Mary Jackson Pitts, Ph.D.
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Mary Jackson Pitts, Ph.D.
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Abstract example A word example can be downloaded here
Name: Date: Class Abstract
Citation: Pitts, M. J. (2003, August). “Television web sites and changes in the nature of storytelling.” Studies in Media & Information Literacy Education. Retrieved (August 31, 2005).http://www.utpress.utoronto.ca/journa (August 31, 2005). Purpose: The present study attempts to examine how well stations are using the Internet as a value-added commodity for news consumers. Research Questions or Hypothesis: RQ-l: How are television stations using the Internet to provide more information than traditional broadcast news programs? RQ-2: How much interactivity is available on the television station web sites? RQ-3: What forms of navigational enhancements are available on the television station web sites? RQ-4: Does station affiliation make a difference in the kind of information found on a web site? RQ-5: Does market size make a difference in the kind of information found on a web site? Methodology: This study examined how television station affiliates are using the Internet to promote their on-air production, a multi-stage sample of stations was drawn from American Journalism Review (AJR) web site. The affiliates were then selected by systematically taking the seventh affiliate from each network grouping until 50 web sites were found for each of the four networks: ABC; CBS; FOX; and NBC. Web addresses of the selected affiliates were supplied to coders who participated in three one-hour coder- training sessions. The content analysis only focused on the news portion of the television station web site. A data collection instrument was used to examine 42 variables to answer the five research questions. Results: Top fifly market affiliates accounted for 48.6% of the sample, medium market stations 3 1.5%, and small market affiliates 19%. More than 87% of the stations used still pictures on their web sites, while 27% used charts, 36.5% used video clips, and 27% used audio clips. Differences were found among the three market sizes and their use of charts. In RQ-I, stations are doing little streaming of newscasts, whether live or on-demand; it is more common for individual stories to have video streaming. RQ-2 sought to determine the level of interactivity at affiliate web sites. RQ-3 links to other sites and privacy statements -were found on more than 50% of the sites, with 71.8% of stations having links to other sites and 51% having privacy statements. RQ-4 identifies that Station affiliation had an effect on whether an option was available for language differences. RQ-5 is answered Station affiliation and market size did have a limited impact on informational content, interactivity capabilities, and navigational enhancements. Comments: The Internet can be a tool to acquire audiences, take away competitor’s audiences, and retain audiences, but television stations must effectively maintain and constantly enhance their web sites for these things to happen. Web sites should provide information that goes beyond the on-air news product and give users the ability to have interactions with the news organization.
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