Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Social Media Sourcing Practices: How Dutch Newspapers Use Tweets in Political News Coverage

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Managing Democracy in the Digital Age

Abstract

If you are a frequent reader of newspapers, you might have come across articles in which tweets are directly cited as sources. This practice by journalists has become common since the emergence of Twitter as one of the most popular social media platforms, raising questions over the impact it is having on sourcing practices and the journalist-source relation. In this chapter, we investigate this phenomenon by analysing how Dutch journalists use Twitter as a source in political news coverage at four national dailies. We ask how, and to what extent, Twitter is contributing to the agenda-building process—the process by which news organisations and journalists determine what to cover. Through the use of a content analysis, we track and analyse the citation of tweets by focusing on the type of actors cited; the function cited tweets served in the news stories; the nature of the tweets cited (e.g. factual, opinion); and finally the dominant quoting practices. Our findings contribute to our understanding of the ways in which the use of Twitter shapes political news coverage.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    See http://mashable.com/2009/11/19/twitter-whats-happening/#WvC9OFcgHaql

  2. 2.

    All circulation numbers can be found at http://www.nommedia.nl/, Nationaal Onderzoek Multimedia.

References

  • Alexseev MA, Bennett WL (1995) For whom the gates open: news reporting and government source patterns in the United States, Great Britain, and Russia. Polit Commun 12(4):395–412. doi:10.1080/10584609.1995.9963086

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allan S (2012) Online news reporting of crisis events: investigating the role of citizen witnessing. In: Siapera E, Veglis A (eds) The handbook of global online journalism. Wiley-Blackwell, Boston, pp 331–352

    Google Scholar 

  • Armstrong CL, Gao F (2010) Now tweet this: how news organizations use Twitter. Electron News 4(4):218–235. doi:10.1177/1931243110389457

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Artwick CG (2013) Reporters on Twitter: product or service? Digit J 1(2):212–228. doi:10.1080/21670811.2012.744555

    Google Scholar 

  • Berkowitz D (1987) TV news sources and news channels: a study in agenda building. Journal Mass Commun Q 64(2-3):508–513. doi:10.1177/107769908706400231

    Google Scholar 

  • Berkowitz D, Beach DW (1993) News sources and news content: the effect of routine news, conflict and proximity. Journal Q 70(1):4–12. doi:10.1177/107769909307000102

    Google Scholar 

  • Brands BJ (2014) Social media sourcing. The usage of Tweets in newspaper coverage of Dutch politics. MA Thesis. University of Groningen

    Google Scholar 

  • Broersma M (2010) The unbearable limitations of journalism: on press critique and journalism’s claim to truth. Int Commun Gazette 72(1):21–33. doi:10.1177/1748048509350336

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Broersma M, Graham T (2012) Social media as beat: Tweets as a news source during the 2010 British and Dutch elections. Journal Pract 6(3):403–419. doi:10.1080/17512786.2012.663626

    Google Scholar 

  • Broersma M, Graham T (2013) Twitter as a news source: How Dutch and British newspapers used tweets in their news coverage, 2007–2011. J Pract 7(4):446–464. doi:10.1080/17512786.2013.802481

    Google Scholar 

  • Broersma M, Graham T (2016) Tipping the balance of power: social media and the transformation of political journalism. In: Bruns A, Enli G, Skogerbø E, Larsson AO, Christensen C (eds) The Routledge companion to social media and politics. Routledge, New York, pp 89–103

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown JD, Bybee CR, Wearden ST, Straughn DM (1987) Invisible power: newspaper news sources and the limit of diversity. Journal Mass Commun Q 64(1):45–54. doi:10.1177/107769908706400106

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruno N (2011) Tweet first, verify later. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Burgess J, Bruns A (2012) (Not) the Twitter election: the dynamics of the #ausvotes conversation in relation to the Australian media ecology. Journal Pract 6(3):384–402. doi:10.1080/17512786.2012.663610

