to reading news reports themselves. News replies are considered indicators of public opinion and are seen as affecting trias politica in Korean society. Third, the Korean incident of news manipulation implicates a new form of populism in the 21st century and the nature of democratic participation. This article aims to explicate key issues in media manipulation by including wider technological, cultural, and political aspects in the South Korean news media context.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.16-32
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• 2019

Media manipulation of breaking news through article selection, ranking and tweaking of social media data and comment streams is a growing concern for society. We argue that the combination of human and machine curation on media portals marks a new period for news media and journalism. Although intermediary platforms routinely claim that they are merely the neutral technological platform which facilitates news and information flows, rejecting any criticisms that they are operating as de facto media organisations; instead, we argue for an alternative, more active interpretation of their roles. In this article we provide a contemporary account of the South Korean ('Korean') online news media ecology as an exemplar of how contemporary media technologies, and in particular portals and algorithmic recommender systems, perform a powerful role in shaping the kind of news and information that citizens access. By highlighting the key stakeholders and their positions within the production, publication and distribution of news media, we argue that the overall impact of the major portal platforms of Naver and Kakao is far more consequential than simply providing an entertaining media diet for consumers. These portals are central in designing how and which news is sourced, produced and then accessed by Korean citizens. From a regulatory perspective the provision of news on the portals can be a somewhat ambiguous and moving target, subject to soft and harder regulatory measures. While we investigate a specific case study of the South Korean experience, we also trace out connections with the larger global media ecology. We have relied on policy documents, stakeholder interviews and portal user 'walk throughs' to understand the changing role of news and its surfacing on a distinctive breed of media platforms.

• Analyses & Alternatives
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.13-30
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• 2017

Referred to as a 'media war,' there is a fierce competition for media discourse between different countries. Twenty four hour global news channels like Al Jazeera, France 24, RT, NHK World, China's CCTV and teleSUR emerged to offer their own perspectives and stance in the global society, and to face the monopolization and distorted information created by the hegemony of English news channels which have swayed international public opinions for a long time. As a tool of public diplomacy, the media's role in determining the image of the nation and winning the 'Hearts and Minds' of the international community is decisive, but it cannot be said that they all have a similar influence or play a positive role in media diplomacy. A global news channel, which is both a media diplomatic subject and a journalism organization, can be in the position of acting as a public relations organization or a propaganda agency for the government depending on the regime's attitude because most of global news channels receive support from the government. Sometimes it is difficult for these media to implement quality journalism because of financial difficulties. Media discourse also has limitations in that it is dependent upon changes in foreign policy of its own government. This study examines the current status of global news channels, the dilemma these channels are facing, and suggests some potential directions that can be taken by global news channels in order to become more effective. It is becoming increasingly important for all nations to respond to distorted information about their own countries, to appropriately identify various issues and changes in the international community and to convey their views and positions to the international community. For now, there is a lack of awareness about the importance of media diplomacy in Korea: There are many English-language media, but as yet no global news channel which could have an influence on the international stage. However, there seems to be some understanding about the need for the media to present the Korean alternative discourse to the senseless dependency on Western media. We hope that this study will be an opportunity to think in depth about the attitude of the Korean global media, whether existing global media or new global news channels, in order to help them become more effective in media diplomacy.

• International Journal of Contents
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2017

The study aims to reveal the differences in the factors influencing portal news and news site application usages on smartphones in regard to political discussion networks, news use across multiple media platforms and news genre consumption. The results demonstrate that those factors affected both types of application usages in a different manner when controlling for demographics. The more participants conversed politics with homogeneous networks, the more they used portal news on smartphones. Conversely, the more political discussion with heterogeneous networks, the more they used news site application on smartphones. The more frequently Internet and mobile phone were employed for news source and the more soft news genre was consumed, the more the portal news application was used. However, the more frequently traditional and social media were employed for news source and the more hard news consumed, the more news site application was used. The findings imply that portal news application users may increase their likelihood of soft news consumption using Internet and mobile phones for political discussion with close social relations, while news site application users may increase their likelihood of hard news consumption using traditional and social media for political discussion with distant social relations.