1) Journalists use Twitter both to promote their own work and interact with colleagues, but are also adjusting their practices based on the evolving Twitter norms. 2) Different journalist beats use Twitter in distinct ways, with sports journalists more engaged with the public through retweets and mentions, while public affairs journalists more carefully retweet other media. 3) The study found fewer differences based on media type than beat, though online journalists were slightly more active than print, with all groups being more similar than different in how they use retweets and mentions on Twitter.

1. How journalists
use Twitter*
Frank Michael Russell, doctoral student!
University of Missouri School of Journalism!
#ISOJ | April 18, 2015

2. *Journalists, Gatekeeping, and Social Interaction on Twitter:
Differences by Beat and Media Type for Newspaper and Online News

3. *Journalists, Gatekeeping, and Social Interaction on Twitter:
Differences by Beat and Media Type for Newspaper and Online News
“J-tweeters appear to be normalizing microblogs to fit
into their existing norms and practices but, at the same
time, they appear to be adjusting these professional
norms and practices to the evolving norms and
practices ofTwitter.”!
(Lasorsa, Lewis, & Holton, 2012)

4. *Journalists, Gatekeeping, and Social Interaction on Twitter:
Differences by Beat and Media Type for Newspaper and Online News
“Twitter presents … the possibility for changes to
journalistic norms—i.e., for journalists to be more open
with opinions, more liberal in sharing their gatekeeping
role …”!
(Lasorsa et al., 2012)

5. *Journalists, Gatekeeping, and Social Interaction on Twitter:
Differences by Beat and Media Type for Newspaper and Online News
“With the ethics of participation and reciprocity
existing alongside each other, news organizations can
help build stronger communities and further cement
their own roles in those communities.”!
(Lewis, Holton, & Coddington, 2014)

6. *Journalists, Gatekeeping, and Social Interaction on Twitter:
Differences by Beat and Media Type for Newspaper and Online News
“Journalists were active on
Twitter during a prominent political crisis. … Journalists
often usedTwitter to promote their own work or to
share articles by or interact with colleagues from their
own news organizations.”!
(Russell, Hendricks, Choi, & Stephens, 2015)

7. *Journalists, Gatekeeping, and Social Interaction on Twitter:
Differences by Beat and Media Type for Newspaper and Online News
“Twitter andWeb content have enabled reporters to
enhance their notoriety and networking within the U.S.
sports media profession.”!
(Kian & Murray, 2014)

8. *Journalists, Gatekeeping, and Social Interaction on Twitter:
Differences by Beat and Media Type for Newspaper and Online News
Business “journalists embrace the concept of social
media more than they enact the practices.”!
(Lariscy,Avery, Sweetser, & Howes, 2009)

9. *Journalists, Gatekeeping, and Social Interaction on Twitter:
Differences by Beat and Media Type for Newspaper and Online News
“Innovation is the key to the viability of news media in
the digital age, as demonstrated by both long- and
short-term patterns.”!
(Pavlik, 2013)

10. Prestige
Newspapers
Metro
Newspapers
Entrepreneurial
Websites
Public
Affairs
Sports
Business/
Technology

11. The study
• Coders categorized retweets and @mentions as
“same news outlet,” “other news media,” “official
information source,” “public,” “unclear,” and “none.”!
• They also noted whether journalists added their own
text to retweets.!
• Sample of tweets (n = 900) collected during one-
month period (May 9 to June 7, 2014).

12. Differences by beat
• Sports journalists were most active on Twitter,
followed by public affairs, business/tech journalists.!
• Public-affairs journalists seemed more careful in their
Twitter use, more likely to RT other news media.!
• Sports journalists more likely to engage with the
public, less likely to RT other news media.!
• Business/tech journalists’ tweets were more likely to
include @mentions of official information sources.

13. Differences by media type
• Fewer differences were found by media type than by
beat.!
• Online-only journalists were somewhat more active
on Twitter than prestige newspaper journalists. Both
groups were far more active than metro newspaper
journalists.!
• Overall, journalists were more similar than different
in how they used the RT and @mention functions of
Twitter.

14. Thank you!
@fmrussell