Evolving social media practices of journalists: an international comparative study

This paper is concerned with the ways in which social media are embedded in journalistic practices in different countries. It explores and compares social media use and attitudes of journalists in nine countries: Australia, Canada, France, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, UK, and US. The analysis is based on three years of data of an annual online survey taken in 2012 (N=3650), 2013 (N=3120) and 2014 (survey ongoing), which asked journalists about patterns of their social media use as well as their views about these tools. The paper explores two specific questions. First, it examines similarities and differences between the countries to identify general patterns of social media adoption by journalists. Second, it explores the notion of hybridity in relation to social media practices by journalists in the nine countries. It argues that in this context hybridity can be understood in three aspects: (1) diversified and blended use of social media; (2) complex reasons for social media use where lines between traditional professional tasks are blurred; and (3) values and meanings that underpin practices are shifting.