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The most comprehensive study of the influence of social media on Greek news journalism in English is the Digital News Report provided by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Since 2012, the report offers an annual, extensive, multidimensional, and cross-national trends analysis of how audiences experience digital news journalism by recording audiences’ news preferences in terms of platforms and websites. The net effect of these reports is that they allow us to get a glimpse of the annual state of the Greek media market and over time and the changes and stresses it faces. To this end, the findings of these reports cover a wide range of topics, by placing their emphasis upon audiences. Adding to this picture, this chapter presents a case study of Greek news journalists’ use of Twitter as part of their journalistic practices and its impact on their role as news journalists, by examining the use of the platform in legacy news organisations and net-native news organisations, and journalists. Ultimately, the aim of the case study is to provide an extra layer to the Oxford account of the impact of social media on news journalism.

This cross-national study examines the effects of infotainment on cynicism about politics in Denmark, Britain and Spain. Drawing on panel surveys and media content analyses the study distinguishes between privatization and personalization elements in infotainment content and tests for their separate effects on political cynicism. The results suggest that the differential presence of infotainment elements is more consistent among countries than between media or news outlets. Exposure to privatization content has a positive effect on cynicism across the board. Exposure to personalization elements only increases cynicism among segments who are more interested in politics, and it decreases cynicism among the less interested segments. The results are discussed in the light of research on conditional media effects.

A well-functioning democracy needs the news media to provide information to its citizens. It is therefore essential to understand what kinds of news contents contribute to gains in citizens' political knowledge and for whom this takes place. Extant research is divergent on this matter, especially with respect to 'softer' news coverage. This cross-national study investigates the effects of exposure to human interest and conflict frames in the news on political knowledge. Drawing on panel surveys and media content analyses in three countries, the study shows how these two frames contribute positively to political knowledge gain. This relationship is moderated by political interest so that those who are least interested learn the most from this type of easily accessible news coverage. The results are discussed in the light of research on news media and knowledge acquisition.

Publication date: November 1, 2017 This article examines the role of new media in countries in transition. Using original survey data from Egypt (2012), we examine individuals’ use of media to search for information following Egypt’s participation in the Arab Spring. There are two provocative findings. One, different media satisfy informational searches at local, regional and international levels. And two, the profiles of ‘new media’ users are the most distinct among all mediums, matching the participants in non-traditional forms of political participation, namely urban-living males with education and access to income. Thus, in contrast to the technological determinism of some optimistic ‘new media’ supporters, in countries with low access levels to connectivity, this may suggest an analytical shift from medium to user to better facilitate our understanding of the role of new media in countries in transition.

This article seeks to compile an empirically-based understanding of the role of media in countries in transition. The study focuses on the processes of political socialization, behaviour and accountability, and gives examples from three regions: Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East/North Africa region. We draw on some of the major works relevant to the study of mass media in these transitional contexts with the aim of discerning emergent theories available to the study of media and democratisation. While aware of the limitations posed by the nature and scope of the sample of the studies reviewed, we do identify and discuss some of the potentially key obstacles to theory-building and propose some alternative paths of enquiry., Ovaj članak nastoji prikazati na istraživanju utemeljeno razumijevanje uloge medija u tranzicijskim zemljama. Naše se istraživanje fokusira na procese političke socijalizacije, na političko ponašanje i vjerodostojnost te daje primjere iz triju regija: središnje i istočne Europe, Latinske Amerike te Bliskog istoka i sjeverne Afrike. Pozornost smo skrenuli na neke od glavnih radova relevantnih za studije masovnih medija u tranzicijskom kontekstu s ciljem uvida u važne teorije dostupne u studijama o medijima i demokratizaciji. Svjesni ograničenja koja postavlja priroda i opseg uzorka pregledanih studija, identificirali smo i raspravili neke od potencijalnih ključnih prepreka razvoju teorije o političkoj socijalizaciji, političkom ponašanju i vjerodostojnosti u navedenim područjima te predložili alternativne pristupe u istraživanju.