New Media, New Methods: How Texas' Newspapers Report Politics Online

by: Phillip Martin, Progress Texas

Wed Jul 23, 2008 at 11:00 AM CDT

This is an unofficial part of our "Shattering Blogger Stereotypes" series. The myth shattered -- that bloggers hate the traditional media. The following is a report on an extensive study I completed as part of my coursework at the JFK School of Government at Harvard University. -- Phillip

In the early twentieth century, five Russian-born Jews living in Manhattan passed out some leaflets denouncing President Woodrow Wilson. They were accused of violating the Espionage Act. They were arrested for criticizing the government, and ultimately -- in Abrams vs. the United States -- the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the arrests.

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, in his dissent, wrote that the leaflets created no real danger, arguing instead that they embraced one of the central tenants of the constitution: a "marketplace of ideas"

[...] The ultimate good desired is better reached by free trade in ideas...that the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market, and that truth is the only ground upon which their wishes safely can be carried out. That at any rate is the theory of our Constitution.

Today, in the early twenty-first century, information consumers seek a free trade of ideas much broader than what the market has traditionally offered. Print and television journalism competes with online journalism, where electronic leaflets travel much farther than the streets of Manhattan. YouTube videos, blogs, and Facebook messages are all relevant players in today’s marketplace of ideas.
 
Texas’ newspapers are adapting to the new online medium in noticeably different ways, especially when it comes to political reporting. An examination of the nearly 1,000 blog posts featured on the respective political blogs of the Houston Chronicle, Dallas Morning News, and Austin American-Statesman during the month leading up to the Texas primary shows that formal conventions of journalism often do not make their way from the paper pages to the web pages of Texas’ leading newspapers.

For those of us counting on the successful adaptation of Texas’ political reporting in the rapidly expanding realm of web-based media, the loss of formal convention may be a very, very good thing.

Introduction: About the Study

The purpose of the study wasn’t to determine which paper had the best online coverage – it was to examine what kind of coverage is out there in the first place. Reporters from each of these papers were interviewed for the original study; however, their quotes and input will not be directly attributed here, since the original study was conducted for academic purposes and to ensure their anonymity is respected. 

The study examined at length the methods and attitudes of three of Texas’ major newspaper political blogs, focusing on the time period after Super Tuesday (February 6) through just before the Texas primary (March 3):

• Austin American-Statesman: Postcards from the Lege
• Dallas Morning News: Trailblazers
• Houston Chronicle: Texas Politics

It should be noted that the Chronicle maintains several political blogs, including Texas on the Potomac, which has a national focus. For the purposes of the study, only the posts on Texas Politics, which has a Texas focus, were tracked, since most of the print reporters that cover Texas politics only blog on the Texas Politics blog. The study was completed for the Harvard Kennedy School of Government course, “Press, Politics, and Public Policy,” as taught by Professor Tom Fiedler, former Editor of the Miami Herald. As the general election approaches, similar studies will be conducted for comparison. 

Finding an Online Voice: The Choice between Formal and Informal Language

In 1961, Theodore White’s book, “The Making of the President: 1960” set the standard for political and campaign reporting. Ever since that time, political journalists have used White’s model – along with the very traditional “who, what, where, when, why, and how” formula – to create and sustain a formal language in their writing. The use of traditional, non-changing formal language signals a context of objectivity and authority for most readers.

However, many of Texas newspapers’ political blogs have abandoned traditional conventions in favor of a much more informal, opinion-based language. As Chart #1 shows below, the more posts that are written on Texas newspapers’ political blogs, the greater the chance that the language used will be informal.

For the purposes of the study, formal language is considered “traditional newspaper” writing, often in 3^rd-person. Informal language is considered “conversational-style” writing, which may combine first and second-person language and feature humor and/or editorializing. Mixed language-posts consists primarily of formal language but contain editorializing, humor, or a call for reader response not normally found with the use of formal language.