    Google Scholar 

  • comScore (2011) The Netherlands Ranks #1 Worldwide in Penetration for Twitter and Linkedin. http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Press-Releases/2011/4/The-Netherlands-Ranks-number-one-Worldwide-in-Penetration-for-Twitter-and-LinkedIn. Accessed 23 July 2016

  • Cooper G (2011) From their own correspondent? New media and disaster coverage: lessons to be learnt. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Corner J (2003) Mediated persona and political culture. In: Corner J, Pels D (eds) Media and the restyling of politics: consumerism, celebrity and cynicism. Sage, London, pp 67–84

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Davies N (2008) Flat Earth news: an award-winning reporter exposes falsehood, distortion and propaganda in the global media. Vintage, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Ducharme LJ (1994) Sarcasm and international politics. Symb Interact 17(1):51–62. doi:10.1525/si.1994.17.1.51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franklin B, Lewis J, Williams A (2010) Journalism, news sources and public relations. In: Allen S (ed) The Routledge companion to news and journalism. Routledge, New York, pp 202–212

    Google Scholar 

  • Gans HJ (1979) Deciding what’s news: a study of CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, Newsweek and Times, 2nd edn. Northwestern University Press, Evanston, IL

    Google Scholar 

  • Golan G, Wanta W (2001) Second-level agenda setting in the New Hampshire primary: a comparison of coverage in three newspapers and public perceptions of candidates. Journal Mass Commun Q 78(2):247–259. doi:10.1177/107769900107800203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graham T, Broersma M, Hazelhoff K (2013) Closing the gap? Twitter as an instrument for connected representation. In: Scullion R, Gerodimos R, Jackson D, Lilleker D (eds) The media, political participation and empowerment. Routledge research in political communication. Routledge, London, pp 71–88

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham T, Jackson D, Broersma M (2016) New platform, old habits? Candidates’ use of Twitter during the 2010 British and Dutch general election campaigns. New Media Soc 18(5):765–783. doi:10.1177/1461444814546728

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hallin DC, Manoff RK, Weddle JK (1993) Sourcing patterns of national security reporters. Journal Mass Commun Q 70(4):753–766. doi:10.1177/107769909307000402

    Google Scholar 

  • Hedman U (2014) J-Tweeters. Digital Journal 3(2):279–297. doi:10.1080/21670811.2014.897833

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heinrich A (2011) Network journalism: journalistic practice in interactive spheres. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Hermida A (2010) Twittering the news: the emergence of ambient journalism. Journal Pract 4(3):297–308. doi:10.1080/17512781003640703

    Google Scholar 

  • Hermida A (2013) Journalism: reconfiguring journalism research about Twitter, one tweet at a time. Digit Journal 1(3):295–313. doi:10.1080/17512786.2012.667269

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hermida A, Seth CL, Zamith R (2014) Sourcing the Arab Spring: a case study of Andy Carvin’s sources during the Tunisian and Egyptian Revolutions. J Comput Mediat Commun 19(3):479–499. doi:10.1111/jcc4.12074

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hladík R, Štětka V (2017) The powers that tweet: social media as news sources in the Czech Republic. Journal Stud 18(2):154–174. doi:10.1080/1461670X.2015.1046995

    Google Scholar 

  • Jungherr A (2016) Twitter use in election campaigns: a systematic literature review. J Inf Technol Polit 13(1):72–91. doi:10.1080/19331681.2015.1132401

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiousis S, Strömbäck J (2010) The White House and public relations: examining the linkages between presidential communications and public opinion. Public Relat Rev 36(1):7–14. doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2009.08.013

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiousis S, Laskin A, Kim JY (2011) Congressional agenda-building: examining the influence of congressional communications from the speaker of the House. Public Relat J 5(1):1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Knight M (2012) Journalism as usual: the use of social media as a newsgathering tool in the coverage of the Iranian elections in 2009. J Media Pract 13(1):61–74. doi:10.1386/jmpr.13.1.61_1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kruikemeier S (2014) How political candidates use Twitter and the impact on votes. Comput Hum Behav 34:131–139. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2014.01.025

