A Network Analytic Approach to Selective Consumption of Newspapers: The Impact of Politics, Market, and Technological Platform. (June 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lee, Francis L. F.; Yin, Zhang
• Is Part Of: Journalism & mass communication quarterly. Volume 98:Number 2(2021)
• Page Start: 346
• Page End: 365
• Publication Date: 2021-06
• Subjects: selective exposure -- audience duplication -- readership overlap -- network analysis -- news consumption; Journalism -- Periodicals; Mass media -- Periodicals; Communication -- Periodicals; Journalism -- United States -- Periodicals; Journalism -- Bibliography -- Periodicals; 070
• DOI: 10.1177/1077699019858988
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1077-6990

Abstract

Recent research has adopted the network analytic approach to examine issues of audience fragmentation and selective exposure. This article extends this line of study by analyzing how newspapers' political stance, market position, and technological platform predict readership overlap. Analyzing readership survey data in Hong Kong, the results show that market position—in terms of elite versus mass orientation and language of the newspapers—consistently predicts readership overlap. In comparison, political distance between two newspapers predicts readership overlap mainly when online readership is concerned. Different from the United States, predictors of readership overlap do not vary for news consumers of different partisanship.