The Dallas Morning News reporters wrote nearly three times as many posts for their blog than their Houston Chronicle counterparts; not surprisingly, their language was much more informal. Strengthening the observed correlation, the Austin American-Statesman finished in the middle of each category.

There is much, much more to be discussed. Click on the "There's More" link below to read the rest.

While there are measured differences among Texas newspapers regarding what kind of language and style is used in their blog posts, one thing remains constant: local coverage, and on-location reporting, still rules the day.

One thing the Presidential primary provided to Texas reporters was a large and very dramatic opportunity for what is known as “color reporting.” With numerous public speaking events, parties, rallies, and Texas’ first Presidential debate hosted in Austin, TX, all of Texas’ newspapers had ample opportunities to report on each and every latest development on the campaign trail. While the newspapers maintained some focus on state politics, most of the online coverage was given to the Presidential primary, as can be seen in Chart #2 below:

Even though the Presidential primary accounted for most of the coverage, however, the online audience still sought the same basic story: readers wanted to know what was going on in the neighborhoods. On-location and color reporting accounted for a majority of the presidential primary blog posts for both the Chronicle and the Morning News, as can be seen from chart #3 below:

Overall, each of the three newspapers had a large number of their staff report locally at rallies and other public events. The Morning News would often have an entire blog post crafted around a “guy-on-the-street” type interview, to give online readers personal, real-time feedback. The Chronicle wrote consistently on local rallies and events throughout the state, and produced online podcast interviews with several pollsters and even Senator Hillary Clinton. The Statesman spread its on-location coverage out the most, often appearing at events far away from Austin and even live-blogging from several events of Republican candidate Senator John McCain.

The typical attack of online political reporting is that it is often little more than an online echo chamber, repeating talking points from campaigns or cross-posting original reporting from other news sources. However, of the newspapers evaluated, none focused more than 33% of their content on what could be considered “echo-chamber” type material: re-posting polls, press releases, and campaign media such as radio and television ads. By and large, the online focus of each of Texas' major newspapers was on original and on-location reporting.

New Media, New Methods: How Texas Newspapers Are Choosing to Adapt

As the news industry learns to adapt to dwindling revenue streams and in-house cutbacks, Texas newspapers continue to press on in the online medium. The spotlight of the primaries on Texas’ newspaper-run blogs revealed some interesting insights as to how Texas newspapers are functioning in today’s marketplace of ideas.

First and foremost, it is clear that even among members of the “traditional media,” online journalism is largely user-created. While interviewing Texas reporters about their roles as bloggers, they often spoke about how free they were to direct their own content online. When asked about any formal direction handed down from their editors about how to blog or what should be blogged about, each reporter interviewed stated that, while their editors certainly read what they wrote, the reporters largely set the tone themselves.

By changing their tones, reporters are admitting that the formal conventions of political journalism do not directly translate to the online medium. However, there are serious questions and consequences that arise from writing shorter, faster, more informal posts:

• How much investigative and informative news is sacrificed in the name of expediency?

• Can newspapers still function as objective, authoritative sources of information through the use of online journalism if their web-based reporting is so casual?

• Does brand-name credibility built over decades instantly transfer from the print pages to the web pages of Texas newspapers? If not, how can a newspaper establish online credibility in a new media still creating itself?

Then again, despite the fact that reporters are free to choose what kind of language they employ, the content is still driven by what’s always driven the newspaper business – local coverage of today’s top stories. Therefore, the adaptation process for newspapers and political reporters may need to focus more on how to sell their news, not on what to sell.

Texas’ newspapers need to determine how to turn their analog dollars into digital pennies, and they need to do it in a climate where an estimated fifty online readers is needed to replace the value of a single print reader. Today, that seems like an overwhelmingly daunting, if not impossible, task. But the sooner the process of adaptation begins, the better for Texas' newspaper industry. To that end, Texas’ newspapers are off to a good – not great – start.