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lariscy R, Avery E, Sweetser K, Howes P (2009) An examination of the role of online social media in journalists’ source mix. Public Relat Rev 35(3):314–316. doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2009.05.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larsson AO, Ihlen Ø (2015) Birds of a feather flock together? Party leaders on Twitter during the 2013 Norwegian elections. Eur J Commun 30(6):666–681. doi:10.1177/0267323115595525

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larsson AO, Svensson J (2014) Politicians online – Identifying current research opportunities. First Monday 19, 4. http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/4897

  • Lasorsa D, Lewis S, Holton A (2012) Normalizing Twitter: journalism practice in an emerging communication space. Journal Stud 13(1):19–36. doi:10.1080/1461670X.2011.571825

    Google Scholar 

  • Lecheler S, Kruikemeier S (2015) Re-evaluating journalistic routines in a digital age: a review of research on the use of online sources. New Media Soc 18(1):156–171. doi:10.1177/1461444815600412

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis J, Williams A, Franklin B (2008) Four rumours and an explanation: a political economic account of journalists’ changing newsgathering and reporting practices. Journal Pract 2(1):27–45. doi:10.1080/17512780701768493

    Google Scholar 

  • Manning P (2001) News and news source: a critical introduction. Sage, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Marland A (2012) Political photography, journalism, and framing in the digital age. Int J Press/Polit 17(2):214–233. doi:10.1177/1940161211433838

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Metag J, Rauchfleisch A (2016) Journalists’ use of political tweets: functions for journalistic work and the role of perceived influences. Digit Journal:1–18. doi:10.1080/21670811.2016.1248989

  • Moon SJ, Hadley P (2014) Routinizing a new technology in the newsroom: Twitter as a news source in mainstream media. J Broadcast Electron Media 58(2):289–305. doi:10.1080/08838151.2014.906435

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nisbet MC (2008) Agenda building. In: Donsbach W (ed) The international encyclopedia of communication, vol 1. Wiley-Blackwell, Malden, MA, pp 140–145

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Neill D, O’Connor C (2008) The passive journalist: How sources dominate local news. Journal Pract 2(3):487–500. doi:10.1080/17512780802281248

    Google Scholar 

  • Palser B (2009) Hitting the Tweet Spot. Am Journal Rev. http://ajrarchive.org/Article.asp?id=4737. Accessed 11 Jan 2017

  • Parmelee JH (2014) The agenda-building function of political tweets. New Media Soc 16(3):434–450. doi:10.1177/1461444813487955

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paulussen S, Harder RA (2014) Social media references in newspapers. Journal Pract 8(5):542–551. doi:10.1080/17512786.2014.894327

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillips A (2010) New sources: old bottles. In: Fenton N (ed) New media, old news: journalism and democracy in the digital age. Sage, London, pp 87–101

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Pole K, Gulyás A (2013) 2013 social journalism study: How journalists view and use social media and their relationship with PR. Project report. Germany, Cision Germany

    Google Scholar 

  • Reese SD, Grant A, Danielian LH (1994) The structure of news sources on television: a network analysis of ‘CBS News,’ ‘Nightline,’ ‘McNeil/Lehrer,’ and ‘This Week with David Brinkley. J Commun 44(2):84–107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reich Z (2011) Source credibility as journalistic work tool. In: Franklin B, Carlson M (eds) Journalism, sources and credibility: new perspectives. Routledge, New York, pp 19–36

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts M, McCombs M (1994) Agenda-setting and political advertising: origins of the news agenda. Polit Commun 11(3):249–262. doi:10.1080/10584609.1994.9963030

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scholten O, Ruigrok N (2006) Politiek en politici in het nieuws in het nieuws in vijf landelijke dagbladen. Stichting Het Persinstituut, De Nederlandse Nieuwsmonitor, Amsterdam

    Google Scholar 

  • Schudson M (2003) The sociology of news. Norton, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Shandwick W (2014) Twitter en de Tweede Kamer. Weber Shandwick NL, Den Haag. http://webershandwick.nl/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Twitter-en-de-Tweede-Kamer.-Weber-Shandwick.pdf. Accessed 11 Jan 2017

