“Reliable Sources” in Cable News: Analyzing Network Fragmentation in Coverage of Reform Policy

Bethany Anne Conway-Silva; Jennifer N. Ervin; Kate Kenski

doi:10.1080/1461670X.2020.1724184

“Reliable Sources” in Cable News: Analyzing Network Fragmentation in Coverage of Reform Policy

Bethany Anne Conway-Silva, Jennifer N. Ervin, Kate Kenski

Communication

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

News coverage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and President Obama’s announced Clean Power Plan (CPP) served as data for two case studies. Social network analysis was used to investigate the sources used by cable giants CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. Both case studies show the extent of sourcing varies across the three news outlets, with CNN using the smallest network, MSNBC using the largest, and Fox falling somewhere in between. Ultimately, the source networks of the three cable outlets were highly fragmented with the exception of high-profile politicians. While the number of sources used in PPACA coverage stayed relatively stable, sourcing of the CPP decreased over time. Results suggest different sourcing patterns and contextually driven agenda-building processes.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	838-856
Number of pages	19
Journal	Journalism Studies
Volume	21
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2020.1724184
State	Published - Apr 25 2020

Keywords

Sourcing
cable news
climate change
fragmentation
health care
social network analysis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Communication

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10.1080/1461670X.2020.1724184

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title = "“Reliable Sources” in Cable News: Analyzing Network Fragmentation in Coverage of Reform Policy",

abstract = "News coverage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and President Obama{\textquoteright}s announced Clean Power Plan (CPP) served as data for two case studies. Social network analysis was used to investigate the sources used by cable giants CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. Both case studies show the extent of sourcing varies across the three news outlets, with CNN using the smallest network, MSNBC using the largest, and Fox falling somewhere in between. Ultimately, the source networks of the three cable outlets were highly fragmented with the exception of high-profile politicians. While the number of sources used in PPACA coverage stayed relatively stable, sourcing of the CPP decreased over time. Results suggest different sourcing patterns and contextually driven agenda-building processes.",

keywords = "Sourcing, cable news, climate change, fragmentation, health care, social network analysis",

author = "Conway-Silva, {Bethany Anne} and Ervin, {Jennifer N.} and Kate Kenski",

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year = "2020",

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doi = "10.1080/1461670X.2020.1724184",

language = "English (US)",

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AU - Conway-Silva, Bethany Anne

AU - Ervin, Jennifer N.

AU - Kenski, Kate

N1 - Funding Information: This study was funded by a grant from the University of Arizona Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Institute, a Minker Grant from the California Polytechnic State University College of Liberal Arts, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Publisher Copyright: © 2020, © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

PY - 2020/4/25

Y1 - 2020/4/25

N2 - News coverage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and President Obama’s announced Clean Power Plan (CPP) served as data for two case studies. Social network analysis was used to investigate the sources used by cable giants CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. Both case studies show the extent of sourcing varies across the three news outlets, with CNN using the smallest network, MSNBC using the largest, and Fox falling somewhere in between. Ultimately, the source networks of the three cable outlets were highly fragmented with the exception of high-profile politicians. While the number of sources used in PPACA coverage stayed relatively stable, sourcing of the CPP decreased over time. Results suggest different sourcing patterns and contextually driven agenda-building processes.

AB - News coverage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and President Obama’s announced Clean Power Plan (CPP) served as data for two case studies. Social network analysis was used to investigate the sources used by cable giants CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. Both case studies show the extent of sourcing varies across the three news outlets, with CNN using the smallest network, MSNBC using the largest, and Fox falling somewhere in between. Ultimately, the source networks of the three cable outlets were highly fragmented with the exception of high-profile politicians. While the number of sources used in PPACA coverage stayed relatively stable, sourcing of the CPP decreased over time. Results suggest different sourcing patterns and contextually driven agenda-building processes.

KW - Sourcing

KW - cable news

KW - climate change

KW - fragmentation

KW - health care

KW - social network analysis

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“Reliable Sources” in Cable News: Analyzing Network Fragmentation in Coverage of Reform Policy

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Keywords

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