The future of news and journalism - a data analysis of over 64,000 thousand URLs shared by over 8,000 political influencers on Twitter. It examines traditional news media brands vs. new citizen journalism and newcomers to the news mix. It explains the way content formats and niche content is challenging traditional journalism and looks to the future of how we access and consume news in the Twitter era.

1. Tweetminster : relevant
content and data filtered by
networks of experts
Hello 
I’m @Killdozer from
@Tweetminster

2. What are we going to find out?
1: News media journalism is still the biggest single shared type of content, but not the
majority of news consumed
2: News brands get more URLs shared, but have a lower average share per URL than
other news sources
3: Interactive content, data and video is more sharable than traditional journalism
suggesting an appetite for breaking news formats, back story tools and participation
4: Comparative spends for SEO & marketing show News Media get a lower ROE than
Newcomers
5: To get maximum reach, journalists must engage with data, communities, video, mobile
and live polling – diverse content is the future of news

3. Methodology
Our sample:
8,000 big names from the following news influencer categories (MPs, Gov Depts, local
councilors, party activists, govt. appointees and NGOs)
We ranked:
64,831 shared news links tweeted between 1st August 2011-31st Jan 2012.
Averages:
10,805 shares per month from the top 150 news articles per month (900 in total)
Approx. 10% of total media stories tweeted (Amplifier CTR for Twitter posts )
Definitions:
News Media = Newspapers, TV channels, news agencies
Newcomers = Bloggers, Curation, Downloads, Ex-blogs, Organisations

4. Month by month
results…

5. News Media vs. Others in top 150 (Sources)
120
100
80
60 News Media
Others
40
20
0
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan

6. News Media accounts for approximately 15-
30% more of the most shared URLs amongst
political influencers.
Reasons:
1. They produce more content
2. They cover wider subject areas
3. They have the brand position & bigger name
contributors

7. The attention mix as total shares (URLs)
14000
12000
10000
8000
Shares
6000 News Media
Others
4000
2000
0
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan

8. In terms of the total number of shares, News Media
tracks with overall volume, Newcomers occupy a
smaller but more consistent volume
Reasons:
1. News Media has more content opportunities
(breadth)
2. News Media has more breaking news coverage
3. News Media resources more flexible (they can cover
more physical events globally on demand)

9. Average shares per URL
100
90
80
70
60
50 News Media
40 Others
30
20
10
0
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan

10. The likelihood of a URL getting shared is pretty
much even between News Media and Newcomers
Reasons:
1. Quality content ultimately determines sharing
2. Newcomers represent more sharable types of
content in the content mix
3. Newcomers punch above their weight relative to
volume

11. The top 150

12. 6 Month Top 150 Content Mix
News Media
Blogs
Live Blog
Data
Video
Journalism

13. Traditional written journalism accounts for
majority of News Media output
Reasons:
1. Legacy systems / institutional inertia
2. Being behind the curve with adopting new formats
doesn’t make them more competitive
3. Difficult relationships around distribution rights and
social ID ownership for journos

14. 6 Month Top 150 Content Mix
Newcomers
Curation
Blogs
Data
Downloads
Events
Interactive
Journalism
Petitions
Video

15. Newcomers are widely diverse, combining journalism
with interactivity, polling, data, campaigning and
curation
Reasons:
1. Diversity of organisations
2. Single issue focus and greater numbers (unlike News
Media which is a smaller community)
3. Appetite for consumption favours diversity – like the
news itself

16. The future of
news?

17. 6 Month Top 150 shared URLs
Sources Actual Shares
News Media Newcomers
Average Shares per URL

18. The trend is consumption favours Newcomers over
News Media
Reasons:
1. News Media produces too much content (overload)
2. Newcomers offer user benefits
(curation, specialisation, verticals, authenticity, new
formats)
3. Newcomers more agile, better social engagement
strategies, lower risk if experiments fail

19. Thanks 
If you want to talk or get the
raw data, I’m @killdozer