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheafer T (2007) How to evaluate it: the role of story-evaluative tone in agenda setting and priming. J Commun 57(1):21–39. doi:10.1111/j.0021-9916.2007.00327.x

    Google Scholar 

  • Shoemaker P, Reese SD (1996) Mediating the message: theories of influences on mass media content, 2nd edn. Longman, White Plains, NY

    Google Scholar 

  • Sigal LV (1973) Reporters and officials: the organization and politics of newsmaking. Lexington Books, Lexington, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Sigal LV (1986) Sources are the news. In: Manoff R, Schudson M (eds) Reading the news: a pantheon guide to popular culture. Pantheon, New York, pp 9–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Skogerbø E, Bruns A, Quodling A, Ingebretsen T (2016) Agenda-setting revisited: social media and sourcing in mainstream journalism. In: Bruns A, Enli G, Skogerbø E, Larsson AO, Christensen C (eds) The Routledge companion to social media and politics. Routledge, New York, pp 104–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Stanyer J (2012) Intimate politics: politicians and declining privacy in the media age. Polity Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Aelst P, De Swert K (2009) Politics in the news: Do campaigns matter? A comparison of political news during election periods and routine periods in Flanders (Belgium). Communications 34(2):149–168. doi:10.1515/COMM.2009.011

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Aelst P, Sheafer T, Hubé N, Papathanassopoulos S (2017) Personalization. In: CD V, Esser F, Hopmann DN (eds) Comparing political journalism (communication and society). Routledge, London, pp 112–130

    Google Scholar 

  • Verweij P (2012) Twitter links between politicians and journalists. Journal Pract 6(5–6):680–691. doi:10.1080/17512786.2012.667272

    Google Scholar 

  • Viera AJ, Garrett JM (2005) Understanding interobserver agreement: the kappa statistic. Family Med 37(5):360–363. doi:10.1111/soc4.12294

    Google Scholar 

  • Vis F (2013) Twitter as a reporting tool for breaking news: journalists tweeting the 2011 UK riots. Digit Journal 1(1):27–47. doi:10.1080/21670811.2012.741316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wallsten K (2014) Microblogging and the news: Political elites and the ultimate retweet. In: Solo A (ed) Political campaigning in the information age. IGI Global, Hershey, PA, pp 128–147. doi:10.4018/978-1-4666-6062-5.ch007

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Wallsten K (2015) Non-elite Twitter sources rarely cited in coverage. Newsp Res J 36(1):24–41. doi:10.1177/0739532915580311

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weaver D, McCombs M, Shaw DL (2004) Agenda-setting research: issues, attributes, and influences. In: Kaid LL (ed) Handbook of political communication research. LEA’s communication series. Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ, pp 257–282

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitney DC, Fritzler M, Jones S, Mazzarella S, Rakow L (1989) Geographic and source biases in network television news, 1982-1984. J Broadcast Electron Media 33(2):159–174. doi:10.1080/08838158909364070

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeller F, Hermida A (2015) When tradition meets immediacy and interaction. The integration of social media in journalists’ everyday practices. Sur le journalisme, About journalism, Sobre jornalismo 4(1):106–119

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands

    Bert Jan Brands

  2. School of Media and Communication, University of Leeds, Leeds, Yorkshire, UK

    Todd Graham

  3. Centre for Media and Journalism Studies, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Marcel Broersma

Authors
  1. Bert Jan Brands
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Todd Graham
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Marcel Broersma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Todd Graham .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. for Political Science, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany

    Julia Schwanholz

  2. School of Media and Communication, University of Leeds, Leeds, Yorkshire, United Kingdom

    Todd Graham

  3. International and European Law, University of Göttingen, Groningen, Germany

    Peter-Tobias Stoll

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Brands, B.J., Graham, T., Broersma, M. (2018). Social Media Sourcing Practices: How Dutch Newspapers Use Tweets in Political News Coverage. In: Schwanholz, J., Graham, T., Stoll, PT. (eds) Managing Democracy in the Digital Age. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61708-4_9

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation